Rehiring an Ex-Employee: Do We Need a New Appointment Letter and Employee Code?

Rehiring an Ex-Employee: Appointment Letter and Employee Code

This is Abhilasha. I am working with a small IT company with an employee count of 40, and I am the only person responsible for all HR activities in my company. I need HR help on a new issue that has arisen. We are planning to rehire one of our ex-employees who is returning after a 2-year break. We had previously provided her with an experience and relieving letter when she left the company.

My question is, do we need to issue her a new appointment letter with all the company-defined terms and conditions? Also, should we assign her the same employee code she had before or provide her with a new one? If anyone has a format for a re-hiring appointment letter, please share.

Thank you.

Rehiring an Ex-Employee: Key Considerations

This is Abhilasha. I am working with a small IT company with an employee count of 40, and I am the only person responsible for all HR activities in my company. I need HR people's help on a new arising issue. We are planning to rehire one of our ex-employees who is returning after a 2-year break. We had previously provided her with an experience and relieving letter when she left the company.

Issuing a New Appointment Letter

My question is, do we need to issue her a new appointment letter with all the company-defined terms and conditions? Should we give her the earlier employee code or assign a new one? If anyone has a format for a rehiring appointment letter, please share.

I understand that the employee code allotted to one person cannot be issued again to anyone, regardless of being a new or old/ex-employee. Although she is an ex-employee, she has advanced her skills, knowledge, and experience during her time away. It is also not guaranteed that the employment conditions will remain the same over the years.

Treating the Rehired Employee as New

You must treat her as a new employee, issue a new appointment letter, assign a new employee code, and create a new file with her updated documents, including her current experience cum relieving letter (for the period she was with other employers until now), an updated CV, contact information, current communication details, and other necessary statutory documents.

Regarding the appointment letter for this employee, as mentioned earlier, she should be treated as a new employee, and you can use your current appointment letter format. While an old/ex-employee may have some benefits, it is crucial to follow the proper hiring procedures.

EPF/ESIC Code Considerations

As for issuing her a new EPF/ESIC code, I hope you are updated on the regulations from the department. You can use her existing EPF number with the employer, as transfers are also possible. For more information, you may visit the "Official EPF Portal."

In short: treat her as a new employee and complete the necessary tasks.

Regards,
Abhilasha

Rehiring an Ex-Employee: Key Considerations

You are hiring an ex-employee for a different span of employment. Every span of employment is different, and different spans have different contracts of service. The service conditions might have also changed, as the learned member Mr. Anil has opined. Therefore, you need to treat her as a new hire and issue her a fresh appointment letter.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
In-House HR & IR Advisor