Is It Legal to Terminate a Probationary Employee for 3 Days of Uninformed Absence?

I am the HR for a start-up company. Our policy is that if an employee in the probation period is absent for three days or more without informing management, then it is grounds for termination. This has been communicated to the employees as well. Please let me know if this is legally feasible to do so without any further notice to the employee.

Is it clearly mentioned in the appointment letter? If it is mentioned, then you can terminate them. At the same time, you should communicate the same to the employee by mail/registered post.

Please refer to the standing orders of your company. If the standing orders are certified and contain the clause you mentioned, then you can terminate the employee. However, at the same time, you should have justifiable evidence of the same. For example, if he is on probation and did not inform management before taking leave, you should actually warn him once or twice through a letter stating the clause. Even if there is no change after that, by referencing the letters issued, you can take action.

I hope this is helpful to you.

Regards,
Rajeev Dixit

If the employee falls under the workman category, you may be courting trouble by enacting such a provision for summary termination of service for just three days of absence.

Regards,
B. Saikumar

Thank you for the help! It is of great use to me. However, it is not mentioned in the offer letter regarding termination. Since it is for a domestic BPO I'm working for, can I draft a policy regarding the same, have all employees read & sign it? Then I can initiate termination procedures if they are absent for more than 3 days. We are having a lot of issues with attrition, and we are thinking of implementing stringent measures to cut down such leaves. Please let me know your thoughts regarding the same.

Thank you,

Megha

Instead of sending a termination notice, why can't you send a show-cause notice to report to duty within 72 hours or 3 working days from the receipt of the notice? Otherwise, the employer will be forced to take strict action, up to termination. Even after the show-cause notice, if they do not report, you can take action, i.e., termination, since you have already informed the concerned employee.

[QUOTE=megha14;2089676]

If your company has well-defined service conditions for the probationers and permanent employees, and such conditions are explained in the appointment order, and the employee has given an undertaking for having accepted such conditions, you can proceed as per the law.

However, you should consider that remedies do exist for the probationer as well. If he approaches the Civil Court for a remedy, the Court will definitely admit his case as a matter of sympathy. Because he has not violated any law of the land, he has not caused any loss or damage to your company or to society. The Court will advise the Management to give him an opportunity to defend himself against the proposed action. Under these circumstances, Management is bound to act accordingly.

Therefore, Management can serve a warning notice duly reminding him about the conditions of the appointment and terminate him if he repeats his act within the probationary period. This will help the probationer retain his appointment, he will respect the Management, and it will increase his morale.

I hope you may agree with my suggestions.

SPKR

18.9.13

Good Afternoon,

Please tell me the procedure to dismiss or discharge a worker.

Thank you.