How Can Employers Track Down Absconding Employees with Company Equipment?

Tracing an Absconding Employee with Company Equipment

In an interview, the interviewer asked: If a person is absconding and has taken official equipment like a laptop/desktop with him, and is untraceable on the phone, and the address provided is also fake, then in that situation, how can an employer trace him? Is there any law by which we can trace him? Please help.

Can we file an FIR with the details of the laptop/desktop? The police officials will trace it with the help of the machine serial number.

Thank you.

To avoid these circumstances, companies are executing very strict background verification procedures. In 90% of situations, it won't happen, as every organization takes good precautions.

Options for Tracing an Absconding Employee

But if this is the case, there are a few options:

First of all, the company could proceed legally for stealing its properties.

One option is to check with his previous employer's details and get the address and phone number.

Another option, if the company is processing salary through a bank, is to check for his details with the bank as an employer. In fact, these details are provided by HR, so the HR database will have the exact information given to the bank.

Check with Post Graduation/Graduation Colleges for the Permanent Address.

Gmail offers IP location tracking. If you saved your password for Gmail, the thief may inadvertently (or intentionally) access your email account, which would identify their location. Look at the bottom of your Gmail page for "last accessed." It will show the IP addresses used to read your email.

Or, if there is anti-theft software installed on the laptop, there are chances to trace it.

With all the above suggestions, you can also place a newspaper notice about the employee, along with his photo, detailing the theft. By doing this, the employee will not be able to escape or secure a job at another company.

Thank you.

Steps to Address an Absconding Employee with Company Assets

With all that said above, proceed in the following order to obtain the best possible result:

1. Lodge an FIR with the local police authorities, providing details of the company assets lying with the absconding employee. Ensure that the employee is actually in an AWOL condition and not on uninformed forced leave due to certain family or personal issues. You may cross-check with employees who have been close to him or her and/or on social websites.

2. Check with the previous employers, if any, and also try to find the permanent address via academic institutions.

3. Check for online profiles on job portals.

All the best.

Regards

You are required to publish his photo in the newspaper and direct him to hand over the laptop, etc., within a specific date. On the other side, you can lodge a criminal case against him at the police station with his photo and request the police to search and take appropriate action as per criminal law.

Regards,
D. Gurumurthy
HR & IR Consultant, Hyderabad.

Follow the straightforward route—file an FIR for theft. This is the best option. Let the law take its course.

In an interview, the interviewer asked: If a person is absconding and has taken official equipment like a laptop/desktop with him and is untraceable on the phone, and the address provided is also fake, then in that situation, how can an employer trace him? Is there any law by which we can trace him? Please help.

Best Practices for Employee Verification

If this is asked in an interview to an HR professional, the best answer, according to me, is that the employee has to be verified well in advance before handing over the official equipment. The verification of employees can be done through many ways, such as PAN Card details, Photo Identity issued by a Government Authority, Address Proof, Aadhar Card, etc. Once all these are verified, the offer of employment or appointment is made. Thereafter, with certainty, the official equipment can be handed over, wherein there is minimal chance to provide fake proofs.

During the interview, you should inquire about the company's policy regarding reference checks for employees' backgrounds and obtain the contact details of the provided references. It is essential for the company to have employees sign the "ASSET UNDERTAKING" before issuing any assets.

You can respond in the following manner: "Although we may not be able to locate certain employees who have absconded, we can attempt to reach out to them using the contact information provided in the Employee Application Sheet or by contacting their previous employer. However, we can learn from this situation the importance of conducting reference checks for all current employees and verifying the contact details they provide. This process ensures the security of our company's assets."