Employee Lost Appointment Letter: Should HR Issue a New Original or Office Copy?

Dear All,

We have an employee in our company who has misplaced his appointment letter. He has requested the HR department to issue a new letter for him. Should I give the original letter (on the main letterhead) or will the office copy suffice? This is a rare case, and I have never come across such a thing in the past.

Regards, Arti Shah

Such an irresponsible thing!!

Well Arti, it's not a big deal, dear. You can give him/her an office copy that you have kept duly signed by the employee while giving the joining of this employee. But you need to ask the employee for the same copy and how this happened, as this is not a good thing and also shows that something is wrong. Is this a new employee or what? Try to find out whether he/she is happy with the current situation/working conditions. It seems to me that the employee is looking for a change and has to show this to the other employer or something similar.

In the end, issuing a copy of the appointment letter to the employee is not a big deal.

Thank you, Anil and Babu. Well, he is a new employee who just joined us in January. His reporting manager has emailed me and requested a new copy of the letter.

Regards,
Arti Shah

Dear Arti,

Sometimes it happens. Nothing to dwell on this. Moreover, you also received an email from his reporting manager regarding the same, so you can proceed with that. Simply forward that email with your feedback to your head, obtain his/her approval, document it, and reissue the appointment letter.

Thanks & Regards

CRK

On the basis of a written request from the employee, you may give him the copy of the original letter.

Regards,
Vasant Nair

Give him another original letter and in the footer just mentioned reissued on <<today's date>> come on friends use some sense, humans are bound to make some mistakes, and when educational institutions, including the state boards, issue duplicate certificates for 12th, degree, etc., what problem should you have? Certainly, State Board certificates are more valuable than your appointment letter. So issue immediately. ASAP, and report back on what happened.

Can someone tell me what the significance of the Appointment Letter is in India? I am mystified why this is such a big deal. In this case, surely you can just photocopy the office copy and give it to him. The HR Manager can note on it that it is a copy to replace a lost copy and sign accordingly if there is some sort of legal significance.

As you have received the mail, please issue him the appointment letter. Write on it "Duplicate Copy" and mark the same in your database for future reference.

Regards,
Shaikh

How can you part ways with your office copy? Don't you need to keep it in your records? A photocopy or a fresh print is perfectly okay.

After taking the written statement, give him a duplicate copy and write in front of the second copy with the original signature. No problem.

It is common. You can issue another appointment order by copying from the copy order kept in his personal file with an endorsement "DUPLICATE".

Regards

Dear Arti,

You say this is your new employee. He reported in January this year and has lost an appointment letter. He must be careless. He ought to, as everybody else should, photocopy that valuable paper. I really do not know if he still needs it to remind him of his tasks or responsibilities. If this is so, unless he bizarrely needs to use it for job hunting or something like that, give him a copy of the original, and that's it, no big deal. In this age, I still doubt that he needs a lost appointment letter if he has already reported. Give him a confirmation letter.

Regards,
Ken

Nothing is wrong with providing another copy of the appointment letter to the employee, as you are not handing over a copy of the recruitment letter to any person other than the concerned employee. However, if you feel any hesitation, you can mention the words "Duplicate Copy" at the top of the appointment letter.

PS Dhingra
Chief Executive Officer
Dhingra Group of Management & Vigilance Consultants
New Delhi
dcgroup1962@gmail.com

Dear Arti,

I find nothing wrong in issuing the individual with a fresh copy of the appointment letter. I hope that the original copy is preserved with your office records. Firstly, to me, it seems to be an innocuous thing. It might be that the reporting manager or some other senior has asked for a reference. Even in the worst case scenario, if he wants to use it as a tool for switching over, besides taking preventive measures, our hands are tied. So please go ahead and provide the documents with an endorsement as "DUPLICATE COPY."

Thanks,
DS

Subject: Lost Appointment Order

Err is human. The employee lost the appointment order. What does an HR person have to do?

