Is an Employee Entitled to Pay After Quitting in Just Two Days Without Signed Documents?

An employee from my organization stopped coming after two days of working with us. On the third day, I received his reply to my email saying that he is not interested in pursuing the job further. Now, he is asking for his salary for those two days. There were no hiring documents signed with him. Is he still entitled to the two days' salary? Also, what are the legalities involved if we don't pay him?

Looking forward to your guidance.

Regards,
Ritu

This is what many HR professionals are mistakenly doing by not providing the appointment on the date of joining and not completing the employee application form on the same date. Only when problems arise do we realize the seriousness of the issue.

If an employee is requesting payment for two days, inquire whether they are willing to serve the notice period (assuming there is a minimum notice period for probationary employees).

Steps to Address the Issue

If you have not issued the appointment letter or have not received a signed copy from the employee, take the following steps:
- Issue three notices to the employee informing them of the need to serve the notice period.
- Subsequently, send a termination notice.
- This will provide strong evidence that the employee is absconding.
- Proceed with the Full and Final (F & F) calculation to recover any outstanding dues from the employee.
- This approach will likely discourage the employee from returning to your organization.

Please let me know if you require further assistance.

Best regards

All the unpaid amounts, fines, and salaries must be remitted to the respective state labor welfare board.

There are no legalities if you don't pay him. He is not eligible for pay in any manner; he is just trying his luck. Moreover, it will put him in a mess if he tries to act unusually.

How can you send a notice to an employee and ask him to submit a notice period when you have not issued an appointment letter or offer letter? I fully agree with you, sending three absconding letters and then a letter which mentions that the employee's services are no longer required. All the letters should be sent through registered post, and the receipt of the same should be maintained. That is all.

Regards,
Sunjoo

He won't get anything. He is not entitled to receive anything. He has absconded after TWO days, so treat him the same way as you treat other absconding employees.

I suggest sending him an absconding letter to his postal address if you have it, or to the address mentioned on his resume.

Regards,
Sunjoo

On what basis will you send an absconding letter to an employee? It is a big mistake on your part not to issue an appointment letter before the employee worked for two whole days. If there is no appointment letter signed by the employee, on what basis will you send the letter if the terms and conditions of the appointment are not agreed upon by the employee?

Just do a simple thing: ask the employee to come and collect the dues, and ensure all the requisite forms are completed. It is not a big issue to pay for two days of salary.

Regards,
Shish Ram Uniyal
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Dear Shish Ram, any employee joins a company only after receiving an offer letter. So, if the employee has that letter with them, it is mandatory for the employer to send the absconding letter to the employee if they had joined the company for only one day.

Regards,
Sunjoo Dadroo

Handling Employee Absenteeism and Salary Claims

Firstly, you have to ask him to complete the notice period before you are liable to give him payment. However, you have to generate his payment for fulfilling legal dues such as PF, ESI, and professional tax. You can hold his salary and send him a warning letter for absenteeism. If he proceeds with legal action, you must have certain documents to produce. He may try to protect himself by claiming that you have not provided him with letters. In response, you can inform him that since there is no appointment letter, there is no formal relationship of employer and employee, and therefore, he cannot claim for salary.

Nothing to be paid or worried about, since he worked only for 2 days. No offer or appointment was issued, so just neglect it. Don't reply or revert to his emails. In case his name is entered in attendance, just mention it as an observation, then declare unauthorized absence, and remove the name from attendance.

We are all speaking of rules, regulations, right, wrong, etc., as if we were policemen or military officers. Fortunately, the very concept of HR is that every employee is an asset to the organization. Since he has worked for 2 days, it is our moral obligation to pay him the salary for those days. If his appointment was irregular, we, HR, are squarely responsible for that. We always say "No work, no pay"; the converse is - "Since he worked, we have to pay." So, pay his dues with grace and set a good example of a professional organization! Also, please remember every outgoing employee is a goodwill ambassador for the company.

Regards,
Dr. T. Thomas

He had worked with your organization for two days, and the HR department did not issue an appointment letter. Now, you are not sure whether to pay him the remuneration he is entitled to for tendering two days of work.

Think about what would happen if any mishap or accident occurred to the employee. How would your organization pay compensation? It could be imagined.

If you kindly reflect on these events, especially by putting yourself in the image of an employee who is going to join your organization, how would you have felt two days after joining? Whatever you felt, if you find it bad, it is because of the culture of the organization. Sorry, HR has also contributed to this.

You, as HR, recruited him. He joined. You accepted his joining to serve your company. It means he was worthy enough to be part of your organization. He stayed for two days. He felt something. He found some reason to leave. He believes in those reasons. And you lost him.

It is like love.

I humbly recommend sending him his two days' salary. Ask for his feedback. Try to think about it. Ask your management to waive off any notice period, and at last, never close your door for him.

By this small step, you are going to make a small change in the organizational culture. If ingrained, it will invite a new dawn of promises we hope yet to see…

Agree, in my past assignment, I found that the person who was in my place was making the same mistake. I immediately stopped it, and at the time of joining, I made it compulsory to sign the appointment letter.

Regards,
Govind

Well, first of all, check whether your company has a standing order or a common handbook. If you wish not to pay, you can go by the rule mentioned there. However, the most important question is why this employee decided to leave within 2 days? You must introspect on it.

Regarding legal complications, nothing will happen as nobody is going to fight a legal battle for 2 days' salary.

Regards,
Govind

No Offer/Appointment Letter Sent

No offer/appointment letter sent to the employee means no terms of employment. I have no idea what kind of position the employee held within the organization and what responsibilities were conferred upon him. From your inquiries, I could understand that the tasks performed by the employee in question could have been completed by any other employee.

In such circumstances, if you believe that the employee has deceived the management or if the salary for the days worked is significant, then cease payment to him. Otherwise, please disburse the payment.