Theft Case In Organisation - Accused Employee Still Showing Up For Work!

Hi, actually, one of my employees was blamed for theft in my hospital, and he is not coming on duty after that despite me giving him 2 letters - one warning and the other for absconding. He is still not coming. What should I do next? Please help me with this.

Dear Sunny,

I recommend that you conduct a domestic enquiry. If there is sufficient material evidence, then lodge a police complaint against the employee. In case you only have circumstantial evidence and not material evidence, then file a police complaint for theft and not against any person. Either way, let the police authorities investigate the case.

Ensure that the enquiry is conducted in a free and fair manner and that it is not vitiated in any way.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

Hi,

Hope your query is in the context of employment practices in India. As one of the absent employees has committed misconduct by theft, you need to initiate disciplinary action against them for the misconduct. This involves serving a charge sheet on the concerned employee. The evidence, whether direct or circumstantial, should be capable of proof and sufficient to establish the charges, as the standard of proof in domestic inquiries is not as strict as in criminal proceedings.

Regarding the other employee who is absconding, the standing orders, service rules, or company policy will typically include a clause on loss of lien. This means an employee loses their job rights if they are continuously absent for 8 or 10 days without leave approval. If you have such a clause, you can invoke it and consider the employee as having voluntarily abandoned the job. However, before taking this step, issue notices for them to report for duty and explain their absence to ensure adherence to the principles of natural justice.

B. Saikumar

Dear sunnyjuneja,

In addition to the above responses, I would like to add:

What is the value of the stolen item? If it has substantial material value, then only a police complaint would be justified. A departmental inquiry must be constituted to look into the allegations. A preliminary inquiry may be held to ascertain prima facie the facts about the incident and responsibility to be fixed. The above suggestions would be applicable in case you want to proceed in a fair and legally compliant way.

Warm regards.

Actually, it was a RAM which was found not in place in the department computer. The employee has agreed that he opened the CPU but did not take out the RAM. Despite this, he is not coming on duty. Can I terminate this employee based on this situation?

Just because the employee is not coming to duty does not prove that he has stolen the material. However, one can take disciplinary action on account of this absence.

Why did he open the CPU? Was it for some repairs, and is he entitled to do so? If he states that he has not taken the RAM, is it possible that it has been misplaced? RAM is a very small component and 1GB/2GB RAM used in PCs do not have much resale value. Ascertain the value yourself from the market. Can an employee risk his job for this?

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- [Transcend DDR3-1333/PC3-10600 DDR3 2 GB PC RAM (JM1333KLN-2G) - Transcend: Flipkart.com](http://www.flipkart.com/transcend-ddr3-1333-pc3-10600-ddr3-2-gb-pc-ram-jm1333kln-2g/p/itmd2ryphzfezp3x?pid=RAMD2RYPMTHKAWJH&icmp id=reco_pp_same_ram_4)

You have to find answers to these questions and go over the matter without any prejudice and accordingly ensure that the employee is treated fairly, rather than using the incident to fire him.

Warm regards.

Hello Sunny,

If these are the only circumstances for you to assume that the employee has stolen the ram, it may not sustain the charge of theft as Mr. Rajkumar said. There should be either a direct witness who has seen him stealing or he must have been caught red-handed with the ram in his possession outside the office premises or by security at the gate while leaving for home (if you have one), or some other circumstantial evidence to support the charge. Even if you recover the ram from his possession outside the office premises, how do you prove that it belongs to your office? There should be corroborative evidence, not assumptions, to proceed in the case of serious charges like theft. You may issue a warning letter for being negligent in losing the ram after making enough effort to search and locate it.

B. Saikumar

Dear Sunny,

You are not sure of the theft committed by the absentee worker who is working under your control. You have taken the correct action by issuing a notice of recall (I presume). This is sufficient to report the fact to your higher authority for further action that serves the purpose.

SPKR