How to Address a Senior Employee's Extended Leave Without Notice? Seeking Advice

Dear seniors,

I am working as an HRD coordinator with a sales-driven company, specifically a water treatment company. I need your help in drafting a formal letter for an employee of our company who took a one-week leave due to his mother's illness. It has now been almost two months, and he has not returned nor made any contact. He is a senior employee who has been with us for the past 6 years.

We need to confirm whether he intends to continue with the company or if he wishes to resign. If he is resigning, kindly ensure that all his dues are settled promptly, as he is a marketing professional.

I look forward to an early response from all of you.

Thank you.

Gentleman,

It has been observed from our records that you have not been reporting to work since ________ without any prior intimation or information regarding your absence from work. Your actions amount to misconduct as per the standing orders and code of office discipline applicable to you.

You are hereby informed to report for duty with a written explanation within 48 hours of receiving this letter. Otherwise, it will be presumed that you have voluntarily abandoned your services and have no intention to resume your duties. Management shall not be under any obligation to continue your services and will be free to remove your name from the roster without any notice or compensation.

Yours faithfully,
Director

You may modify the contents of this letter for your convenience, as this is a general guideline for your understanding only.

Captain Cook

Ravibhai,

He/she mentioned that they have no contact with him. He is absconding during recession time without compensation or gratuity claim, which is a benefit to the company. That man must be a gentleman. Anyway, a good draft for intimation – no liability of the employer if the employee has abandoned his services voluntarily.

Good job.

Badlu

Hi Vimala,

As an HR person, it's your major mistake that you have not maintained any data of the employees regarding the contacts. Immediately, you have to do that.

Secondly, if you do not have any contact number, then you must at least have the residential address of the employee before you think of sending a formal letter.

Just do one thing, before sending the formal letter, drop in at your employee's house on any day without intimation. I'm sure the picture will then be crystal clear to you, and you can take further steps to send the formal letter.

Mr. K. Ravi,

It's very sad that you, being a senior member of this site, are demotivating someone. If somebody has less knowledge, please don't demotivate that person but try to share your knowledge so that they can also learn. You are requested not to question anyone's capability.

Many times, we also don't know some details about certain topics.

Hi,

What Mr. Deval Vyas said is correct. First of all, you should send a Telegram regarding the report/contact immediately to the concerned person within one day. Secondly, send a registered post or a letter to the reporting head office immediately by a certain date. If not, we will take serious action against you. Continue sending letters in a similar manner.

Letter example: As per our telegram dated 29/01/2009, you have not responded. We are giving you one more chance. Kindly attend/respond immediately on or before 05/02/2009 to the head office; otherwise, we will take serious action against you.

After that date, if there is no response, send a termination letter.

Okay...

Goodbye...

I have mentioned all these things based on my knowledge. I apologize if anything is incorrect.

Vishnu

Grrrr, what wrong did I reply here?

Usually, while joining, it is understood that the following information of the employee is with the HR Department:

- His address both temporary and permanent
- His phone numbers, mobile, residence, hometown

Even if his mobile is switched off, you can contact his residence number, which there is a 90% possibility that everyone nowadays has a landline. You can contact his close colleagues and inquire with them. All these can be done telephonically and verbally. After you have done these things, you can send a REGISTERED POST.

But looking at this case, it's complicated because a person working for 6 years will never be aloof for such a long time without giving any solid reason. Think about it.

Dear Vimala,

As HR professionals, we must have empathy when making decisions like these. You need to understand exactly what happened with him. First, you should visit his home, then consider the legal aspects, whatever they may be...

Hello,

I am working in the Manufacturing Company, continuing plant processes as an HR Generalist. We have a query regarding attending duty on Public Holidays as desired by the company. If employees have reported for duty as per instruction/schedule by their HOD, but in case employees have not reported for the day, what type of action should be taken? Can an employee avail of a Paid Holiday (PH) without asking the HOD?

Please help me regarding the above query.

You can send me the response to: harishgamit@adityabirla.com

Regards,
Harish Gamit

For your kind information, I have joined this company only 2 months ago, and I am a fresher seeking suggestions. Regarding contacting him, he is from Delhi and previously worked with a company based in Ahmedabad. Currently, he is in Delhi due to his mother's surgery (he has taken one week's leave for this specific reason). He has only provided a mobile number, which is currently unresponsive. My Managing Director has instructed me to draft a letter to initiate formal action.

After the Supreme Court's decision in JMA Industries case, it is not possible to remove an employee from service without due notice. The traditional method would be to charge sheet the employee, conduct an enquiry, and then remove him from service. This is a long-drawn-out process, and still, the employee will be within his rights to challenge his dismissal on the grounds of fairness of the enquiry and/or quantum of punishment being disproportionate to misconduct u/s 11A of the ID Act. It is possible that the employee has taken up a job elsewhere on the sly, and if he finds that the new job is not to his liking, he may stake a claim for the old job by invoking the legal process. One possible method to short-circuit the entire process could be by sending 2 letters in sequence and putting the onus on the employee rather than removing him from service. A note of caution: This methodology has to stand the scrutiny of the court, though the management can always say that they have not removed the employee from service within the meaning of Sec 2 (00) of the ID Act. The draft letters are given below. Would welcome more inputs to fine-tune this mode of termination:

Letter 1.

It is observed from our attendance records that you have not been reporting for work from ------- onwards. You have neither informed the company nor your team leader, and as such, your absence is unauthorized, rendering you liable for disciplinary action.

You are required to report for duty within 48 hours of receipt of this memo with an explanation for your unauthorized absence with proper evidence to substantiate your absence.

In case you neither report for duty within the above stipulated time nor offer any explanation for your absence within a grace period of 30 days from the date of receipt of this memo, the management will be justified in presuming that you are no longer interested in continuing your service with us, and your case will be treated as one of resignation from service without complying with the notice period formalities.

Letter 2

This is with reference to your continued absence from duty since----

Your obdurate refusal to report for duty despite our memo dated---- which you have apparently received on----- leaves us with no other alternative but to infer that you are no longer interested in continuing in our services.

You have also not complied with the mandatory notice period of two months, that you had accepted to serve in the event of separation, vide your appointment letter dated----------

From the above, it is evident that you have voluntarily retired from your service with us within the meaning of Sec 2 (oo) (a) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, with effect from--------

Consequently, your employment contract with us is treated as closed at your behest from the said date.

The full and final settlement of your account is enclosed herewith.

If you wish to make any representation against this communication, you are hereby given one last and final opportunity to state your objections in writing within a period of one week from the date of receipt of this communication. In case you fail to avail this opportunity within the stipulated time, no further representation will be entertained in this matter under any circumstances, and this communication will be treated as final for all purposes.

Regards

Patrick Ryan