Employee Absent During Notice Period: Can We Deduct 20 Days' Salary from Final Pay?

If an employee gives a 30-day notice period for resignation on May 15, 2012, and does not report to work after 20 days, until June 9, 2012, what action should be taken against him? Can 20 days' salary be deducted from his full and final settlement on June 14, 2012?

Please reply and help resolve this issue.

Thanks,
Sandeep Dahiya

If I understand the situation correctly, it is as follows:

1. Date of resignation: 15th May 2012
2. Date of relieving: 14th June 2012
3. On leave from: 20th May 2012 to 9th June 2012
4. Will join duty on: 10th June 2012
5. Will get relieved on: 14th June 2012

If these facts are correct, he has given notice for one month and has availed 20 days of leave duly authorized by you.

If he has leave to his credit, then treat this leave with pay, and you must pay his salary. You also received notice from him on 15th May, and you are relieving him on 14th June. That means you cannot deduct any amount towards the notice period as he has served a 30-day notice on you.

If the employee does not have leave to his credit, then treat the period as loss of pay. Even then, he has given you notice for 30 days, and you cannot deduct any amount towards the notice pay.

If he has remained absent and gone without obtaining prior approval, then do not allow him to join duty on 10th June. If you have sent communications stating that he is remaining absent and will be deemed to have gone without notice, then you can deduct notice pay.

But if he has remained absent and if you have allowed him to join back on 10th June, it will be deemed that you have condoned his absence, and no adjustment on the notice period can be made. However, you do not need to pay salary for the period of absence.

Regards,
Sivasankaran

First of all, thank you for replying with details.

Question on Notice Pay Deduction

One more question: if he leaves without approval after joining on June 10, 2012, and we allow him to work without the proper sanction of duty, can we deduct 20 days' notice pay from his full and final settlement?

Regards,
Sandeep

Handling Employee Absence During Notice Period

The moment you allow him to join, you are condoning his absence. You can deduct wages for the same. You cannot deduct wages for the period treating it as a loss of pay and deduct notice pay as well. There are two issues:

1. Loss of Pay or Leave with Pay
If he does not get prior approval, you have the right to treat it as absence and need not pay salary for the period.

2. Shortfall in Notice
The moment he has given a letter in writing, he has issued a notice to you and the countdown starts. When you allow him to work on the 10th, you condone the absence, and the period from 15th May needs to be treated as the notice period, which ends on the 14th. Unfortunately, no one gives a notice period as 30 working days; we just mention it as 30 days.

Regards,
Sivasankaran

I appreciate all your comments except "Do not allow him to join." I could not understand how anyone can adopt such a practice. If he remains absent without approval, you have all ways to deal with him as per the law, policy, or rules. In my opinion, this is a very bad practice from any company because such actions totally breach the principle of natural justice.

If the notice period is 30 days and you have not issued him the relieving letter, then you can ask him to work for extended days of absence since the notice period is in days and not in months. If the employee does not wish to continue after the 14th of June, you can deduct his notice pay.

Regards,
Mangesh Wakodkar
Aurangabad

I beg to disagree with Shri. Sivasankaran's views. During the notice period, no one is supposed to take leave even if it is available to his/her credit. The employer has the full right to deduct salary for the 20 days he/she has been absent. Only serious medical cases can be considered for "No Penalty" by the employer.

Sanctioning Leave vs. Absconding

Sanctioning leave is different from absconding. If one has a good relationship and has completed all work, and their boss says their leave is sanctioned, they can proceed on leave.

If an employee absconds for twenty days and comes back, they are trying to be smart and cheat the company. Only in such cases, I would advise the organization to be tough.

Leave During Notice Period

There is no law that says a person cannot avail leave during the notice period. They may have Casual Leave (CL) which they can avail. They can avail Earned Leave (EL) if it is sanctioned. Sanctioning or not sanctioning is the prerogative of the company. Generally, many employees may like to avail some leave during the notice period, which is justified as they cannot avail leave for the next year with the new organization. If they give one month's notice and avail 15 days leave, there is nothing wrong provided they have completed all their assigned jobs.

Thanks for your observations. I am conscious that this is a little harsh and is against the principles of Natural Justice. I was recommending based on situations, and the person on the spot must assess the intentions of the resigned employee and take a decision.

Thanks

Regards,
Sivasankaran

Leave Policy During Notice Period

Normally, we should not allow anyone to take leave within the notice period. However, if someone does take leave, he/she should be prepared for the consequences as well. Whether an individual is eligible to take leave within the notice period depends on the company policies. Depending on the individual's conduct and tenure, only the process head/supervisor can approve the request and relieve the individual without any issues.

My personal views on such a subject are: The person who has submitted their resignation should be dealt with softly rather than introducing new and harsh policies, as they are already separating. There must be genuine reasons for the prolonged absence that need to be identified, and steps should be taken to prevent such occurrences in the future.

People's departure is a significant setback for any company and its HR department; therefore, there should be a conducive working environment and policies in place to minimize employee turnover.

I completely agree with Tsivasankaran, except that the leaving employee should not be allowed to rejoin after leave. Even Anshoo suggested a good point. Nowhere in the law (as far as I know) is it mentioned that no one can take leave during the notice period. Let's not shift our focus to the departing individual; rather, let's concentrate on those who are currently with us. Taking further action against him may lead to more problems. It is understood that he had informed the authority of his absence. If he has leave due and applies for it, the leave may be granted. No leave, no pay.

Notice Period and Unapproved Leave: A Complex Situation

As per the above discussion about the notice period served, a question arises in my mind. If a person worked for an employer and, due to uncertainty (family problems), he is asking for leave but it is not sanctioned, and the person goes on leave to attend to family matters. Even though his father is hospitalized (ICU) due to heart problems, he is asked by the employer to resign on humanitarian grounds as he needs to attend to his father whose life is in danger. The employer accepts his resignation and immediately appoints a former employee to take his place. However, when the person asks for his 12 days' salary and full and final settlement, the employer states that he didn't serve the required 3 months' notice period, despite already appointing a new employee in his place. Now, the person is helpless and in a very critical financial condition due to his father's bypass surgery and the burden on his family.

In this connection, kindly share your views and suggestions.