Navigating Device Return Costs: Should Small Businesses Cover Shipping for Resigned Employees?

Company Devices and Return Shipping Costs

What are your valuable views on company devices being sent back to the company upon resignation or termination? Should the company be liable to pay the shipping costs since most IT companies are working from home nowadays?

I have a small business with fewer than 7 employees, and I recently hired a fresher. Firstly, he did not even sign in to the company email provided to him, and for one week, he did not reply to any emails we sent him on the company email. I had to email him on his personal email ID. He failed to give his daily work report to seniors even after multiple warnings. He was being trained and asked to do what we taught him, but we never heard back from him about whether he completed those tasks or not. However, he would join company Zoom meetings for training. Eventually, we had to terminate him within 15 days of his joining date.

The company has a "bring your device" policy, but since he claimed his laptop had insufficient memory, we provided him with a new one at the company's expense. He was required to sign a device policy that clearly stated he was responsible for sending the device when requested or upon termination or resignation within 7 days of his last working day.

Now, since he is a fresher, his 15-day salary is not equivalent to the laptop price. He is asking us to send him his salary and shipping costs beforehand, and only then will he send the laptop.

What are your thoughts? This isn't the first time an employee has requested return shipping costs. I have always reimbursed them, but I would like to know your opinion on whether companies are obligated to pay for return shipping costs even though employees signed a contract stating, "You are responsible for sending back the company device within 7 days of your termination or resignation."

Dear member,

Your post shows that your location is Vancouver, Canada. Is it correct?

Questions related to your post

a) You have written that "He was made to sign a device policy that clearly said that he is responsible to send the device when asked/upon termination or resignation within 7 days of his last working day." However, apart from merely signing the policy document, have you obtained the signature of the employee on the loan card for the transfer of the company's asset from the company to the employee? If yes, do you have a hard copy of his signature?

b) Before termination, why was the employee not called into the office and told to deposit the assets allocated to him?

c) If the employee is asking for the shipping charges, have you advised him to ship it on a "To-Pay" basis? I hope you are aware that when the consignment is sent on a "To-pay" basis, the recipient bears the shipping charges of the consignment. By the way, for a while, set aside the point of who bears the shipping charges. But what if the employee ships the laptop in a broken condition?

d) If the employee is asking for the shipping charges, is it possible for you to send one of the employees to his home to collect the laptop?

e) When the laptop was allocated to the employee, how was it handed over? Was it in person or was it shipped through a courier company? If the latter, then who bore the shipping charges? Were those borne by the company or the employee?

Solution

You can send a strongly-worded notice to the employee stating that his "Full and Final Settlement" is pending and unless he obtains proper clearance, his salary cannot be paid. Therefore, he must come to the office and deposit the laptop. If the laptop is not deposited, the company is free to exercise all legal options. If you have a lawyer in your circle who can send the notice at nominal charges, be prepared for it. When he receives the lawyer's notice, I predict that he will develop cold feet.

Learning in Hindsight

If the employee is required to be terminated in just 15 days, then this calls for a review of your recruitment policy. The individual does not appear to be career-conscious. Why was this lack of career consciousness not detected during the interview? Recently, there was a post similar to yours wherein an owner of a start-up had problems with a pregnant employee. Having a vision or entrepreneurial spirit is fine, but having man-management skills is another thing. Therefore, you may need to review your administrative policies with the help of a third party.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Policy Guidelines for Hiring and Asset Management

There seems to be a lack of proper policy guidelines regarding hiring, induction, and asset management. In this case, the best solution is to reach out to the employee in person, along with legal assistance, to retrieve the assets provided to the employee. If a non-disclosure agreement has been signed by the employee, the company can initiate actions against the employee.