Termination Of Employement On A Small Issue, As Small As Copying Of 20% Of One Question Out Of 3 Questions

Can an organization terminate the employment of an associate based on the fact that he copied 20% in one of the questions out of the 3 questions he was given for the test? The associate asks for help from his colleague and then edits and formats that 20% also as per his understanding. Is this fair enough to terminate the associate.

Dear friend,

What kind of test was that? Was it a recruitment test of any kind or a test for job promotion? What was the subject, and how many marks were there? What was the duration of the test? What is the qualification of the employee in question?

We need information on the above before any comments can be given. By the way, the tendency to do some "copy" shows a lack of personal values. It shows the audacity of this person.

When individuals become obsessed with copying and the tendency to copy something gets into their blood, problems of this kind happen. It is a lesson for all the copycats.

Ok...

Dinesh V Divekar

[QUOTE=Dinesh Divekar;2053382]
Dear friend,

What kind of test was that?

The test was after the recruitment. It was to assess the ability of individuals to perform data entry tasks.

Was it a recruitment test or a test for job promotion?

No, it was neither.

What was the subject of the test and how many marks were allocated?

The test focused on data entry tasks using a specific database to evaluate the associates' comprehension.

What was the duration of the test?

It lasted for 8 hours.

What qualifications did the employee in question possess?

The employees were graduates and postgraduates with at least 3 years of experience within the organization. They had been performing similar tasks but using different databases. Additionally, some freshers were also involved.

Copying was not necessary to pass the test. Even after removing the copied content, the associates still managed to pass. The focus was on completing the test within the given timeframe. One of the associates had limited time as they were juggling other responsibilities alongside the test.

Can you advise on what decision the organization should make regarding this situation?

It doesn't matter on any of the following as far as my knowledge goes. This incident would definitely give a strong message to all the other staff. There is never a small mistake and a big mistake. You can always draw a bigger line beside a line and say that the previous one is smaller and so on. Let the message pass on that there is zero tolerance for any kind of mistake in the organization. A person's character can be determined only based on the decisions one takes when he is weak.

Regards,
Kumar

[QUOTE=Dr. Raj;2053402]

Dear Dr. Raj,

In this case, the employee has been terminated because of his personal values. Copying text, whether in small amounts or large, is still considered copying. The management decided not to condone it.

Looking at the verdicts of a few labor courts, many times bus conductors have been terminated from their services due to their failure to issue tickets. For short-duration commutes, they sometimes take small change and pocket it. If caught by the vigilance party, their services are terminated. When these aggrieved conductors approached the labor court, the courts upheld the punishments given by the respective organizations' management. Though the loss may seem insignificant compared to the salary or daily revenue of the State Transport Corporation, it cannot be condoned.

This situation brings to mind a Spanish Proverb, "Laws, like the spider's web, catch the fly and let the hawk go free."

Why can someone like Vijay Mallya roam free even after not paying salaries to his staff for months while a data entry operator loses his job? This is the reality of the world.

For Kumar: Good or bad, I do not make comments without fully understanding the situation. Hence, in my previous post, I asked a lot of clarifying questions.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

Dear Friends,

The fact here is that even the Central Govt Standard orders state that the gravity of the incident and the previous record of the associate should be considered before making a decision. What about the associates who gave 3 and a half years to the organization? This matter was shut down at that time only by saying that there would be a retest for all those individuals, but because of the escalation from the client, this harsh decision was taken 5 days after the incident happened. Is this fair enough? The client wanted action. The action could have been a suspension for a week and a warning letter issued. Please provide your inputs. This test was in no way to qualify for anything. In fact, there was a chance of a retest into that.

Any act involving 'Moral Turpitude' should not be condoned. Such acts are willful and intentional, and condoning them would amount to encouragement for acts leading to higher depravity. However, as pointed out by Mr. Dinesh, if the organization itself indulges in unethical and illegal acts, what can one say about its employees at lower levels.

Warm regards.

Hello friends,

Please do not mistake my response in this way. In computer tests, matching an answer is not the same as copying an answer. Having the same answer does not constitute copying. It is not reasonable to terminate someone over this issue. However, it may be justifiable to withhold further opportunities or projects for a short period.

Thank you.

Dear Friends,

In my opinion, the action taken was harsh but necessary to convey a strong message across the teams for similar or possibly more critical future verifications in the organization.

Regards, KoRaKu

The vague posting leaves a few more questions. I pose a couple of questions from my point of view: What will happen if the act of copying is passed over or ignored? How senior was the guy, or what was his experience? The reason for asking these questions is if the Associate is a senior guy and if he is not reprimanded or punished, the guy will continue to indulge in this kind of activity in the future as well. If the word spreads around, others will also emulate the same negative act and would like to be excused or ignored as you have already set a precedence. You are not sure whether he has been indulging in other immoral and unethical acts in his line of business.

It is better that senior management personnel talk to him face-to-face about what prompted him to indulge in this activity. If his answer is not convincing, he can be shown the door. However, without naming the person, it should be brought to the attention of all employees so that they get the message that you mean business and would not like this kind of unethical behavior.

Best wishes