Dear All,
I have a typical incident in one of our branches.
We have a cashier "Ramesh" (name changed) and his job responsibility was to handle cash. One day after closing of the day's cash, next day he saw around Rs.1,08,000 cash was missing from the cash box. He has the locker key, Bureau Key and also the Cabin Key (both the sets).
Once it was brought to the notice of management next day, we tried to find out how that could happen and Mr. Ramesh conveyed that Mr. Suresh (one month's old in the organization) - his friend in accounts Dept - was there with him the previous day evening to help him count the cash. But both the people in preliminary enquiry could not say any convincing answer for the missing cash and blamed each other for this.
Management kept these two people under "suspension pending enquiry" from Middle of February2011. There were other formalities like issuing them charge sheet, receiving of replies happened and management initiated domestic enquiry against these two people. The enquiry proceedings are recorded and we are yet to receive Enquiry Report from the Enquiry Officer.
in the meanwhile we have held salaries for these two people for the month of February 2011 and we also confiscated Motor bike belonging to the casher - Mr. Ramesh. We shall release this to him on settlement of this issue
Now my question is
1. Can management hold salaries of such people when there is ticklish issue that too w.r.t. (look like) embezzlement of cash? Can we do so?
2. Does Management have right to hold such personal property of an employee in the above case?
2. I know when we keep an employee under suspension, we need to pay "Subsistence Allowance" as per provisions of law. Whether Ramesh has missed the cash or Suresh has stolen the cash, we do not know. Nevertheless, as a cashier, Ramesh is responsible for accounting the cash, do you agree? and he is responsible for make good the loss, right? In this circumstance:
a) If we release the subsistence allowance we would be losing that money also?
b ) If we do not, then it would be viewed as contravension of the act i.e. not paying subsistence allowance
c) If labour law is strict in paying subsistence allowance very particularly, what the same labour law offers to management in recovering the money from such employees?
3. How to recover the money then?
Experts, please go through this live case study and alert me with points and how to go about it further, and the legal points that I may have to concentrate.
In the meanwhile Ramesh has already written a letter to us to release his salary and give back his motorbike, else he will take up this matter legally, it seems.
Balaji
I have a typical incident in one of our branches.
We have a cashier "Ramesh" (name changed) and his job responsibility was to handle cash. One day after closing of the day's cash, next day he saw around Rs.1,08,000 cash was missing from the cash box. He has the locker key, Bureau Key and also the Cabin Key (both the sets).
Once it was brought to the notice of management next day, we tried to find out how that could happen and Mr. Ramesh conveyed that Mr. Suresh (one month's old in the organization) - his friend in accounts Dept - was there with him the previous day evening to help him count the cash. But both the people in preliminary enquiry could not say any convincing answer for the missing cash and blamed each other for this.
Management kept these two people under "suspension pending enquiry" from Middle of February2011. There were other formalities like issuing them charge sheet, receiving of replies happened and management initiated domestic enquiry against these two people. The enquiry proceedings are recorded and we are yet to receive Enquiry Report from the Enquiry Officer.
in the meanwhile we have held salaries for these two people for the month of February 2011 and we also confiscated Motor bike belonging to the casher - Mr. Ramesh. We shall release this to him on settlement of this issue
Now my question is
1. Can management hold salaries of such people when there is ticklish issue that too w.r.t. (look like) embezzlement of cash? Can we do so?
2. Does Management have right to hold such personal property of an employee in the above case?
2. I know when we keep an employee under suspension, we need to pay "Subsistence Allowance" as per provisions of law. Whether Ramesh has missed the cash or Suresh has stolen the cash, we do not know. Nevertheless, as a cashier, Ramesh is responsible for accounting the cash, do you agree? and he is responsible for make good the loss, right? In this circumstance:
a) If we release the subsistence allowance we would be losing that money also?
b ) If we do not, then it would be viewed as contravension of the act i.e. not paying subsistence allowance
c) If labour law is strict in paying subsistence allowance very particularly, what the same labour law offers to management in recovering the money from such employees?
3. How to recover the money then?
Experts, please go through this live case study and alert me with points and how to go about it further, and the legal points that I may have to concentrate.
In the meanwhile Ramesh has already written a letter to us to release his salary and give back his motorbike, else he will take up this matter legally, it seems.
Balaji