Employee Absconded After Resignation: Can We Take Legal Action or Trace Him?

Dear All,

We're a leading company in the engineering sector based in Mumbai. The issue is that one of the employees has submitted his resignation and has been absconding since then. He has not yet completed his notice period.

Please advise on any legal action against him. What if he has already joined another company? Can he be traced and penalized?

Graham

Dear Graham,

In my opinion, if he has to assign responsibility to someone or if he possesses important documents, then he should be served a notice to hand over the charge/documents to his department, and appropriate action may be initiated against him. Alternatively, if he has submitted his resignation and no such formalities are necessary, then obtain clearance (No Dues Certificate) from the respective department and settle his dues after deducting the notice period as per the terms of the contract/Appointment Letter.

Thanks

Dear Graham,

It depends on the terms mentioned in his appointment letter. If a notice period is mentioned and he has absconded without complying with the same and has not surrendered office property in his possession (files/documents/office equipment - mobile, laptop, internet card, etc.), then action can and should be taken.

I would recommend that you consult your in-house Legal Dept or perhaps an HR Lawyer.

Meena

Dear Graham,

I think you can go with Anuj and go beyond him only if he is due to settle anything with your company; else, just clear everything and forget about him.

Do let me know how you handled it in the end.

Regards,
Amith R.

Dear All,

The way we do it is a bit different. If an employee absconds after resigning, we send a show-cause letter to his/her permanent address. If the employee fails to respond within the stipulated time, we close the file without making any settlement and do not issue any letter to the said person.

I hope the contribution adds value to my fellow HR colleagues.

Thanks and Regards,
Tanuj Vaid

"Courage is not the strength to go on, it is to go on when you don't have strength"

Dear Graham,

You can send him a Show Cause letter and give him some days to come back, which I think he won't. Then, you can send him a termination letter and close the case. However, if any company assets are still pending to be submitted by him, then I think you should consult your company lawyer to send him a notice.

Regards,
Sachet

Dear Graham,

No legal action can be taken against the person when he has resigned. Resigning is his right. You cannot force him to serve the notice period if the clause of the appointment letter states that one can either serve the notice period or pay for the notice period. An action can only be initiated if he has run away with the belongings of the organization; for that, I think you can proceed with criminal proceedings.

I hope the inputs would help you in dealing with the case. Please do let me know how you handled the situation.

Regards, Ranjeet Singh

Hi,

No legal action can be taken against a person when he has resigned. Giving resignation is his right. You cannot force him to serve the notice period if the clause of the appointment letter states that one can either serve the notice period or pay for the notice period.

An action can only be initiated if he has run away with the belongings of the organization. For that, I think you can proceed with criminal proceedings.

Rdgs,
K. Packiarajan

Dear Graham,

Let us understand a few things in such cases. First of all, absconding after resignation is not a crime, and hence there can be no penalty as such under IPC unless the employee was privy to some company information/assets, etc., which he was supposed to hand over to the company. If so, a police complaint may be lodged.

Otherwise, you may deduct notice pay from his full and final payment when he turns up, or may not settle his dues, withhold service certificate, etc.

Of course, you may get him traced. Many private detective agencies do undertake these kinds of jobs. But what benefit will it do to your company? You cannot bring him back into your employment. Resigning from one organization and joining another is perfectly legal, and under these circumstances, you will not get any injunction from the court against his new employer.

Regards,
Mohan.

Hi Graham,

I totally agree with Mohan. According to the Constitution, freedom to work anywhere is a fundamental right of every Indian. We can't take any legal action beyond deduction in notice pay or withholding the service certificates, etc. I think tracing him/her will be a waste of our time and energy, only if he/she has no dues to the company or he/she has not joined the company's competitor and is causing harm to the company.

Take it as a good riddance and forget it. Make proper entries in your records and strike off his name from the rolls.

Don't waste time and money on legal proceedings.

Cyril

Graham,
As per the appointment letter, if you have a notice period to be served, then he has to and must serve; else, you can take action accordingly.

Let me give you the same case that happened with me - there was an employee who stopped coming to the office and sent the resignation through email after a week's time. I met with our legal advisor and took action against him as I had tried interacting with him by email, phone, registered post, etc., but still, he was not cooperating. As per the appointment letter, he is supposed to serve a notice period, and if he fails to do so, he has to pay the salary in lieu thereof. I then gave a notice through my legal advisor, and the case was resolved. These situations arise when there is no proper coordination from their superiors/Managers. When I had a meeting with them, I realized that there is a significant communication gap between them.

