Can an Employee Be Marked as Absconded After Paying Dues and Receiving a Relieving Letter?

Hi all, I am Afzal. I have a doubt regarding the relieving letter of an absconded employee.

Questions about Relieving Letters and Absconding
1) If an employee has a genuine relieving letter from the organization, does that mean he has not absconded?

2) After paying all dues and FNF (notice buyout), can the organization mark that employee as an absconder?

Hi, if the employee is relieved after the proper notice period with a relieving letter issued by HR, then the same cannot be considered as an absconding case.

Hi V.M. Lakshminarayanan, thank you so much for the reply. The employee has his relieving letter, but the employer marked him as an absconder. Does an absconding employee receive a relieving letter or not? After paying the notice buyout to the employer, does the employer have the right to mark that employee as an absconder?

Hi, An official relieving letter is the proper proof that an employee has been properly relieved. Merely paying the notice period amount will not be sufficient; the employee should receive a proper relieving letter. The employer's decision to mark an employee as an absconded case internally is their prerogative. However, the employee can provide a relieving letter as a defense for future employments.

Relieving follows the termination of employment, regardless of the reason. An absconding employee gets terminated, and thereafter, the organization can issue a relieving order indicating any sum or other things due. An absconding employee leaves the organization without serving the notice period; the organization can issue a relieving order indicating the adjustment of the dues payable to the employee against the sum due. This is done in many government organizations/PSUs. Unless the employee is relieved, he/she continues to be on the rolls and can have a claim.

Thus, it may be seen that an employee having a relieving letter could still be said to have absconded. It is possible that even after paying all dues and FNF, the organization still marks that employee as an absconder.