Employee Needs Emergency Leave for Surgery: How Should We Handle the Notice Dilemma?

Dear All, I really need a favor from you guys. One of our employees needs to undergo surgery today; he informed us yesterday evening. We are a software concern, and this guy is working on the main project. We don't have a backup for him. We asked him to take off for 1 month, but he is not ready to accept. Additionally, another 2 guys will be joining within a week, and he has to transfer knowledge. However, as per the terms and conditions, he should provide at least a 45-day notice period. We really don't know whether he is bluffing or speaking the truth. I am in a dilemma.

Seeking Advice on Employee Notice Period

What can be done to file a complaint against him for not giving enough notice, or do you have any other suggestions? Please let me know.

Thanks,
Riya

Hi Riya, how about his past medical records? Was he suffering from any ailments? Was the organization aware of it?

Have a background check of his medical record. And if he is really in need of immediate surgery, I think you have no other option except granting him leave.

Dear Riya, A company has to be prepared for such contingencies beforehand. I am sure you must be aware of the contingency approach. Sorry, but I do not really appreciate the way IT companies work these days. They must realize that MAN, MACHINE, MONEY, and MATERIAL are four different things. Somewhere MAN and MACHINE are clubbed together. I would suggest taking this as an experience and being prepared for such contingencies in the future. As a "Human Resource Manager," we should anticipate such things.

Regards, Hrishikesh

You can only withhold their salary and other dues if the notice period is not served. It depends on the employee whether they are ready to serve the notice period for their dues or not.

A warning letter as well as a termination letter could be sent to the employee. If they report to their reporting manager/TL and their problem is genuine, then the only way is to give them time to rest and join back.

Regards,
Krishna Nandan

First of all, your query is incomplete. You have not mentioned anywhere that the employee has tendered his resignation, leaving it to the readers to guess. The question arises, where is the need for the resignation of the employee to undergo surgery? He can take leave for one month or even more. If the employee is insisting on resignation, the reason may not be solely for undergoing surgery but possibly for securing another job opportunity that requires him to start on a specific date. This could be why he is unwilling to take leave but has chosen to resign, in order to obtain clearance from your company before joining another company to meet the conditions of the new employment.

Regarding Resignation

The organization's interests must be prioritized. You can consider refusing to accept the resignation until the other two employees join the company. Alternatively, if accepting the resignation is necessary, the employee should be requested to provide in writing all details of the projects handled so far and to hand over the source code of the software to a responsible employee. Additionally, the employee should commit in writing to provide a proper handover at a later date to the designated employee of the company.

I would like to stress the importance of never allowing any employee to become indispensable to prevent situations like this from arising. It is essential to have 2-3 individuals familiar with each employee's job to be able to substitute when necessary.

Regards,
P.S. Dhingra
Vigilance & Transformation Management Consultant
Dhingra Group of Management & Educational Consultants
New Delhi

Dear Ria, I fully agree with Mr. Dhingra's inputs. If the employee wants to undergo surgery, let him/her get it done. However, he/she has to complete the handing over formalities without any hesitation. Until he/she completely hands over and gets relieved, he/she ought to remain your employee. If he/she joins another organization, it will be considered double employment, and you have every right to proceed legally.

Please approve his/her leave if he wants to undergo surgery, but inform all his/her superiors that under no circumstances should they receive or acknowledge his/her resignation. Even if they receive it, they should specifically state that the resignation is acceptable subject to fulfilling all formalities like handing over and notice period clauses only.

Thanks and regards,
Kameswarao

Dear Riya,

As far as I can judge the situation, you have to refer to your company's employee handbook. What were the terms and conditions stated in his appointment letter? The maximum you can do is deduct his notice period from his F & F settlement, and nothing more. Try to groom somebody ASAP to take his position, i.e., a succession plan.

Regards,
Kumar Sivesh

Dear Riya,

If it is really a case of a medical emergency, you can ask him to submit a medical report from a certified doctor. Also, you can have him checked by your company's doctor. You may grant him a one-month leave. If he is insisting on resignation, you may ask him to submit the resignation first, and then you can ask him to surrender his salary in lieu of the notice period.

Replacement or Backup Strategy

Now, the question is about his replacement or backup. For this, you may transfer another employee with work experience on similar projects or who can easily be trained for the same by the head of that project.

Wish you all the best. I hope you can now solve this contingency with all the suggestions given by all the CiteHR friends.

With warm regards,
Supriya Naval

Hi Supriya has got it right. In case, upon verification, you realize that the employee is bluffing, use it as a case study in future training programs.

Regards

Hi Riya,

If he is not serving in accordance with the terms and also not thinking loyally and sincerely about his responsibilities, then just follow the rules strictly.

- CRK

Hi Riya,

I have handled one such case in the past, and here is what I had done.

If the employee tenders a resignation (which is not clear from your query), then you may ask him to provide a letter from his doctor to truly understand how genuine his story is. Be aware that he can also fake the letter, so you may need to be very astute to catch that. Try to understand what kind of surgery required resignation.

My guess is he has another opportunity; otherwise, it's highly unlikely that a person would not take leaves and resign.

Typically, an employer has two choices: either not to accept his resignation at all (which is fruitless as he is bound to leave) or to accept his resignation and charge him with the salary in lieu of the notice period. Until he clears that due amount to your company, his clearance will stay halted. No experience letter should be issued to him, and if any company approaches your company for his background verification, they will receive a negative response due to his pending clearance.

Regarding knowledge transfer, your best bet is to involve his manager in doing so with the new employees.

Lesson learned: do not let any employee have the monopoly of unique knowledge; ensure you inform all your managers to have regular knowledge transfer sessions within their teams to eliminate the monopoly.

Thanks,

Amrita

Dear All,

Thanks for your valuable suggestions and your precious time. We have sent a show-cause notice; let's see his response. Once again, thanks a lot.

Regards,
Riya

Where is the scope of sending a Show Cause Notice?

Of all kinds of managers, HR managers need to be extra careful and sensitive because, unlike others who deal with materials, money, or machines, HR managers deal with human beings. As in medicine and surgery, inexperience can be life-threatening. Can one imagine a situation:

- If this case is genuine.
- The employee has undergone surgery and is in the hospital,
- And the "show cause notice" is in the hands of his family members.

The best test to ascertain if an action is just or not is to ask oneself how it would feel if the action has been taken against you. If the organization is so helpless/weak that it can't function without this single employee, then he should be made the CEO. (In fact, even CEOs are not indispensable). At times, one feels sad to find that HR managers create more problems than they actually solve.

We have just sent a letter to him asking for an appropriate letter from the physician, but he is not accepting to provide any letter. He stated that he will be in the hospital for 3 weeks, but he has signed the acknowledgment copy. How come? I don't know whether I have to believe this guy or not.

Show Cause Notice

We asked him to provide a 45-day notice period or a letter from the physician indicating his intention to take time off starting from a specific date. If he fails to respond, we will take legal action against him. This is what we've mentioned.

Thanks,
Suriya