So, ensure that you are keeping an eye on your employees and making them comfortable while working.

Thanks,
- Mirza

I would agree with Runa. Only if he has some important documents that could lead to a threat, you can take legal action. You cannot send him an Absconding memo as he has submitted his resignation. I hope you have deactivated his user IDs. If you do not wish to take legal action, then you can calculate his dues and keep it ready. I am sure that the employee knows that his final settlement would be negative. You could only hold his relieving letter until he's back, ask him to pay off the amount to payroll, and then issue him his relieving letter. If he doesn't show up, well, life's still good, mate...

Hi,

Please check the appointment letter or offer letter to see if the notice period is specified. If it is, then the employee must adhere to the notice period. If the employee leaves without completing the notice period, issue an absence letter and advise them to get in touch. If there is no response, consider the case as absconded. Do not provide a relieving letter or settlement check. In case of any future verification requests regarding his employment, state that he absconded from his services.

Dear All,

In my opinion, we need to ensure that he comes to the office by any means and completes his pending formalities to set an example for the existing staff. Otherwise, employees may take advantage of the situation.

Regards,

Shweta Mehta.

Hello Graham,

In agreement with Ranjit, Runa, and Kunal, I too would say that if the employee has resigned, a company cannot make him work against his will.

Having worked in the BPO industry, which has the highest attrition rate, particularly in job abandonments, I would like to share a few of my observations regarding job abandonment cases.

The resolution that has yielded the most positive results to date is sending a firm but non-aggressive show-cause notice to the absconding employee, asking them to contact the personnel department (not the production or operations department). This should be followed by an HR personnel reaching out to the employee to determine:
a) The reason for not reporting to work
b) Whether information about their absence has been communicated to anyone in the office (which should be validated)
c) Reminding them of the 'termination of employment' clause as stated in the letter of appointment
d) If the employee is unwilling to serve notice (which is the case in 95% of instances), persuade them to buy out their notice period (this has worked in 5% of cases), offer to adjust their leave balance (if policy permits), request the handover of all documents and office property/assets, and entice them with the prospect of leaving on good terms with a relieving letter, etc. Remember, "One should never burn their bridges."
e) If the employee does not agree, do not mention the company taking legal action. Most employees are well aware of the consequences the company faces in such situations and understand how damaging it can be to the company's reputation. Your legal advisors and finance department would also concur.

As Runa previously mentioned, it is advisable to close these cases without issuing any further letters. You may want to note "full and final settlement pending for employee initiation" on these files for internal records.

While adopting such measures may not necessarily cultivate 'patrons,' they do help in preventing the spread of negative talk.

I am curious to know how you would ultimately extricate yourself from this tricky situation. ;)

Warm regards

Dear Graham,

After the resignation by an employee, if he/she left the company without giving/completing the notice period, the only remedy left with the employer is to deduct the notice period as per the terms and conditions of the appointment letter. If the employee has something of value with him, that can also be recoverable from his final settlement. In the case of important documents in his/her possession, then it can be pursued with relevant criminal proceedings.

Manjeet Singh
Amritsar

Hi Friends,

I appreciate the explanation given by Nayana Chander.

Let me tell Sweta that making any employee come back to the office, who had been absconding like this, is not practically easy. On the other hand, if there are any pending formalities in favor of that person, then he will automatically come back; we don't have to worry about it.

There is a simple way to trace him - start communicating with his colleagues and friends in the company without disclosing your intention to trace him out - use your skills to make others talk - have patience - it'll take a week or maybe 1-2 months, but you'll definitely find him without hiring any detective agency. By this way, you can only trace him out but can't take any legal action.

I think the role of HR goes beyond policy-making and punishing people. The real HR should control the minds of the human beings working in the organization. (Which is a very challenging task.)

A well-skilled HR can tackle situations by mere employee counseling. Taking legal action should be the last step, only if no other way remains.

Generally, HR becomes sandwiched between Management and Employee. There should be a proper balance between Management's view, Company's policy, and Employees' Psychology to make both of them happy.

