Can I Terminate an Employee for Leaving Work Without Permission? Seeking Legal Guidance

Hi, Our XYZ employee has been working at our company for the last 3 years. He is on a roll at the company. One day, he came to work on his regular shift but left the premises without obtaining permission from the concerned officer or punching his card.

Termination Process for Employee Misconduct

Can I terminate this employee after giving a show-cause notice if he accepts his mistake? If yes, please inform me under which section of the Factory Act I am terminating the employee.

Please advise.

Hello Mr. Saste, I think before making a decision about termination, you should talk to the concerned employee about why he left without permission. If the reason he presents is not satisfactory, you can give him a verbal or written warning to prevent its recurrence. If he accepts his mistake, giving him a chance to improve is worthwhile.

You mentioned he has been working for the last 3 years, so considering this, a dialogue with him is more appropriate to decide the course of action.

Dear Vikrant Saste,

Alike many other HRs, you are focusing on a person rather than an incident. Before issuing the show-cause notice, gather the information on the following points:

a) The employee left the workplace without due permission. But did his supervisor or the manager notice his absence, or were they informed by someone not from their department?

b) Why did the security personnel allow the employee to go out? Did they not question him for his unauthorized exit?

c) Whether the security personnel questioned the employee or not, did they inform the HR department about the unauthorized exit? Otherwise, how could the HR Department come to know about the employee's exit?

d) Unauthorized absence from the workplace is misconduct. Has the employee committed misconduct for the first time, or is it a repeated offense?

e) Does your company have certified standing orders? Is unauthorized absence listed as misconduct in the standing orders?

f) Did tension brew between the employee and his manager? Was the employee disgruntled?

Whatever the compelling circumstances may be, the employee cannot leave the workplace without proper authorization. If this trend continues, it will become difficult to restore a culture of discipline. Therefore, you may issue the show-cause notice, wait for the reply, and then decide on the punishment to be awarded.

By the way, the proposed punishment of termination from the services is too harsh. There is a famous quote by Abraham Maslow: "If the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything starts looking like a nail." It appears that since you have power at hand, you wish to exercise it with full vigor. Well, gentleman, please be aware of the risks associated with the excessive use of force. "There is a difference between enforcing discipline at the workplace and driving it like a nail."

Even after awarding a punishment of a lesser order, as the previous senior member Ms. Parkhi has said, the situation merits follow-up counseling. Does your company have someone competent to counsel?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

I presume he went out without information, permission, or punching during his duty hours. Termination is a capital punishment for 'not so serious' acts by the employee concerned. It's sufficient, either orally or in writing, to obtain an explanation from him. He may have his explanation for the unusual act. It may even be a result of 'impulse control disorder' (ICD) he suffered at that moment. Hope he has not repeated his 'walk out'. As long as it remains 'not habitual' in him, you'll have no cause of action to inflict harsher punishment. For the time being, it would suffice to leave him with an oral or written warning and mark him absent for half a day.