Employee has resigned and cannot serve the notice period or buyout because of the COVID crisis - how do I manage the policy?

An employee has resigned and cannot serve the notice period or buyout, because her whole family is in covid crisis. But as a parent organization & being responsible to the client where the employee was deployed, how do I manage the policy?

Dear WaspHR,

The facts of the case are not so clear. You could have given a proper background of the case and then raised the query.

The sentence-wise comments are given below:

An employee has resigned and cannot serve the notice period or buyout, because her whole family is in covid crisis.

Reply: - COVID infection of the family members of the resigning employee and her notice period, how it is linked is not understood. To cater to the needs of the family members, she can take leave. If there is no balance then she can take Leave Without Pay (LWP). Generally, the duration of the notice period is 60 days whereas the COVID-19 infection lasts for two weeks.

But as a parent organization & being responsible to the client where the employee was deployed, how do I manage the policy?

Reply: - Which policy you need to manage? What exactly is the issue? Has the employee asked for a waiver of the notice period?

We are at the peak of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. You or your management could have shown foresight on how to handle the eventuality if the staff members or their families are infected with this viral disease. What planning you had done to manage the sudden absence on account of infection?

Please provide detailed information.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Hi,

In My Opinion:

Please check whether your Contract with the Third Party / Client contains a Force Majure Clause.

You should be empathetic towards the concerned employee and let go of any such compensations during the such pandemic.
Generally these compensatory clauses are built in so that no individual takes undue advantage. eg : Leaving the job without intimation, leaving the job at a crucial time, etc...
However, the present situation is not the same and does not warrant for any Penalties.

Reagrds,

Mayank Lad

You need to follow the systems or policy of your establishment follow in the matter of sudden demise of an employee. This case has to consider in same fashion as you well aware of the situation of the employee (cannot serve the notice period or buyout) or you can adjust the receivables of the employee against buyout but take an approval note of top management while doing so.

Deploy a new person at the place of your client where the employee was posted. Your officials need to discuss with the client for new deployment of personnel as the old person is not in a position to continue work as goes on long leave.