What Can We Do About an Employee Who's Been Missing for 3 Months with Company Assets?

Hi all, we hired a GM who was on probation for 3 months. After 6 months, one day he did not come to the office after requesting the overall P&L of the company. Since then, he has not replied and has been absent from the office for 3 months. We have sent a legal notice and several emails to his personal email address, but he claims not to have received the notice. However, we have not terminated him.

Please Help with the Following Questions:

1. Can we stop his salary for this period?
2. Can we recover damages?
3. Can we publish a notice in newspapers without a judicial order?
4. He has taken our laptops, official client data, mobile, and other assets.

Please assist me.

Regards

This scenario is not new in industries. It's unclear why the legal notice has been sent. If your firm has a proper leave policy and treatment for absconding cases, then this situation is reduced as, during the induction program, awareness is created on what to do in such a situation. If the laptop and other data are with the employee, notify him to return the same with a letter sent through speed post as evidence and issue a show-cause notice. If the client information has also been taken, which constitutes theft, then with evidence, you can file an FIR. There's no need to pay the salary; it can be done with a full and final settlement. If the employee has worked for a few months in a firm, they may not mention that in the resume, so the question of a relieving letter may not arise.

Regards

Hi all, we hired a GM who was on probation for 3 months. After 6 months, one day he never came to the office after asking for the overall P&L of the company. Since then, he has neither replied nor come to the office for 3 months. We have sent a legal notice and several emails to his personal email address, but he has not received the notice. Since we have not terminated him, please help us with the following:

1. Can we stop his salary for this period?
2. Can we recover damages?
3. Can we publish a notice in newspapers without a judicial order?
4. He has taken our laptops, official client data, mobile, and other assets. Please help me.

Salary Payment and Absenteeism

Have you paid him salary for the 3 months he didn't report to work? Ideally, if a person is not coming to work and has not informed about it, as HR, we should initiate the activity to find out the matter. We should try to call, send messages, and emails. If there is no response, we should send a formal letter stating the consequences if he or she doesn't report to work by the due date and deliver it to the person's residence. Even after this, if the person doesn't report to work, we can take further action. But I still don't understand why we should pay a person who is not reporting to work. Do you not have enough evidence to prove that he has not been reporting to work since a certain date?

Yes, we have paid him 3 months' salary, and every time we got a lot of excuses. In 3 months, we can judge the intentions of anyone. We have sent emails, texts, and even a legal notice, but he is not picking up the phone. We don't have his appointment letter; it has been misplaced from our records. Therefore, we don't have anything to prove that he has signed the duties and responsibilities. However, in his official mail, we have a lot of things like targets, working procedures, etc. So now the question is, can we publish a notice on Facebook or social media forums?

We will have to pay him for the last 15 days' salary, which we have not yet paid him.

Yes, we have paid him 3 months' salary, and every time we got a lot of excuses. In 3 months, we can judge the intentions of anyone. We have sent emails, SMS, and even a legal notice, but he is not picking up the phone. We don't have his appointment letter; it has been misplaced from our records. So, we don't have anything to prove that he has signed the duties and responsibilities. However, in his official mail, we have a lot of details like targets, working procedures, etc. So now, can we publish a notice on Facebook or social marketing forums?

We will have to pay him for the last 15 days' salary, which we have not paid him.

I think you were generous enough to pay him a salary for 3 months when he did not report to work. Are you in HR? Are you a fresher? Do you have someone to guide you in your company? What does your senior have to say about this?

For a Better Presentation of Matters:

1. You appointed a person at the GM level.
- Do you mean General Manager?
- Did you do a background verification before the appointment?
- Did he have any previous experience?
- Did he submit copies of his relieving letter, address proof, etc., while joining?

2. You do not have a copy of the appointment letter you issued to him since it is misplaced. But do you have proof like an attendance register, etc.?

3. How do you pay him salary?
- By cheque or direct bank transfer?
- If by cheque, how do you ensure it is deposited by the concerned person?

4. Who suggested you put this matter up on Facebook or other social media sites?

Regards.

You have already made a mistake by paying him a salary for the last 3 months even though he has not been coming to the office. Additionally, you don't have a copy of the appointment letter to prove that he is your employee. Emails and reports do not provide sufficient evidence that he is your employee.

However, you can file a legal complaint if he still has not returned the laptops and other items. Also, you must have a leave policy as well as a policy for dealing with absconding employees; follow those policies and terminate him.

Moreover, you can send an email to all your clients informing them about the actions of this individual and stating that he is no longer associated with your company.

Please issue the notice for absenteeism. Inform him in the communication that legally, you will issue the notice in the newspaper. If he is not able to join the organization or report, then we will terminate his employment with us. He will definitely contact you; otherwise, terminate him without pay.

Thanking you,

Regards,
Ashish