How to Handle Disciplinary Action When Company Policies Are Unclear? Seeking Advice!

A company does not have clearly set out rules on disciplinary action. Neither is anything substantive on discipline mentioned in the appointment letter or in the service manual.

Serious misconduct has been reported against one of the managers of the company. Under what regulations can a charge sheet and disciplinary proceedings be initiated against the manager? The manager draws a salary of more than Rs. 50,000.00 per month.

Request views from learned friends, please.

The company should have service rules or standing orders duly certified by the DLC, where all misconducts are defined. If your company does not have this requirement, then you can take action against the individual as per the model standing orders where all misconducts are defined.

Regards

A manager engaging in serious misconduct—if it is confirmed, then what are you waiting for? A manager involved in serious misconduct calls for immediate termination. It reflects the image of your company.

Regards.

In the appointment letter for the manager, you must have included a condition on honesty and diligence. You can frame a charge memo under that clause.

With regards,

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Dear Sir,

Request you to kindly clarify if you are absolutely sure that the standing order act/model standing order is applicable or can be referenced for employees who do not fall under the category of "workers" but are, in fact, in the "manager" category. If so, could you please provide case laws supporting such an interpretation?

Regards

Hi,

A person with a monthly salary of 50,000/- usually will not be covered under the purview of standing orders (model/certified). Typically, in an organization, there will be a separate code of conduct for such categories of employees.

However, irrespective of the presence of standing orders/code of conduct, in the case of serious misconduct such as:
- Fraud/dishonesty/breach of trust/leaking of confidential information
- Sexual harassment/theft/tampering with documents/fights/threats/intimidation/corruption/insider trading, etc.;

individuals can be directly tried under the judiciary by filing a police complaint and initiating criminal proceedings.

Kind regards,
Dayanand L. Guddin

Dear Dayanand Ji,

There is a rule that when the certified Standing Orders are not in place, we have to observe the respective State Model Standing Orders. Regarding this case, you may issue a Charge Sheet or Show Cause Notice and conduct a 'Domestic Enquiry' to take appropriate action.

Regards,

PBS Kumar

Dear Kumarji,

Thanks for the clarification.

I have had the discussion with my professional colleagues on the following questions that may be essentially asked in this case. The concerted opinion is also given in capital letters.

1) Is it required to apply the provisions of model standing orders in the case of a senior managerial person who has administrative and managerial authority? == NO. NOT REQUIRED.

2) If so, can this manager make a claim under the ID act claiming to be a workman and hence the non-observance of the procedures of domestic enquiry a lapse? CLAIM WILL BE UNTENABLE IN THE EYES OF THE LAW.

3) Will there be a violation of principles of natural justice by initiating direct action under IPC - NO Violation will be deemed in case of breach of trust and misappropriations.

4) Are there not enough cases where the very provisions of certified and model standing orders have been set aside by the apex court? YES.

Based on the above, the suggestion was made to seek direct initiation of proceedings under criminal law. I would request to enhance this discussion with additional information. Kind regards,

Dayanand L Guddin

A manager drawing a salary of 50,000/- may not be a workman under The Industrial Disputes Act. However, the salary is not the deciding factor for determining the status of an employee. If the concerned person is primarily performing duties of a managerial nature—meaning they have independent authority to take actions, sanction leave, and bind the company through their official capacity as an employee—then they are not considered a workman.

In such cases, you can terminate the services of the manager by utilizing the termination clause in the appointment order. Alternatively, if the company lacks separate service rules, disciplinary action can be taken by adhering to the Model Standing Orders, which detail the procedure for disciplinary action.