Retrieval Of Company Assets Such As Laptops, Blackberry Etc

Dear friends,
One of the common problems that I have seen is the non-returning of company assets such as Laptops, Blackberry etc by the exiting employees. This problem becomes even more serious when the company is quite big with many locations. Some employees just put in their resignations and stop coming.
May I seek your kind support in seeking your kind views to encounter such an eventuality?
Kind regards
Sandeep Sharma

Hi Sandeep,

Company assets such as laptops, cell phones etc are a valuable assets, not only in terms of cost but also the information contained within them. This information belongs to the company as well.

Therefore, it is imperative that the asset and the information is protected at all times, but especially when an employee resigns or is terminated.

To do this, you must have a robust policy, which must be referred to in the offer letter. The policy must mention the consequences of returning the equipment within a set time period ( I usually set a period of 24 hours).

The consequences can range from withholding pay and/or relieving documents to reporting the equipment as theft as well as theft of company information.

The procedure should start with the employee signing a declaration of receipt of such assets; their use, limitations and duty of care.

The assets should be periodically checked by a manager.

The employee must sign a declaration upon resignation, handing back the equipment via a Handover Form.

In the case where an employee resigns and stops coming their manager should pay a house visit to recover the equipment immediately.

Where the company has several locations then this should be controlled by the local manager, who by virtue of his/her position automatically assumes responsibility. (This too should be covered in the policy).

I hope the above helps.

Regards,

Harsh

Dear Sandeep,

Your main problem is you do not have a proper policy on the allotment of company assets to the employees.
It appears that your audit department is also laid back. Why they did not raise this point earlier?

Anyway, for making policy on allotment of company property to the employees, you may check my following previous replies:

https://www.citehr.com/336602-policy...ml#post1544266

https://www.citehr.com/375356-ex-emp...ml#post1725508

Ok...

Dinesh V Divekar
+91-9900155394

Hi Sandeep,
As Mr.Dinesh said earlier you have to make a proper policy while employee joining the organization.you have to take a written confirmation from the employee if he didn't return the assets with in given time period you will take a legal action accordingly.
Thanks & Regards
Mounika
Hr Recruitment Lead
Blackrock Systems

Dear Sandeep,
To avoid this problem, there is a best solution which i used in my previous company "Company Dues Form". My company offices was into various location. First i did the study of the things which is giving by company and then prepared the form and distributed to each location under the leadership of station head.
This form include the all department detail like sales, accounts, HR,admin & IT.
Note: now i am looking a job in HR generalist profile or Administration. Kindly suggest me for the same........
email id: [Login to view],
Kasim Ansari
+91 9757297856

Hi all,
I think it should be mentioned strictly in the employee agreement as well you can withhold the exit documents and offcourse during the full and final settlement you make a separate letter which mentions about the company assets and terms and conditions while he/she serves notice, Make sure the employee's current address, numbers everything is in place and reference details are done carefully this will definitely help you for absconding cases. Create a exit checklist the minute you get a resignation mail, start the process.

Dear friends,
There is another area connected with this that I notice. In no policy, such as the laptop policy or for that matter any other assets policy, we define the following:
1. The role and the duties of the stores department which is responsible for the purchase of such items-reconciling their records on a regular basis etc etc.
2. The role and the duties of the audit department towards the audit of company assets on a regular basis.
Would appreciate if you could kindly throw some light on this especially covering the duties in detail.
Very kind regards
Sandeep Sharma

Dear Sandeep,

Ideally, Asset Register should be maintained by stores professionals. However, in India, the quality of stores professionals is so low that we cannot assign them this kind of work. If not stores, then someone else should maintain the asset register. That also does not happen.

Nowadays advanced software is available to track, monitor the company's assets. For every asset mentioned in the register, there should be a loan card. The assets that are allocated for the use of some department, i.e. computers, printers etc, HOD is responsible for their ownership. This loan card is part of their handing/taking over the process if they leave their job or go on the long assignments.

If the assets are allotted to the individuals then for each personal allocation there should be a loan card. This loan card should be renewed every quarter. They are expected to surrender when they quit their job. For those who fail to surrender, the proportionate economic value should be debited from their full and final settlement.

Companies do not maintain their assets properly because most of the companies start as private limited companies. The owner might not have worked in a professional company. Above all, there could be ego that "we are doing business for thousands of years". Secondly, the owner's relatives occupy many positions. Trust is the driving factor to occupy these positions and not necessarily professionalism. As the company grows these persons become Directors. Since the Asset register is not maintained properly, at a later stage it is given short shrift. I have seen a couple of companies when they were forced to introduce asset registers when they went public.

Your second question is about the audit of the assets. It is the job of the internal auditor to audit the company's assets. In most cases, internal auditors report to CFO or Head Finance. If an audit is not done properly then it appears that your Finance Head is also laid back. Tell CFO or Head Finance to make the duties for the internal auditor.

Your last sentence "Would appreciate it if you could kindly throw some light on this especially covering the duties in detail." is not compatible with the designation that you hold. I can understand if some HR Asst or HR Executive asks "details". A lot of discussions has happened earlier and that should be sufficient for the person of your stature. Spoon feeding would lower the dignity of your designation and we do not wish that to happen in an open forum. My comments are quite straightforward. But I feel that these are needed too.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar
+91-9900155394

I take the liberty of making a general appeal. We should search CiteHR first for information already available using the RESEARCH facility at the top before posting a query; and then ask precise questions giving enough information about the scenario. For example, if a search had been conducted we would have found links in the sidebar at the side of the box.
I searched the web, as my wont, and found a good policy document at http://www.ubuhlebezwe.org.za/wp-con...ION-POLICY.pdf

Dear Dinesh,
Thanks for your contribution. Remember, a man can always learn and more importantly you are never perfect. Seems you never understood what was implied. Anyways............
Wonder, you will agree with what I say ?!?
Kind regards
Sandeep Sharma