Can We Send a Warning Letter to an Employee Who Stopped Working Without Notice?

Sending a Written Warning Letter

Can we send a written warning letter to an employee who stopped working without any prior intimation to HR? After calling her personally, she is asking for clarification regarding a salary discrepancy. Can we take action against these kinds of employees? Please provide me with any format for a written warning.

Sudden stoppage of work or refusal to work without any valid reasons, such as power disruption, mechanical failure, or lack of safety measures in the workstation, is misconduct that requires the initiation of formal disciplinary proceedings. During an informal inquiry later, if the worker links it to her salary discrepancy, it proves that she acted wantonly. In such a situation, you cannot immediately issue a warning letter to her. It is better to initiate disciplinary action by asking for her explanation and then decide whether to warn her after analyzing her written explanation.

Dear Manjula,

In your company, an employee has stopped reporting for duties due to a perceived discrepancy in her salary. When the HR professional contacted her, she informed them that she would resume duties once the salary discrepancy is resolved. You have viewed her failure to report for duties as a matter of indiscipline and are seeking a draft of a warning letter or show-cause notice for her.

However, we, the members of this forum, view the case as third parties, and the question that comes to mind is why the employee perceives the discrepancy. How long has the employee been working with you, and did any manager give her verbal assurance of a salary hike? Is it possible that when the commitment to the salary raise was not met, the employee felt let down and stopped reporting for duty?

There must be some cause for misunderstanding regarding the salary issue. Finding fault with the employee for her absence is understandable, but please investigate whether anyone else is involved in this matter.

By now, the information about the employee's absence must have spread among the other employees. If she is in touch with them informally, her side of the story could circulate. If other employees also perceive that injustice has been done to her, there is a risk of damaging the company's image in their eyes as well.

In view of this, you may provide us with complete information on the incident. For the members of this forum, the incident highlights the importance of formal communication within the organization. The higher the level of formal communication in the company, the fewer such instances occur.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Handling Employee Absenteeism

Not reporting to work is considered willful abandonment of the job. One can initiate a three-notice process to report back (through registered post) with a 10-day gap for each notice, providing an opportunity to reply. Later, in case of non-reporting, the standing order can be terminated for voluntarily abandoning the job.

Urge the employee to rejoin and follow the grievance management process. If she reports, stop the process and listen to her in good faith, then respond back in writing.

Internal displeasure or disagreement should have a separate mechanism as per each organization's grievance management process or standing orders. There needs to be a clear line on discipline and grievance.

Regards,
Abhishek

First of all, you should find out the exact reason why he or she is not working. This whole problem can be easily resolved by communicating with the employee. If the person comes with a valid reason that requires serious attention, then you should do the needful at the earliest possible.

Now, if he or she refuses to work even after doing all the necessary steps, then you can issue a warning letter. In simpler words, you should rely on a warning letter only when you have done your part and still fail to convince the employee.

Hope it helps you.

If by now the issue is still unsettled, you may wish to contact the concerned individual for a discussion via email or letter, specifying a date and time. Since there has been a raised concern regarding a pay/salary discrepancy, it would be beneficial to understand the problem, address it, and come to a resolution. If there is no response to this communication as well, you may send a notice after the scheduled meeting date to the employee regarding the proposed action of disengagement if they fail to report for duty by a specific date as per the notice.

Thank you.

You could also share a show-cause letter with the employee who stopped working without any prior intimation to HR.