Can You Terminate an Employee Who Moves Overseas Without Notice? Let's Discuss

Hi there, I am wondering if an employee can be terminated if she does not give prior notice, moves overseas on her own, and then sends in a resignation letter. According to me, it is just recklessness towards work, an unauthorized absence from work, and taking client projects and support for granted. Unfortunately, I don't have any supporting policy that specifies termination for moving overseas. However, I believe that this recklessness should not go unpunished since I don't run an NGO and strive to be fair and professional to everyone. Please share your views on this. Let's analyze.

Analyzing the Case of Employee Abandonment

Since you wish to analyze the case, it could be as follows:

• **Abandonment of Employment:** This is a case of "abandonment of employment." These kinds of cases happen everywhere; yours is no exception. In professional companies, before appointment, they ask for an employment certificate from the previous employer. In the employee's case, her future employer did not do that. What can we do for this?

• **Conducting a Domestic Enquiry:** You may conduct a domestic enquiry. If she abstains from the enquiry, then you may terminate her. However, this is only the fulfillment of the legal requirement, nothing else.

• **Organization's Culture Standpoint:** The case clearly shows that she was not engaged with the organization or her work itself. Given a chance, she flew abroad. You or her manager could have picked up clues from her behavior or vibes and could have taken appropriate action.

• **Understanding Organizational Dynamics:** How big is your organization? What is the nature of your industry? Are the employees satisfied with their work or company? Is it that they are working because they do not have alternate means of employment? I recommend you conduct an "Employee Satisfaction Survey" (ESS). Possibly, it may spill some sticky beans.

• **Two Perspectives on the Incident:** There are two ways of looking at this incident. One is to remember the famous proverb "a single swallow does not make a summer" and console one's mind. Another is to take this case as the tip of the iceberg or a sign of employee discontent that has been brewing all along. Which option to choose, I leave to you.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

Do you have ANY Termination Policy—forget for a moment about the employee 'running away' abroad? Please share what it says.

Regarding the employee vanishing—as long as you have a Termination Policy in place, how does it matter whether the employee 'ran away' somewhere within India or overseas? Usually, there's no such demarcation.

Reasons for Employee's Actions

Now coming to 'reason(s)' why the employee didn’t inform anyone—suggest looking into IF there were issues/situations that led her to do it in the first place [something related to company policies and/or practices and/or attitude issues with her superiors]. Many times, the cause(s) tend to be within the company while the focus 'seems' to be on the employee's actions—which could have been a reaction/response rather than the 'action' per se.

That is not to say that there won’t be situations which you mentioned ['taking client project/support for granted']—it’s just that one needs to be sure that this indeed was the reason before any subsequent action from the employer-end is initiated.

Hope you get the point.

Regards,
TS

If the absconding employee has resigned, where is the question of an inquiry? Accept the resignation subject to the terms of employment. Why waste time, energy, and money on an inquiry.

Regards,
Varghese Mathew

Dear Priya and friends,

There are a few pertinent issues to consider regarding the treatment of her termination versus resignation. This kind of abandonment is nothing new in India. Before deciding on "what to do next," it is important to be clear on these issues:

I don't think a "No show" at the workplace is due to genuine recklessness; it must be a well-thought-out plan to go abroad for a job there, most likely. We come across many instances like this. It is irrelevant for taking action whether the employee is in India or has gone overseas. It's just that she is absent. This is because you do not need to search for proof that she has gone overseas, and there is no justifying reason like sickness for her silence and absenteeism now that the resignation has come. If you have no policy of your own, nothing stops you from taking necessary action in the circumstances, whether it is a business or an NGO, as she has been an employee and you are the employer. Now consider the following:

1. How many days was she absent, and what action has the Establishment taken regarding the absenteeism? Has there been no action so far? Was any memo issued to the last known address?

2. What is the conclusion on the resignation? What do the terms and conditions of the Appointment say about absenteeism and the Notice period in case of resignation? As an Establishment, you have a duty to address the issue of absenteeism first. Much would depend on your mindset regarding the first issue in deciding what to do about the second question on Resignation.

Regards,
Kumar S.

Termination of Employment and Resignation

Employment relationships are terminated in various ways. Resignation is one of them and is a unilateral decision that the employee makes without seeking the consensus of the employer. An employee does not need to seek permission from the employer to resign. When resigning, the employee is expected to provide the employer with the appropriate notice of their intention to resign.

In your case, it appears that the employee did not give the required notice period, and therefore, you simply need to accept the resignation with a penalty. This means you can recover a cash equivalent to the appropriate notice period that should have been given. This cash can only be recovered from the terminal benefits the employee was supposed to receive upon termination.

Unfortunately, I am responding to your query from Zimbabwe, and I am not familiar with the labor laws of your country. However, generally, situations of this nature are handled in the manner described above.

I hope this helps.

Many times we see such 'Public Notices' in the newspapers, mostly given by Infotech firms, which state that a particular employee who was sent abroad has abstained from work and is not reporting to the company. They mention that this is a violation of the terms of employment and legal proceedings are being initiated against the employee.

Suggestion for Employee Bonds

I suggest that you immediately implement a system whereby an employee being sent on a foreign assignment signs a bond with the company promising to reimburse the entire amount spent by the company on their posting. This measure should act as a deterrent for any recurrence of such incidents.

Regards,
S.K. Limaye
MBA

You cannot terminate an employee after she resigns. Resignation supersedes termination. Being an NGO, you cannot show your anger for what has happened. What do you achieve by terminating? It only aggravates the situation, which may lead to legal complications. With resignation, the employer-employee relationship comes to an end. Concentrate on your work.

Regards,

Incident of Employee Leaving Without Notice

The same situation happened in our company last Wednesday. He was at a managerial level and headed his department. I should mention that due to our company's policies and strict rules, he fled.

His performance over the last year was not very impressive, but he had over 10 years of experience in the same field and managed to develop his department and work efficiently.

Nevertheless, a similar incident occurred. He left the company car outside the office building, checked out with his family, and instead of going on an official trip, he boarded a flight with his family to his home country.

Next Steps and Legal Actions

Now, what can we do? He was supposed to settle his dues and return many items to the company, which he failed to do.

At this point, we feel helpless. In Saudi Arabia, one positive aspect is that such individuals can be banned for 5 years for such actions.

Currently, we are calculating the amount he owes, and we plan to file a case in the local court. Despite trying to contact him using numbers in his home country, all the phones were switched off.

In my opinion, as a company, we need to move forward. We cannot halt our progress because of one individual.

Regards

Handling Employee Resignation and Outstanding Dues

Since the employee has submitted their resignation, please handle it in accordance with the company's policy for separating employees from the company's services. Following this, proceed to recover any outstanding dues from the employee's final payments. If the employee still has outstanding dues, issue a demand notice to the employee at their known address. If this approach is unsuccessful, consider escalating the matter to the embassy or High Commission of India in that country regarding the employee's abandonment of their position and the potential deportation or recovery of funds (as a last resort).

Additionally, as recommended by Mr. Dinesh Divekar, kindly review the Employee Self-Service (ESS) system and establish a comprehensive company policy that promotes employee engagement and commitment.

Managing Employee Separations

Employee separations, whether due to prior notice, abandonment, or unfortunate circumstances like death, are part of the employment landscape and must be handled based on the specific situation. Emotions alone will not suffice in managing these situations effectively.

Best wishes,