Can a Staff Member Be Suspended Without a Show Cause Notice? Seeking Legal Insights on Duration

Hi, In my private company, one staff member working as an Officer behaved very rudely and had a verbal fight with the HR Manager. He is not perfect in his given assignments and delays the work purposely. The company wants to take legal action against him by suspending him for a few days.

Query on Suspension Without Show Cause Notice

My query is whether he can be suspended without giving him a Show Cause Notice. For how many days can he be suspended?

Regards, VSH

No employee can be suspended under disciplinary action for any incident without a proper inquiry after receiving an explanation for the notice.

Hi, the whole enquiry process should be unbiased and without any prejudice.

Direct suspension is not possible. As per the process, issue the employee with a show cause notice, get an explanation, and then proceed with suspension.

Issue a Show Cause Notice and then order a domestic inquiry. Following the report from the Inquiry Officer, you can initiate further steps.

Depending upon the gravity of misconduct, an employee can be suspended pending an inquiry. During the suspension period, the employee has to be paid a subsistence allowance as per the provisions of the standing orders. A charge sheet should be issued to the erring employee, and the inquiry should be conducted within the stipulated time. If the charges are proved beyond doubt, you can punish the employee as per the provisions of standing orders. If the charges are not proved, the employee will be paid full salary less the subsistence allowance already paid.

Regards,
R R Kapoor
Vadodara

I did not understand that when any employee has committed misconduct, we hear, "He is not proficient in his assigned tasks and intentionally delays work." I would like to inquire, have you ever issued a notice to him for not meeting management expectations, or is the decision to suspend him solely based on a conflict he had with HR?

Moving on to your point, you cannot suspend him without a show-cause notice or conducting a domestic inquiry. Without an inquiry, how can you establish his guilt?

Suspension as a Punishment

Certain Standing Orders provide for suspension as a punishment for up to three days. Before imposing suspension as a punishment, there is a need to issue a charge sheet/notice. Suspension pending disciplinary action is also possible. Where the allegation is so serious that the presence of the delinquent employee is likely to prejudicially affect the disciplinary action, an employee can be suspended without the need for issuing any notice or charge sheet. As per Supreme Court guidelines, cases of suspension must be reviewed every six months to decide whether to continue the suspension or not.

You may decide the matter in light of the legal position outlined above.