Employee Caught Moonlighting: How Should We Address This Situation?

Dear Seniors, One of our lady employees is going on private work under the guise of duty. One day, when we tried to contact this employee, a family member informed us that she had already left home and might be on duty, but she was actually absent that day. Please suggest what actions we can take against this employee.

Regards,
Satya Narayan

Let me try to give you some advice. I think that you should first check if the duty of your staff was her private work and not related to the job at the company. From your explanation—one of her family members mentioned "she might be on duty," implying that they are still unsure about what your staff was doing at that time. To address this matter, you should ensure that your staff did not violate company policy. Any further action should be taken accordingly.

Best regards

I agree with Theerapong; you must ensure that her on-duty presence was authorized by her superior and that she has completed the assigned task. If either or both conditions are not met, you can then proceed with disciplinary action, though not suspension. The situation is not severe enough to warrant suspension. Furthermore, if you do suspend her, you must initially pay 50% of her wages, which can increase to 75% and then full wages if the domestic inquiry is not completed within 180 days.

Regards,
Jayakumar D P

This is in addition to what the previous two members have said. Have you spoken to that employee? What is her reply? Did you inform her manager about your call to her home? What kind of work had her manager assigned to her? Has her manager cross-verified whether it was done? Does she have proof of work?

By the way, why did you feel the need to call her residential number? Why did you not call her mobile?

If she was absent, did she fill out a leave application before her departure? If not, then you should make an LOP for this day.

Some personal work is inevitable. However, absence for the whole day and that too without authorization is not understandable or acceptable.

Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar

Many thanks for your suggestions. As you already asked, I have confirmed with her department head that she has no outdoor work. We have proof that she is going to private places with her friends under the guise of duty. That's why we called her residence number.

Probationary Period

Another important point is that she is currently on a probationary period.

What is your view on this matter?

Regards,
Satyanarayan

What you have pointed out is not very uncommon in industries. Here are some of my suggestions:

1. Since the lady worker is a probationer, you may notify her about her approach towards the work, which may lead to an extension of her probation period.
2. You may issue a letter asking her to explain the reason for her absconding from the workplace without authorized permission. A warning letter can also be issued.
3. You may mark her "OUT" from the point of time she is found to be absconding from the workplace without sufficient and reasonable cause/permission.
4. If the above actions do not yield a positive result, you may request/propose to the Competent Disciplinary Authority to set up an inquiry and deal with the case as per the Standing Orders/Certified Standing Orders applicable in the establishment for that category of employees. Please ensure that your actions are not biased.

Best wishes,

AK Jain, HR Personnel NCL, CIL.

Ideally, even when an employee has outdoor work pertaining to his/her functional area, at least his/her supervisor or manager should be aware. One needs to specify the purpose and timing of outdoor work when leaving the office. Some organizations follow the protocol of writing an email to inform about going out for work, and later a report needs to be submitted to the reporting manager regarding the work done by the employee.

Instead of relying on incomplete information, it would be beneficial to establish a system for outdoor duties. This will help in the future as well, as such recurring issues can be better addressed with a formal procedure or policy in place.

In this particular case, a memo could be issued to the employee, requesting her to state the purpose and outcome of her outdoor work on that day.

Hope this suggestion helps.

Regards,
Anil Richhariya AM-HR GMR Group

Many thanks for your valuable suggestions. After discussing with my HR Manager, he simply told me to issue a warning letter and to extend the probation period for 2 months. As per my manager's decision, in the future, she has to follow the company rules and regulations; otherwise, she will be dismissed without any prior notice. I am so happy for this website from which I have learned so many things.

Regards,
Satyanarayan

First, you need to check with your employee regarding this issue. If the reason for her absence from the job or for doing personal/private work is not satisfactory, as she initially mentioned it was for duty, you can warn her. If it happens again, then you should take strict action or consider suspending her.

Interesting case and some really good advice. I'm glad that things are now kind of normal and have been worked out, but I think I need to address an important issue that was being discussed in this conversation.

Level of Tolerance in Organizations

The issue was "what is the level of tolerance that any organization - big or small, should exhibit towards their employees - probationary or permanent, when it comes to gross misuse/abuse of the system or indiscipline."

Has the extension of the probation period actually solved the core issue, or has it just allowed the fire to cool down and given everyone some breathing time before a similar fire starts again? Ideally, the employee should have been asked to leave immediately. Since you had all the proof and relevant information, asking him/her to leave would have been valid.

Setting an Example

Why am I proposing such drastic action? Because sometimes you need to set an example for the message to go across the organization. Sometimes you need to be a "bad guy" to ensure "good" for your organization. Tolerance is good... at the right place and with the right person.

A person on probation is just starting their relationship with you. Everyone tries to create their niche in the organization at this time. If a person is doing anything that is not in any way helping them build their relationship within the organization, believe me, 99% of the time the person is not staying there for long. They are just there for the ride! Do they deserve the tolerance? Definitely not!

Of course, this would have been different for a person with more history in the organization. But then that's my way of looking at it... ;-)

Cheers,

Navneet