Relieving letter

Confirms an employee has been formally released — the document their next employer asks for.

When you would use this

An employee has served notice and their last day has passed. Most Indian employers will not let a new joiner start without this, so issuing it promptly matters more than it looks.

What goes wrong with this one

The document is the easy part. These are the things we actually see get it rejected or cause a problem later.

A relieving letter and an experience letter are different documents and are usually both asked for. The relieving letter says you released them; the experience letter says what they did.
State that dues are settled, or state what remains outstanding. Silence on it invites a query from the next employer.
Date the release to the actual last working day. A letter dated later reads as though the notice period was disputed.
Where notice was shortened or waived, say so plainly. It is a normal thing to have agreed, and an unexplained gap in dates is what causes a background check to fail.

The template

Every placeholder is written in [SQUARE BRACKETS] so an unfilled one is impossible to miss in a printed document.

Relieving letter

[COMPANY LETTERHEAD]

Date: [DD MONTH YYYY]

[MR / MS] [FULL NAME]
[EMPLOYEE ID]
[ADDRESS]

Dear [FIRST NAME],

RELIEVING LETTER

This is to confirm that your resignation from the position of [DESIGNATION]
in the [DEPARTMENT] department has been accepted, and that you have been
relieved of your duties with effect from the close of business on
[DD MONTH YYYY].

You were employed with [COMPANY NAME] from [DD MONTH YYYY] to
[DD MONTH YYYY].

[SELECT ONE:
 - You have served your notice period in full.
 - Your notice period was shortened by mutual agreement.
 - Your notice period was waived by the Company.]

All dues payable to you have been settled in full, and the Company has no
outstanding claim against you.
[OR: The following remains outstanding and will be settled by
[DD MONTH YYYY]: [DESCRIBE].]

You are reminded of your continuing obligations regarding confidential
information belonging to the Company and to its clients, which survive the end
of your employment.

We thank you for your contribution and wish you well.

For [COMPANY NAME]


_____________________________
[NAME]
[DESIGNATION]

This is a starting point, not advice

It is a general template and is not tailored to your business. Requirements change, and some vary by state. Have the completed document checked before you sign, file or rely on it.