What to do when salary is held back by employer for three months

I am afraid it is a situation in which options are very limited. If the organisation is not having working funds and they are waiting for the payments from the parties then there is little which can be done in this case.

If you require money urgently then you have to request them for some pay advance to you time being to manage your expenses. They may sympathetically consider your case but there is no surety that they will pay you as they are going through the severe cash crunch which is the most difficult thing in any company.

If the company condition is worsening try to move out to some other good one with your acquired experience. Sometimes this happens in some companies and you have to be proactive in these circumstances.

The airline, Jet Airways is going under hard times and is not able to give salaries to its employees for quite some time though now situation is easing up and the chairman has requested the employees to wait patiently for at least a month before the cash position becomes comfortable. Some pilots have left and due to that some flights of Jet Airways are grounded.

So these things happen in the industry and you have to take a conscious decision to move out or stay patiently.

Are you only not getting the payment or all the employees of the company? This point is not clear. I am getting a feeling that your payment is stopped as your responsibility is to collect payment from the vendors.
Situation 1: Company is not doing well. There is a shortage of funds and the company is not paying salaries to any of the employees. In such a case you can't do anything. You have to wait along with all other employees. If you have a problem of cash you can ask the management to give some advance and manage the show. In private companies when the company is not doing well, such problems are inevitable. You have to sustain the problems and try for a better job in any other company based on your experience and shift the job.
Situation2: Company is doing well. They are paying salaries to all in time. But your salary is stopped due to your performance problem. If you are responsible for collections and many pending receivables are there and the company has to get advances from a bank and operate, then in some private companies actions like this will be taken. You have to meet your boss and explain to him the reasons for the delay in receiving payments from vendors and you should explain him and give it in writing what are the actions you have taken and how seriously you are following up with the vendor and impress upon him that it is not because you are not giving enough importance for the receipts but for the reasons beyond your control. Then he may consider and recommend to HR for releasing the payment or some money as advance.
Anyhow, it is better to look for a good alternative and shift the job so that you will not be in problems. Even after resigning some companies may not release the candidate. In such a case, you have to contact a lawyer and talk to him and proceed legally as per his suggestion.

It is a very unfortunate case that your payment has been held up for the past three months due to financial mess of the company. You have to think seriously whether this is applicable to you only or the entire staff of your company are being deprived of the regular payment.
In case, such a situation is applicable to all the remaining staff it means the financial health of the company is really disturbing and you have to keep patience till the situation normalises.
It has happened with so many companies where payment has been stopped due to financial constraint,and with the time situation has eased up.
If the company is in the red tap, help the company to achieve the target and in your case, payment from the vendor has to maximised so as to normalise the situation.
The other alternative is to seek out such companies where your experience can land you a suitable job thus relieving you from the financial mess of the present company.

Company not having any financial problems. Only my salary is held I mentioned earlier regarding hr letter ,only my department is in loss. I just want to know is it legal to hold salary if department is in loss. How can I go legally against this. Is there any law regarding this

I don't get your job profile in the current company & whether you are into the notice period here or how long that you have been to in this company but let's see if I have understood your ground properly from one of my direct experience with one of my colleague who served the company as an Asst Mgr (Sales) for the last seven years. When he resigned & served the notice period & than when he went on joining with the other company everything was good that he got all the dues cleared along with the experience certificate but in the last few of his amounts were not cleared or in another words those were hold by the company & still those are not transferred to my friend's bank account. As I am still in the company & that's why I know of the reason. He was in the Sales department & for one of the customer he sold the material without acknowledging the payment being credited to us & this still being unresolved as we haven't been able to recover the payment. My company is now planning to file the case against the customer which may take time to get settled.

There could be the other scenario as well wherein the employee's salary can be put on hold so as to keep the employee a little longer with the organization & the things can't be worse than this as this happened with one of my uncle but finally he left the company & joined the other but this time he filed a complaint in the court & has been given a date for hearing. Sometimes we are helpless with left with limited options at our end but if you feel you have the edge over this then you even can go ahead with what you feel is OK.

If the above case matches to your's than you are advised to pl. settle this by taking the company into confidence or in case there is something else than pl. open about it & at the same time you the author can post as an anonymous so as to keeping up with the privacy.

You are in a difficult and delicate situation. I can understand that. However as you are the person in need and at the receiving end, you have to be patient and not do anything provocative now.

It is definitely a trend indicator and it is a warning for you to search for some other suitable job discreetly . The employer may not be impressed by your performance and may be creating a situation, whereby you will leave on your own. You please review and read the employment contract or appointment letter. There may be some conditions. If payment of salary is linked to your performance and revenue generated from your performance, then there is not much choice for you and you have to read the signals and do the needful-either improve performance and collection of payments or leave the job for some better one.

But you can try some practical things now.
1. Impress upon your bosses about the financial difficulty you are now in and request for at least part payment.
2. Request for some small amount of advance so that you can spend for the essentials.
3. Contribute your efforts and time to meet the vendors and speedily collect the payments due to your employer organisation.
4. Interact with other staff in your own department and other departments and understand what is the real problem.
5. Change your work style so that your performance becomes more result oriented, if that is the basic issue.
6. However be keeping good relationship with bosses and do not make negative loose talk .

Do not fall into the trap of others inciting you to go for legal remedies. That may be time consuming and costly and may drag on without much result.