As Mirza mentioned before, ensure that you are keeping an eye on your employees and make them comfortable while working. Weak communication is one of the root causes of every HR problem.

All of us in HR can take this as a lesson and make necessary modifications with the help of a legal adviser into the appointment letter. There are many good suggestions given by my friends here; we can follow them as per the requirements of our organization.

Very aptly worded, Runa. You have echoed my thoughts.

It is indeed quite a task when it comes to choosing the least harmful path in such situations. What with the Ops dept breathing down your neck for a replacement, payroll asking for salary inputs, the management asking for reasons for open files, and an employee who in most cases has left uninformed due to some bitter incident that could be avoided, recurring only if HR is made aware of it and appropriate action/resolution is taken... you go any which way, there are losses...👊

Many times, absconding employees take away with them precious feedback, both as an individual and as an organization, depriving the personnel department of another chance to improvise...

Cheers

Hi all,

Wonderfully explained. Please try to contact the person. If you can have a word with him/her, please ask the employee to come and clear his/her dues. If the employee is not reachable, wait for a couple more days and then clear his/her dues on your own. Please send him/her the recovery at his/her permanent address.

If employee has resigned and date mention in resignation {relieve me on or before / as per company policy).
You can't do any legal case on the guy.
You can call to employee, please come and settle your account from HR department / account.
You can not issue the absconding letter to resigned employee specially that case.

Hi Mr. Tanuj,

Please let me know what time stipulate time about this case.
Tx & regards
Manoj Kumar

Dear Graham,

Once an employee has resigned and the resignation has been received by the company, the normal procedure is to accept his resignation, quoting the terms and conditions of the appointment in the acceptance letter, and advise him to return any company assets, if any. Furthermore, settling his account for any dues from the employee, the company can initiate legal proceedings.

Regards,
Athmarama Shetty

One of my friends resigned from an Indian company and asked the HR to relieve him in 2 weeks so that he could join an overseas company which was pressuring him to join in 2 weeks. He was ready to buy out the two-month notice period as the company policy had such an option. However, the company HR did not give him the opportunity to buy out the notice period. He sent a letter by registered post to HR asking them to relieve him within 2 weeks and stating that he did not have any dues. He also requested the HR to complete the final formalities. Before he left, he made sure with sincerity that another resource had taken over the work he was doing and that there was no disruption of work. His salary was put on hold as soon as he sent out the resignation letter. He gave back the official items to the concerned department and left the organization after 2 weeks.

One week after he left, the HR sent a termination letter with absconding as the reason for termination. Now the company would not give him the experience letter, the last month's salary, and gratuity. Can he get the experience letter? Does he have a legal recourse against the company?

The company cannot hold a single pie of the employee who has worked and then left, resigned, or absconded without informing. If the employee holds any property which was entrusted to him by the company for performing his duties and the same is acknowledged by the employee, then the company can file a case of Breach of Trust.

Ganesh

Dear All,

The company cannot hold a single penny of the employee who has worked and then left, resigned, or absconded without informing or without a notice period.

If the employee holds any property that was entrusted to him by the company for performing his duties, and the same is acknowledged by the employee, then the company can file a case of Breach of Trust.

More at: https://www.citehr.com/98674-absconding-after-resignation.html#ixzz0n38sbwPO

Hi Friends,

All have good input on the subject, but what about absconding without notice period and with official belongings? Even after several talks, the employee is not coming to settle up. What should be the phase-wise actions both legal and non-legal?

Regards,
Tarun Samantray
Email: tarunaindia@gmail.com

If an employee absconds from their duties without giving prior notice, especially when they hold various responsibilities and are in possession of important documents, how should a legal notice be drafted to address this situation?

I resigned from my previous company 3 months ago. The actual notice period for the company is 1 month, but my manager forced me to do 2 months. I accepted and completed the 2 months. After this period, he requested that I work for an additional month due to process requirements. I understood the situation and extended my notice period. However, he later asked me to withdraw my resignation, which I did not accept.

During the last month of my notice period, I handed over the process to the new candidate who came in as my replacement. I provided training (KT) as well. In this last month, the process was handled by the new person. However, the manager is now attempting to blame me for any issues that arose during that time. He is even threatening me, saying that he will label me as absconding. There has been no official email communication regarding this matter.

I would appreciate your suggestions on how to proceed.