Issuing Memo And Termination - Disobedience And Domestic Violence

Dear All,

We have a unique situation with an employee and would appreciate your valuable advice on how to handle the situation.

This employee is provided with free staff accommodation as part of the initial agreement. A few months back, we were informed that this employee is using the extra rooms beside the staff quarters to house his father, mother, and sister. A warning was issued to him, with a deadline to vacate his extended family. However, neither an explanation was given nor were they vacated.

Furthermore, to a higher degree, it was revealed that he and his wife have family issues, and he has physically and verbally abused his wife multiple times.

Given the situation, what is the best way and legal process to suspend or terminate this employee? Will issuing multiple memos work? Is there a required gap between memos? Does he have any legal grounds to sue the organization if we terminate him?

We would greatly appreciate your inputs.

Regards,
Saj

Dear Saj,

First of all, I believe that domestic violence with a wife is not connected with employment law. On the same ground, you can't take any action or terminate any employee as it does not affect your business or employment.

Secondly, he is misusing and in unauthorized possession of company property. If you have given him multiple warning letters, then you are free to take further legal action. Alternatively, you may ask him to leave the accommodation with the help of the police and recover the charges for unauthorized accommodation for the duration it has been used.

Hi,

Terminating Employees

Voluntary Terminations

Employees leave their jobs on their own initiative – resignation and retirement.

Resignation

Employees who resign are expected to provide written notification to their supervisor at least prior to the resignation date.

Retirement

An employee who retires is considered to have voluntarily terminated employment and should provide written notification to their supervisor at least weeks prior to the resignation date.

Leave of Absence

Please refer to the “Leaves of Absence Without Pay” policy.

Involuntary Terminations

A separation of employment initiated by ABC that may result from layoff or discharge.

Layoffs

Please refer to the policy Layoffs.

Discharge

Discharge is a termination for reasons that include but are not limited to poor work performance, absenteeism, tardiness, insubordination, illegal activities or other violations of ABC policy. Discharge requires consultation with HR prior to taking action. If consultation is not possible, the employee can be placed on a temporary suspension without pay by the supervisor until HR is consulted. All discharges must be fully documented and the employee’s last day of work will also be the last day paid. HR must be consulted before making any exceptions to this procedure.

Payroll

A Staff Changes Form (SCF) must be processed upon termination. The following information must accompany the SCF:

· Written resignation if applicable.

· For discharged staff, prior warning letters and final discharge letter.

· Date last worked.

· Forwarding address.

· Accumulated vacation time.

Terminated employees must work for in order to be eligible for an accrued vacation payout.

Exit Procedure

The exit procedure must include a checklist of items that should be collected and/or destroyed. This procedure applies to all employees. A copy of the completed checklist must be retained in the personnel file. This process ensures that terminations are processed correctly and efficiently.

SUBJECT: Termination of Employment

PURPOSE: To provide a standard procedure to ensure that all staff are properly terminated (i.e., resignation, discharge, retirement, completion of temporary assignment or layoff).

POLICY: It is the policy of Employer ABC that terminated employees are assured proper settlement of wages and benefits.

CONTENTS:

1. Procedure

2. Retiring Employees

1. Procedure

a. Employees notify their supervisor at the earliest practical time when terminating employment.

b. An Employment Changes Form (ECF) must be prepared by the employee's department and forwarded to Human Resources.

c. The Department Head must notify Human Resources and Payroll of employees that leave without notice.

d. All terminated employees will be afforded an exit interview and is necessary for a complete clearance from ABC.

2. Retiring Employees

a. Employees should begin retirement procedures days in advance. Contact Human Resources for specific documents, forms, and procedures required by the retirement and insurance programs.

Hope this may help you.........

Dear Saj,

Before termination, I strongly recommend counseling him. Have you done that? If counseling has failed at your or at some senior's level, then I recommend you seek help from a professional counselor. A professional counselor may also counsel family members.

Secondly, do you have credible evidence of family violence? Have you formed opinions based on hearsay?

Thirdly, take a moment to consider his spouse. If you terminate the employee, he could be unemployed for at least a brief period, and the hardship for his family will only increase. While we must focus on running our enterprise and are not operating a charity organization, counseling the employee could lead to changed behavior and save lives from ruin. By doing this, your company will fulfill its social responsibility. If all goes well, the employee will likely remain loyal to the company indefinitely. News of this counseling will likely spread among employees and enhance the company's standing in their eyes.

Termination should be the last resort for management. I urge you to carefully consider my suggestion or take all possible steps before resorting to termination.

Please return to this forum after a couple of weeks or months and confirm how you handled this situation.

All the best!

Dinesh V Divekar

Dear All,

I think we are diverting our focus from core problem, the core problem is unauthorised possession of company property, saj mention about his domestic violation is only for to give his family history.

But, no one can take action on domestic violation untill & unless, his wife not report against it as well as i have mentioned ealier, there is nothing any concern about the employment.

I seen Mr. Dinesh has suggested for consuling, i really appreciate about his suggestion, but, how do you counsel to some person, who has taken possession of company property as Unauthorized...?

Counsile can be provide for behaviour or mental problem of person, not for intention of person. what he has done is clearly shows that, his intension is not good & he is misusing the company benefits, its loss of trust of company. he should have think about the effect of his act before taking a step.

So, i feel that, only legal action can be the correct solution for the same. However, i Doesn’t want to say to terminate him, but, atleast company can get the place in their custody as its their property.

Dear Tushar,

I am not against disciplinary action or legal action per se. Counselling precedes these two. My only point is that we should not jump to these methods directly without counseling the employee. Let us not use a sledgehammer where a gentle hand works!

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Mr. Dinesh,

I respect your view, and it has plenty of value too. However, this is a serious misconduct. If you do not take this seriously, the rest of the employees may consider you as being lenient.

If somebody enters our house without authorization and stays forcefully, what should we do? Should we counsel him or try to regain control of the place through legal means, especially if he does not respond to repeated attempts at communication?

Do you really think he still deserves counseling? Even though the company has issued several warning letters to him, he has not taken them seriously and has not bothered to respond. His intentions are evident from his behavior.

I believe that in such cases, we cannot always handle the situation in just one way; sometimes, we need to consider other approaches as well.

Moreover, maintaining ownership of our property through legal means is essential, so it should be properly documented.

I trust that you also understand the legal perspective on this matter.

If the employee is misusing the facility, you can file a case of illegal occupying and squatting. However, you will need to realize that the employee is aware that he cannot be easily evicted.

You will have to serve him multiple memos to indicate the violations and prepare for eviction.

I think that the questioner wants a quick and decisive remedy, and that's why he is asking for the ways and means for the termination of the accused employee. Regarding unauthorized occupation of a portion of the building, you can evict him forcefully with the help of the police, as suggested earlier. If that doesn't work, it's better to levy proportionate economic rent and deduct it from his salary after giving due notice.

About his rude behavior towards his wife, have there been any complaints from her or the neighbors to the management as a nuisance affecting the entire neighborhood? In any case, you can try the option of counseling as suggested by Dinesh. If that doesn't yield results, it's better to ask him to vacate the quarters promptly. However, don't assume the role of the moral police and act excessively due to enthusiasm.