Get a request letter from the employee briefing the loss of the appointment order. Put it in his personal file, inform your higher-ups, and issue the same appointment order without changing any data, details, or terms and conditions, etc. Mention the same date originally stated in the order, issue it to him, and get it signed on a duplicate of the order.

Implications: You will establish a good relationship with the employee, and word will spread that the HR department is considerate, not autocratic. Legally, nothing adverse will happen to the organization. Instead, a positive atmosphere in the organization will begin.

We need not expose his weakness by mentioning the duplicate, etc. If it is mentioned, he cannot use it for his future purposes.

As far as possible, as an HR person, we have to help the employees in maximum possible ways without damaging the organization's interest or deviating from the organization's rules.

No rule in the organization is an iron corridor. It can be bent for the employee's benefit with the approval of the higher-ups, and the same rule can be amended in writing to suit the situation and made public. The trend is dynamic, and we must adapt to the changing scenario.

V. Selvaraj
Sr. Executive (HR)

John, have you ever been to India? You sound pretty derogatory. Although I am mystified that you would ask what its significance is in India?

Significance of the Appointment Letter in India

Can someone tell me what the significance of the Appointment Letter is in India? I am mystified why this is such a big deal. In this case, surely you can just photocopy the office copy and give it to him. The HR Manager can note on it that it is a copy to replace a lost copy and sign accordingly if there is some sort of legal significance.

Regards.

As you have received the email, please issue him the appointment letter and include "Duplicate Copy" in it. Also, make sure to mark the same in your database for future reference.

Regards,
BN

[QUOTE=Arti Shah; 1458238]

Dear All,

We have an employee in our company who has misplaced his appointment letter. He has requested the HR department to issue a new letter for him. Should I give the original letter (on the main letterhead) or will the office copy suffice? This is a rare case, and I have never come across such a situation in the past.

Regards,
Arti Shah

Hi,

You can issue him the fresh appointment letter stating "duplicate" on the top of the letterhead, with a covering letter stating that it's a duplicate copy provided to you upon your request as the original copy is lost.

This is not a big issue; issue the same at the earliest, duly signed by your authorized signatory, and mark the same as duplicate.

Thanks & regards,

Sumit Kumar Saxena

[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons], [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

You can issue him another original letter, but it must carry the same date, and the same person must sign it so that there will be no difference whatsoever.

Now, ESI set up the online procedure. Our company recently came to the ESI zone, so we obtained the ESI code recently. Unfortunately, one of our employees fell in the workplace and has back pain. We provided medical treatment to him and referred him to ESI. I also submitted the accident report to the branch office. The ESI branch manager visited our company, completed his procedure, and asked me for all employees' declaration forms. Following his advice, I sent the declaration form to the ESI office. The ESI manager then requested the ESI remitted challan. However, I am unsure how to generate the challan online without registering employees' data.

I spoke with the ESI manager and explained the situation. I mentioned that without registering employees' data online, the ESI challan cannot be generated, but he disagreed with me. Now, what should I do? Please help me.

Hi All,

I have carefully read all the replies and I believe that the appointment letter is significant, especially for individuals who are either freshers or have very little work experience. Otherwise, they might not care much because their work knowledge enables them to stand out in the position when appointed to a new assignment.

Only thoughtful, hard, and honest work counts everywhere. It is the path to success and the ladder to higher positions.

Kavitha,

I have no intention of sounding derogatory. I am just curious as to why this is such a big deal. It's only a letter. So, I am asking, what is the significance of this letter. I am not sure if it is a common practice in Australia, but I have received letters on joining an organization setting out duties, pay scale, leave, etc. It just goes in a file and gets forgotten. So, I am curious about why it is important in India.

As for visiting India, yes, but I have only been on a very short visit to Mumbai.

To allay any fears you have, Kavitha, I have no dislike of India or Indian people. I have Indian friends and very much look forward to visiting your country again. I would also like to run training courses there one day.

Thank you, everyone, for your valuable answers. I think I can handle the matter very easily now.

Regards,
Arti Shah