Employment & Labour Law · Chennai
Sabine Hollis is a Chennai employment practice that reads both sides of the workplace. Whether you sign the offer letters or the timesheets, we give clear, unhurried counsel — and we don't pretend a dispute is simple when it isn't.
Who we act for
Employment work is rarely neutral — someone is losing a job, a payout, or the benefit of the doubt. We take one side per matter, fully and without hedging, and keep a strict wall between the two so your file is always in safe hands.
For employers & HR
From the first offer letter to a difficult exit, we help you run a workplace that holds up — commercially sensible, and defensible if it's ever questioned.
For employees & workers
Forced resignation, unpaid dues, a hostile complaint process. We tell you plainly what your rights are and what a fight is really worth before you commit to one.
What we handle
A focused bench that does this work all day — so the strategy is set by someone who has argued the same point across the table more than once.
Lawful separations, retrenchment and layoffs, forced resignations, and the paperwork that decides whether an exit is clean or contested.
Salary, gratuity, bonus, PF and ESI, full-and-final settlements, and compliance under the wage code and the Payment of Wages Act.
Internal Committees, inquiries, mandatory training, annual returns, and support for anyone raising or facing a harassment complaint.
Appointment letters, handbooks, non-competes, confidentiality, moonlighting clauses and bonds — drafted to be read, and to be enforced.
Unions, standing orders, charter of demands, conciliation and long-term settlements for factories and establishments across the state.
Independent workplace investigations, domestic inquiries and disciplinary proceedings — run fairly enough to survive a challenge.
When it becomes a dispute
Most matters settle. They settle better when the other side can see you're ready for the alternative. Here's the path we walk with you — and we'll tell you at each step whether pushing further is worth it.
Compliance & POSH
Tamil Nadu's registers, returns and committees don't have to be a scramble every year. We set them up once, keep them current, and stand behind them if an inspector or a complainant ever comes knocking.
Internal Committee constitution, external members, employee training and annual returns.
Registration, working-hours and leave policy, and registers under the Tamil Nadu Act.
PF, ESI, gratuity, bonus and the new wage code, mapped to how you actually pay people.
CLRA compliance, principal-employer risk, and clean contracts for platform and contract staff.
They didn't sell us a fight. They told us where we'd win, where we'd lose, and settled the rest before it cost us a season of morale.Head of People, a mid-size apparel manufacturer · Ambattur, Chennai
The firm
Sabine Hollis is a boutique employment practice, not a full-service giant with a labour desk bolted on. Everyone here does this work and only this work — which is why we can be honest early, and quick when it matters.
Founded on Cathedral Road and now working with employers and employees from Chennai to Coimbatore, the firm has argued industrial disputes, run POSH inquiries, and quietly kept a lot of matters out of court entirely. We take on both sides of the profession — never the same dispute — and we say no when a case isn't worth your money or your months.
You'll hear the weak parts of your case from us first, not from the other side.
Employer and employee files are kept strictly apart. Your matter is only ever ours.
A clear scope and estimate up front. The first consultation is on us.
Straight answers
Every situation is different, and this isn't legal advice — but here's how we usually start.
Almost never on the spot. A resignation is meant to be voluntary — being pressured or threatened into one can itself be challenged as a forced termination. Don't sign anything the same day. Call us first, and we'll look at your letter, your dues and your options before you respond.
If you employ ten or more people, yes — the POSH Act requires a properly constituted Internal Committee with an external member, regardless of how informal the office feels. Below that threshold there are still safe-workplace obligations. We can set the whole thing up in a week.
Both — just never on the same matter. Each file sits on one side of a strict conflict wall. It's precisely because we argue from both chairs that we can tell you, realistically, how the other side will see your case.
Unpaid salary, gratuity, PF, ESI or bonus can be pursued — often first through a firm demand notice, then before the appropriate authority or Labour Court if needed. Bring your appointment letter, payslips and any resignation acceptance, and we'll map the fastest route to recovery.
Yes. The first conversation — in person on Cathedral Road or over a call — is free, so you can decide whether there's a case worth pursuing before any fee is discussed. After that, we scope and estimate clearly, in writing.
Talk to us
Tell us what's happening in a few lines. We'll tell you whether it's a real dispute, a compliance fix, or something you can settle over a good letter.