How Do I Write a Verbal Warning Letter for Late Passport Return After Vacation?

Hi,

Could someone kindly help me with how to write a verbal warning letter to an employee who has not returned their passport after coming back from vacation? The employee worked for 6 days after the vacation and then gave their passport to the HR department after being requested to do so by staff.

Thank you,
Veni
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As the passport is the property of the employee according to the Indian Embassy, we cannot demand or warn him to return the passport. Therefore, you may inform his Operations Manager or Project Manager to convince him to return the passport; otherwise, his salary will be stopped or he will be terminated.

Regards,
Bhupathi
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

My staff belongs to the Philippines. He had gone for a two-month vacation and has not returned the passport to the HR department after his vacation. After five days, HR asked for the passport, and he then provided it. Due to this, we need to issue him a verbal warning letter. I require the proper format for it.

Regards,
Veni
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

A verbal warning means an unwritten, oral, or spoken warning. So, he can be warned that if he repeats this behavior, he will be terminated and repatriated, or that the number of days (if he fails to return the passport) will be treated as absent days, and he will not be paid the salary for those days. You can post this notice at the passport section and instruct the employees to read the message when they receive their passport.

HR Formalities for Passport Management

I handle HR formalities for 12,000 employees in our group. In our company, we use a form called "Notification of Return from Vacation." Upon returning from vacation, employees should submit this form along with their passport. Upon receiving the form and passport, the passport controller verifies the arrival stamp, ticks on the passport received, and signs it. After the Project Manager and Operations Manager sign the form, it will be forwarded to Payroll to initiate the salary process. This helps to reduce risks.

Regards

[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

We do have a procedure in place where any employee returning from vacation is required to fill out the resumption form and submit their passport. However, my staff member failed to follow this process, and therefore, I would like to issue him a written verbal warning letter.

Regards,
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

HR Payroll and Passport Retention in UAE

This matter should be related to HR Payroll. As per UAE regulations, the employer does not have the right to retain the staff's passport.

Regards.

First, arrange to make the formal inquiry about this. If he did the willful default by not submitting the passport, then you can issue a warning. However, before issuing the warning, you should inform all workers of the procedure/terms regarding this, such as "the return of the passport along with the required documents to HRD is a standing order of the company." Even though the government rule is against this, the company has the right to maintain its standing orders and governing rules. Following the official procedures will help eliminate such problems, like collecting the workers' ID card and security pass before issuing the passport and returning them upon the passport's retrieval.

If all these practices are already implemented in your company, you can issue the warning to your HR staff only, inquiring about his default (not collecting the passport from the returning vacation candidate).

Thank you,

Regards

Understanding Written vs. Verbal Warnings

It seems that you are questioning the distinction between a written warning letter and a verbal warning. In most cases, a written warning is considered more formal and documented compared to a verbal warning, which is typically given verbally without written confirmation.

Employee Passport Handling

As for the issue of an employee handing over their passport to HR, it is important to clarify that an employee's passport is indeed personal property and should not be required to be surrendered unless there are specific legal or company policy reasons for doing so. Employees should always be cautious about providing personal documents such as passports to their employers unless there is a valid and lawful reason for the request.

Regards

You cannot claim the passport of an employee as a right because it is their personal property. It is the only proof they hold while staying in any country to present to the police or any other authorities. If a foreigner is caught without a passport, they can be arrested.

You can obtain a copy of the passport for submission of the details of foreigners engaged by your company to get registered in the Police Commissionerate of your district.

Employee Passport Handling: Rights and Responsibilities

Why would you want an employee to return a passport? A passport is a personal document of an individual, and an employer has NO RIGHT to take it. Under no circumstances should an employer force employees to hand over the passport.

Regards

What you write cannot be verbal. Under which company law do you or your company think that they could ask an employee to give you his or her passport? Do you demand it as the passport authority? This is a government document given to an individual and by no means is the property of any company in this universe. You might ask for a photocopy but cannot insist on having the passport. Just try asking or insisting an employee submit his passport to the company on a company letterhead duly signed by the authority and see what action can be taken.

Regards.

Dear Veni, please be informed that keeping someone's passport in your possession is a very serious offense. This falls under the scope of forced labor. As HR, it is your responsibility to inform management about the organization's well-being. Do not consider issuing a warning for the failure to surrender the passport. This offense, I am certain, could have serious consequences for the management and could result in legal implications under the Indian Penal Code.

Please be cautious.

Replies to the effect that a verbal warning cannot be given in writing are absolutely right. Verbal warnings are given for a lapse that is not serious enough to be recorded or call for a major or minor penalty and placed in the personal file but can be ignored. A verbal warning is given by calling the person concerned and informing them of the lapse and cautioning that the repetition of the lapse will attract a minor or major penalty. The fact that the person has been given a verbal warning is recorded in a register, and the employee who has been warned and the person who has given the warning sign the register.

Different organizations follow different procedures, but to my knowledge, the gist remains the same.

Regards,
Col. Suresh Rathi

Drafting a Warning Memo

I presume that what you intend is a warning memo in writing. This can begin and end in the following manner:

To ....

Dear Mr.....,

You had proceeded on leave from .... & ..... for a trip outside the country. On your return and reporting back for duty, you were immediately required to submit the passport duly as per the company's policy. You failed to do so and returned it only after 6 days after being reminded by the HR department.

You are hereby advised to avoid such recurrences in the future and comply with the rules and regulations of the company.

Signed (By the Concerned Authority)

Hope this draft meets your requirements.

Regards,

R. Sairam

[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]
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Format for a Warning Letter

I presume that it is a warning letter that you intend to serve on him. This can be in the following format:

'To
…
Dear Mr. …,

You were sanctioned leave from … to …. On reporting back for duty as per the company's policy, you were to return your passport to the HR department, which you failed to do. Only after you were reminded did you return your passport after 6 days. You are hereby advised to avoid such recurrences in the future and to comply with the company's rules and regulations.

Signed (By concerned authority)'

Hope this helps.

Regards,
R. Sairam
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Dear Mr. Sairam, This person is a foreign national, and keeping the passport of a foreign national may land the person doing so in jail. Have you considered this fact? Please think again.

Dear kamalkantps, I am not aware of the law of the land from where this query has come from. I presume that their law permits it. I have only provided the draft of the memo, and it is expected that the person on the other side would issue such a letter after applying his mind.

Regards, R. Sairam

I think the query is from Saudi Arabia (ISD Code +971). Even though there is a rule that passports of the employees should not be held by the employer, the rule is seldom enforced. It is a common practice in almost all companies (including some very famous MNCs!) to hold the employees' passports.

Solution for Retrieving Passports

The solution for getting the passport back is to withhold the salary. This will bring the employee in line with your company policies.

Regards,
RK.

More or less, every country has the same provision that every foreigner must carry their passport everywhere they go. This is a mandatory requirement. In this case, the person is Filipino, so even if they are in any country, the first presumption should be that detaining somebody's passport is illegal, as it is the sole acceptable Identity Verification Document worldwide. Issuing a warning letter on such a matter may be like inviting an angry bull to hit you from the back.

Regards,
R. Sairam