In a significant decision that safeguards workers’ rights against unfair employer tactics, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Thursday ruled that agreements requiring employees to relinquish their legal benefits are invalid from the outset.

Justice Harpreet Singh Brar cancelled an order that denied a municipal worker credit for his past years of service, and it criticised the widespread habit of pressuring reinstated workers to abandon claims for back pay, ongoing service recognition, and retirement benefits under threat of losing their jobs.

The case involves Ranjit Singh, a tubewell operator hired by the Municipal Council in Khanna on September 14, 1992. His job was made permanent on December 29, 1994, after he worked the required 240 days by October 31, 1993, following government guide

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