Termination on the basis of Negative watsup group chat against ceo during office hours

Group of 4 employee in our company were chat on watsup during office hours from office sim and mobile provided to them from company, they create a group for chatting and gossips and talking very bad and obusive nature about our company CEO and director on watsup now our IT team trace their chat and export it and sent to our CEO & director through mail, Our CEO instruct me to Terminate them with immediate effect on the basis their chat during office hours and spread negativity about company also we identify they are trying to search job too.all they are in non performer category working in our Sales department.

I want guidance about can we terminate them immediately or we have to issue them warning letter about non performance before termination. Please advice

Hi,

termination is huge process to do by employer so collect resignation letter form them
but have to serve RO & EC to them

Since they are identified as non-performers, there must have been some communication to them, if so, you can take further action. To sustain any termination of service, principles of natural justice necessitate that the charge is conveyed to the delinquent employees concerned, the evidence against them is conveyed to them and they are given ample opportunity to produce evidence in their support. This is a time taking process and the CEO & Director may not have the patience to go through the process.

You may also consider termination simpliciter, i.e., to discharge the employee as per the clause in the appointment order. The termination order would state that the services of these offenders are no longer required in the firm and they are discharged from a convenient date and salary paid for the remaining days of notice period. Be careful not to mention any misconduct in the termination order. There are legal repercussions in adopting this approach.
An option is to confront the employees with all the evidence against them, give an option to them to resign, or else threaten them with termination. The modus operandi has to be well thought out and has to be planned in detail, depending on the personalities of the offenders. From practical experience, this approach is recommended, though it is risky.

Hi

Collect resignation letter and close the file. At times simple solutions will work out for complex issues.

Thank you sir for your guidance

Dear professional
regarding to above posted thread we have found Group chat of our office manager and his team in which he is saying to his CSO that " mark only entries to show Target of call in CRM no need to call customer". can we consider this chat as a Matter of misconduct and terminate him, Pls advice

Hi,

An Office Manager guiding his subordinate wrongly advising him to just make entry only without calling customer is wrong. But the same needs to be proved. Did the Manager agreed to you that it is his message only ? During enquiry the Manager may defend saying it was not his message . The Supreme Court held that “WhatsApp messages, which are virtual verbal communications are a matter of evidence with regard to their meaning and its content to be proved during the trial by evidence in chief and cross-examination”.(Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprise Ltd. v KS Infraspace LLP Limited and another)

Before proceeding further first take a apology letter from the employee stating that it is his message only

Thanks you Lakshmi Narayanan sir for your advice can we treat it as" misconduct of her job duties" and terminate her by giving one month notice mention on his appointment letter.

Hi,

As already stated conduct proper internal enquiry, see to that she admit that what she did is wrong.. get it in writing.. and then process for termination else it might back fire.

Thanks you sir i have conduct enquiry today, and if i sent him termination letter company is only eligible him to pay his one month notice pay, Leave encashment, this employee is just completed 4 years 6 month service it means he is not eligible for gratuity. am i right pls advice.

Regards
Dinesh