How to Handle an Employee Who Resigned but Is Absent and Working Elsewhere?

Handling Employee Resignation and Absence

One of the employees in my organization has submitted a resignation letter, but he has been absent for about a week while serving his one-month notice. We have been attempting to contact him via calls and SMS but have been unsuccessful in reaching him. Additionally, he is currently in possession of the company's laptop.

Furthermore, one of our employees has encountered him at the new company's office where he has already commenced work with the new employer during his absence.

I kindly request your insight and advice on how to proceed in this situation and what kind of correspondence should be sent to him.

Your sharing of experiences is greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Regards,
Cherry

Addressing Employee Absconding

What has happened is not absence, but absconding. You need to treat it as such. You need to immediately send a notice asking the employee to report to work and also state that he needs to return the laptop promptly. Specify that legal action will be taken if necessary.

If he does not respond, you can file a criminal complaint for the theft of the laptop (assuming you have evidence it was given to him). You can also communicate with his new company, informing them of his absconding status and his failure to return company assets. Mention that you are planning to file a police case, in which they could be involved.

However, you should first discuss the matter with your management to determine how far you wish to proceed in this situation.

Handling Absconding During Notice Period in India

In general, in India, anyone who takes leave or doesn't attend duty during the notice period faces the scenario of the notice period getting extended by the duration of absence.

However, in the case of your employee, it surely doesn't seem to be such a case, as he was found working in another company. This would be a case of absconding.

Like Saswata Banerjee mentioned, prepare the ground for filing a criminal case. I suggest consulting your company lawyer to ensure you follow all the steps that will be in conformance with Malaysian laws. Given that lawyers everywhere would think the same way, I am pretty sure he will find ways to add some more charges to the criminal complaint (information theft could be one—after all, the laptop would contain a lot of data).

Communicating with his present company about your intent to go legal would surely be a good idea to bring the guy to you. To the extent I know about Malaysian laws, his present company would take this quite seriously, and I wouldn't be surprised if this guy gets into trouble with his job.

All the best.

Regards,
TS