Termination of employee - whether it is permissible at the time of COVID 19 Pandemic

Dear Professionals,

I would like to seek your assistance regarding the termination of an employee. We are based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, operating in the Jewellery Retail Sector. We have some employees who have consistently failed to meet their targets even before the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially, we were planning to terminate them based on the Performance Management System.

However, when the pandemic hit, our decision was put on hold due to the lockdown. Now that our offices are operational again, we are considering revisiting our pending decision and are contemplating terminating 2-3 employees due to performance issues.

I would appreciate your input on whether it is permissible to terminate employees during a pandemic. It is important to note that our decision is not driven by cost-cutting measures but rather by genuine performance concerns.

Thank you for your assistance.

Best regards, [Your Name]

Were targets specified and made known to employees and documented? Was a performance review conducted, and non-performance discussed, along with the reasons thereof? Management can terminate after giving notice as per the terms of the appointment letter. However, due consideration needs to be given to the reasons adduced by them for non-performance.

No, the targets are not documented.

We have only verbally discussed this with the employees. If we continue to take our call to ask them to leave so in this case what could be the risk on our part by the government?

Help me in this.

Have you issued Offer of Appointments to them?

If you have fulfilled this, mere verbal discussion is not enough.

How many employees are working on the rolls of your company?

Make sure to have their performance KPI scores quarterly and half-yearly assessments documented as per their KRA before considering termination due to performance. Also, it needs to be clear: have you provided any training sessions? If KPI scores are below expectations, have you sent a show-cause notice for poor performance?

You can't simply terminate an employee based on verbal discussions; it would not be fair to them.

You need to implement a Performance Management System (PMS) in your firm to prevent such performance-related grievances.

The course of action will depend on their terms and conditions of employment, i.e., the appointment letter, standing orders (or model standing orders), etc. No "workman" can be terminated without following the disciplinary procedure.

Not to worry, even if the targets were not documented, you can still issue them a charge sheet, citing the prevailing target system in your industry.

Dear Rehana Sayed,

Your basic question is whether it is permissible at the time of the pandemic to terminate non-performers, and the answer to it is YES. All earlier orders/directives by MHA have ceased their effect from 18/05/2020 onwards, and you can very well terminate your employees now. However, while terminating any employee, whether they are a workman within the definition or otherwise, you need to take action with caution.

Thank you, everyone, for your valuable suggestions.

I appreciate all the input and feedback provided.

Dear Member,

As rightly pointed out by Akhil, separation of employees by the employer is not an offense; however, it is advisable to follow due process of law.