Can We Legally Terminate a Contract Employee on Medical Leave? Seeking Advice

Dear members, In my company, one contract employee has been on leave for the past 5 days without providing any information. When I informed our GM about this, he instructed me to terminate the employee. However, on the 6th day, the employee's mother submitted his medical certificate. Despite this, the GM is still insistent on terminating the contract employee. Is it possible to terminate him? What are the laws related to this case? If I terminate him, what issues and legal problems might arise? Please provide your valuable comments.

Regards,
AKHIL S
HR EXECUTIVE
CHEVROLET

Dear Akhil,

What do you mean by 'Contract Employee'? Is this person employed through a contractor and is not on your payrolls? If yes, then please ask your contractor to provide a substitute and recall this individual.

V K Gupta

Adding to the above reply, if he is a contract employee of the company itself, have a look at the contract between the employee and the company and act accordingly.

Of course, if the person was really sick, terminating him/her would be unjust. Equally, if it was a first error, then a warning would be adequate.

Hello Akhil,

Like Nathrao mentioned, please confirm if he is on your company's contract rolls or the contractor's. The choices/options you have will depend on this factor.

@ MadanagopalaSwamy-- The suggestion you provided makes a basic presumption, which may not be true and thus could be misleading and misdirected.

Regards, TS

Instead of terminating his services, why not wait until the contract expiry date? Not renewing the contract is better than termination. However, you need to consider his sick leave; the only offense he committed was not informing the company. Please convince your GM to issue a warning letter.