Can We Rehire an Employee Immediately After Termination with New Terms? Seeking Advice from Senior Management

Dear Senior Management,

I have an issue at my organization. A few days ago, we had discussions about the performance of one of our employees and found it unsatisfactory, as we had already warned him/her about it. Ultimately, we issued a termination letter.

Now, our top management is considering retaining him/her with some new terms and conditions, even though he/she was instructed to submit all assets related to the organization. We have a policy stating that rejoining is only possible after 3 months once an employee has left the organization.

Please advise me on whether we can retain him/her with the new terms and conditions or if he/she should wait for at least 3 months to rejoin.

Regards,
Manish G

Internal Policy Deviations

It is just an internal policy for certain reasons. Internal policies can always be deviated from in certain cases with specific approval from the CEO.

In some companies, such an internal policy deviation requires specific approval from the Managing Director. You can re-employ him with immediate effect, and there is absolutely no problem with this.

Dear Mr. Manish G,

Rehiring Employees After Termination

Subsequent to the firing of any employee due to layoff, performance, closure, or any other reason, any employer can fairly rehire them "at will" at their discretion. For example, deploying an executive from an MNC during their termination is meant to show that they could be fair and square in retaining talent, especially in the case of top management. It is always a fair game, and it does not matter as the terms of their employment are flexible, marking the start of a new phase. [It's not time to worry yet]

Regards

Handling Employee Retention After Termination

Terminating an employee's service based on unsatisfactory performance and then deciding to retain them on different terms and conditions can be seen as a mockery of the company's HR policies.

Nevertheless, you need to determine if the employee is interested in continuing after receiving their termination notice. If they are, HR should ask the employee to submit an application addressed to the CEO, requesting another chance to serve the company. This application may be presented to the CEO with your comments and recommendations for approval. In your recommendations, you may suggest the revised terms and conditions of your offer, which should have been discussed with the employee in advance. This process may help in saving face for HR.

As pointed out by others, an internal policy can be reviewed at any time without constraints. However, it needs an amendment if the policy was in writing.

Regards,

Rehiring Policy and Decision-Making

As Mr. Bhatia opined, the whole issue reflects poorly on the decision-making ability of the top management and HR when it decides to rehire an employee whom it judged as incompetent. When you have a policy in place regarding re-employing a person after three months, it should normally be adhered to. However, if the policy also allows for relaxation of this condition, the competent authority can invoke such a provision and should record their reasons for relaxing the condition as a prudent administrative practice.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
Mumbai

Management is the supreme authority in the private sector. They can hire and fire at will. We all know this. So, if they want to re-employ that guy, let them do so. All the HR personnel have to do is cover their tracks, i.e., get proper documentation, such as obtaining the MD's signature on the document.

Thank you,

Shiva

A million thanks to all...  The same feeling I was having was that it is a kind of mockery of HR policy, and whatever the decision of top management is, the existence of HR personnel should not be put at stake. Although we are obliged to follow the instructions of our superiors, what I felt was that the policies are meant to smooth out the business operations, so there is always a scope for manipulation in most organizations.

Regards,
Manish Gupta