How Should Employers Handle Legal Notices for Employee Termination Due to Divorce Issues?

Hi all,

Please help me out with this situation. We have an employee who has family issues and has applied for a divorce. The advocate handling the case has a query for us. The advocate says if there is a legal notice issued to the company asking us to terminate the employee based on certain grounds, what should we as employers do and how do we handle such cases? We do not have any such clauses in our policy. Please suggest what the legal implications might be and whether we should abide by the notice and terminate the employee, even though he is an excellent performer.

Early responses are appreciated and obliged.

Thanks

Dear Sandhya,

With reference to the subject you mentioned regarding the termination of the employee on unclear grounds, the employer has no right to involve in the employee's personal life. If his/her personal issues are affecting performance directly or indirectly towards the company, you can counsel the employee and give some time to settle their issues for a certain period (based on the importance of the candidate's availability for the company, i.e., 15 to 30 days) according to the company policy.

However, don't think that the employer is not concerned about the employee. You should make it clear to the employee that we are concerned about your personal and professional life. You can communicate to them to go on leave for certain days and then continue or rejoin the company for a smoother process, which shows the employee that individuals are being taken care of by the company during crisis periods.

The management should make decisions regarding the termination of employees based on the records of the individual employee.

This is only a suggestion from my end. If I am incorrect, please let me know.

Thanks,

Deepak

The contract of employment is between the employee and the employer. If the employee is abiding by the conduct rules applicable to him/her and performs the assigned job as per the expectations of the employer, where is the question of terminating him/her.

The services of an employee can be terminated by retirement or dismissal. Here, there is no ground for retrenchment or dismissal. If the employee had committed any criminal offense outside the workplace which comes under any law in force in the country, you can initiate action as per the standing orders, conduct rules, service rules, or terms of the contract applicable to him/her.

Please be clear in your question. What is the actual problem in your case?

I quite appreciate the above comments. An employer has no right to terminate any employee on personal grounds.

Calistus