What Action To Take When An Employee Leaves Without Formal Resignation

Please advise. If an employee does not come to work and sends you an SMS stating that they are resigning, what actions can the company take.

As per the law, he can't leave the job like this. You just hold his salary and PF. Don't go for settlement.

Amit
9964899526

Dear Sangeetaa,

Greetings for the day:)

I do not agree with Mr. Shetty. According to me, firstly issue a show cause notice to him for clarification and ask him to serve a proper notice period as mentioned in his appointment letter or to compensate your company in the absence of a notice period. Simply holding the payments is not a genuine way to deal with employees.

In case the employee is not responding to your communication, issue a reminder notice in which clearly mention a specific time and also state that if there is no response, legal action can be taken against them.

The question is quite interesting. In these types of cases, firstly send a notice to his permanent address. If he doesn't communicate, then send another notice. If he still doesn't communicate, you can either send him a legal notice or publish it in a local newspaper and also send the same to his new company.

You can hold the salary and settlement, but before that, according to me, there must be an agreement between the employer and the employee that you have to give notice before a specified time.

Hey Sangeeta,

If someone is very clear about his/her intentions, then there is no point in beating around the bush. Try to figure out the cause over the telephone or via an email communication. If you can offer a solution that suits both of you, then you have done a good job. Otherwise, ask him to submit a formal resignation letter. Following that, you can send him his settlement and relieving order/letter.

Remember, there is always another HR/hiring manager who is ready to lay out a better proposal to one of your employees.

Regards

Hi Sangeeta,

In my view, you can do two things:

1) Calculate his final settlement if the company is due to him, then send a letter with the settlement amount and ask him to collect the cheque. If he comes, then take the resignation letter and issue the cheque.

2) If he has any amount owing to the company, then you need to send a show cause notice, reminder notice, and so on, as auditors may ask for this.

Cheers

Dear Sangeeta,

The most important action one needs to take is to recruit a new person for that position. Secondly, send an email asking him to resign in the appropriate format. If the company policy clearly mentions that dual employment is not allowed, then please send him an email stating that as he has not left the company in the desired format, he will be held liable for a violation of the company policy. The company is in a position to instigate a criminal case against the employee to safeguard the company's business interests and IPR.

An SMS can never be expected as evidence, as stated by the High Court. The company has no right to withhold his PF. PF is the right of the employee. Holding back the PF by the employee will cause severe legal problems. The employee may even file criminal cases against the Directors.

Regards,
Octavious

1) Issue him a charge sheet/show-cause notice.
2) Just see what the terms of the contract state in this regard.
3) If he is covered by the Standing Order of the company, act accordingly.
Please provide the details mentioned above to enable us to offer you better advice.

Nowadays, all these issues will come as common errors or problems, but all this depends on how much the resignation of that particular employee will affect the company.

- Keep quiet: You will save the company some money on his settlement.
- Send him a communication letter to come and resign. Hold his settlement until then.
- If he is a senior, responsible, or holds any company documents or belongings, send him a registered post to come to the office or proceed with a legal notice. Hold his settlement until then. Make sure you have followed all HR policies.

Thank you so much to all of you for responding to my question. The person was from the accounts department and is leaving in March. This manner of departure creates a lot of problems for us, especially since it is the financial year-end. Being a small organization, this person was handling most of the work. I can hold back the last month's salary in lieu of the notice period, but my main issue is about completing the work. As ashishd rightly said, there's no point if the person has made up their mind. I definitely don't want the person to come back and finish the work, but it just doesn't feel fair. That's all. Thanks once again to all of you. Truly appreciate it.

Dear Sangeeta Bala,

You can solve the aforementioned problem as follows:

1) If the employee is not in a managerial cadre, as they are not reporting for duty and are sending an SMS, ask them to submit a resignation letter. If they submit the resignation letter, waive the notice period, accept the resignation, prepare their full and final settlement, and send it to their residential address for acceptance.

2) If the employee is in a managerial cadre, act according to the terms of the contract (i.e., appointment letter).

3) In the case of an employee who falls under the definition of a worker/employee as per the Industrial Model Standing Orders Act, 1946, you must follow the principles of natural justice. This involves issuing a show-cause notice, then a charge-sheet, conducting a domestic inquiry (if the employee does not respond to the inquiry), then conducting an ex-parte hearing, and finally terminating their service as per due process of law.

Regards,

N. K. Jagtap

Can anyone tell what type of legal action an employer can take against the employee if he is leaving the company without clearing its dues and settlement outstanding. Please advise.

Regards,
Sachin Jaiswal

All depends on how the company's employment policy or standing orders are. Anyhow, you have received a good reply from our friends. The employer cannot force an employee to leave his/her job; that is their right. However, a proper policy will guide the employer.

Hi all,

In my company, our Accountant cum Cashier left the job without providing any information. Are there any legal actions that we can take?

In my organization, employee transport is outsourced. Because of this, the company initially requested that employees leave with one month's notice and one month's salary. However, all three employees refused this offer. Consequently, management decided to transfer them to other company offices in metro cities. Once again, the employees requested assistance with house rent or a revision in salary. Management is not agreeing to any salary revisions, as clearly stated in the transfer letter. The company is providing travel expenses for the whole family and covering shifting charges.

Please advise.