Mal Practice

Dear All,
I am working in manufacturing company based in Baroda. An employee working in accounts department has gone 2 mumbai for official work & when he submitted his expense to HR dept. we found his hotel bill amounting Rs. 4000 fake & on inquring with hotel he is found to be wrong totally.We have the written proof also frm Hotel.
I have presented the same to the management & today we are going to finalise. What should be his punishment? He should be terminated or......??
Kindly give your comments.
Regards,
Vna

Hi Veena
according to me He should be given a written notice and verbal warning . as this is for the first time it has come to the notice of management & in near future if this is repeated action of termination order would be taken .
Regards .
Manali.

Before initiating the action you should give him an opportunity to submit his version hence it is better to organize a domestic enquiry and take action.
Termination may be very high compare to the mistake what he has done hence better to go for 3 increments / reversion etc may be ok becuase he approaches the labour department / court then it should not fire back and the management compelled to reinstate with back wages etc., or if your legal department feels it is ok because he is an employee from accounts hence you can terminate.
Regards - kamesh

I agree with Mr. Kamesh,
1. Consider his past records, his approaches to other deals where such financial transactions are involved. If it confirms, that he has done such things earlier also, try to initiate a complete domestic enquiry process and offer a fianl punishement like discontinuation / termination.
2. If it seems that he has done this at this time only and it involves the money matter, try to go for stoppage his increments / promotions (as suggested by Mr. Kamesh) So that he can be affected economically / professionally and this may remind him his mistake everytime.
But keep the records of all the related documents and proofs with his personal files, so that in future, if such things repeats, you can have the strong previous ground for offering a stern punishment.
Regards,

I agree with Minali and Kamesh too.. a written notice and warning wud be the better option but also you need to make some changes in your policy related to expenditure so that no one try to do this in future.

I agree with Mr.Anil, if your organization is big then identify some specific hotels in the cities where your employees are visiting and have a tie-up so that this type of mis-appropriation of funds won't happen and also you will get some concessions also, the same with your travel arrangements.

One more important thing most of the employers will forget that in some cities the employees may be having their relatives and they may be staying there with their relatives, when you are staying with the relatives, against the same you may be purchasing and giving some thing to them or their children so to cover that this type of fake bills ( boarding & lodging) might be submitted and take the money instead company can directly add one more condition in the travel policy that if the employee is not staying in the hotel and making their own arrangements then 50 or 60% of the eligible amount can be claimed with out any bill. This type of proactive initiatives if you have then it will be win-win situation for both, similar with the travel also like the employee might be going by his own vehicle along with his family hence better to pay his eligible amount by taking an undertaking from the employee along with the fuel bills.

Regards - kamesh

Also can set an eligibility amount for domestic Metro or Non Metro travel ....Well the suggestion by Ms Kamesh is highly appreciable

As said by kamesh, my company allows 2/3 of the travel allowance if we stay with relatives or own house. In this way, both are benefitted.
Pon

i get lots of issues like this in my company and i follow this method
if first time happening Verbal warning and notifying him that company follows up things ( chance for correction given)
if he is doing the same for second or third time go for written warning and ask for explanation in writing
if he is a repeated offender please go for the process of termination or ask him to resign on grounds of mal practice
please as HR make sure you have the support from management and your team support on this case
always leave the final call with the management

Hi
You may also look into the aspect whether the employee is on probation or he is confirmed. If he is on probation (new recruit) you need not have an elaborate process to Inquiry.
However, the incident should be seen in larger perspective of his day to day work culture to know about his personality. If he consistently deviates from the standard accepted norms, it could be a cause of concern
regards
Raghuram