Hi,
I want to inquire about the Company Assets policy in your organization. If you issue an electronic device - laptop, PDA, mobile - to any employee and they damage the equipment, what policy do you apply if you don't have insurance cover for that? Do you charge them fully? Is the user fully responsible for that?
Thank you.
From Saudi Arabia, Jeddah
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64I want to inquire about the Company Assets policy in your organization. If you issue an electronic device - laptop, PDA, mobile - to any employee and they damage the equipment, what policy do you apply if you don't have insurance cover for that? Do you charge them fully? Is the user fully responsible for that?
Thank you.
From Saudi Arabia, Jeddah
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Dear Ahmed,
You should have considered the possibility of damage, theft, or loss of the company's property well before allocating it to the individual, not after. It would not be fair to recover the entire amount. Anyway, conduct the inquiry. Let the culpability of the employee for damage or loss be established. Then decide how much percent to recover. Please take into account the depreciation of the item as well.
For creating a policy on the allocation of company property to employees, you may refer to my previous responses at the following links:
- https://www.citehr.com/336602-policy...ml#post1544266
- https://www.citehr.com/375356-ex-emp...ml#post1725508
Ok...
Dinesh V Divekar
+91-9900155394
From India, Bangalore
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You should have considered the possibility of damage, theft, or loss of the company's property well before allocating it to the individual, not after. It would not be fair to recover the entire amount. Anyway, conduct the inquiry. Let the culpability of the employee for damage or loss be established. Then decide how much percent to recover. Please take into account the depreciation of the item as well.
For creating a policy on the allocation of company property to employees, you may refer to my previous responses at the following links:
- https://www.citehr.com/336602-policy...ml#post1544266
- https://www.citehr.com/375356-ex-emp...ml#post1725508
Ok...
Dinesh V Divekar
+91-9900155394
From India, Bangalore
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Thank you for your comments, Mr. Dinesh.
I have been working here in Saudi Arabia since 2011, and in many companies, I have found the same problem. Usually, in Saudi Arabia, the owner refuses to accept any excuse and simply deducts the whole price from the employee.
As there is no concept of tax here, similarly, there is no concept of depreciation.
From Saudi Arabia, Jeddah
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I have been working here in Saudi Arabia since 2011, and in many companies, I have found the same problem. Usually, in Saudi Arabia, the owner refuses to accept any excuse and simply deducts the whole price from the employee.
As there is no concept of tax here, similarly, there is no concept of depreciation.
From Saudi Arabia, Jeddah
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Dear Ahmed,
Any operating asset gets depreciated over a period of time. Therefore, how can you achieve 100% recovery? Depreciation results from wear and tear of the assets. When you purchase the assets, you have to assign a useful life to each asset.
I recommend talking to the Accounts department. Find out whether they maintain a Fixed Asset Register (FAR). It could be in the form of a register or in electronic form. Nowadays, there are very good software solutions available to manage fixed assets. If you wish to learn more about the depreciation of operating assets, you may visit [CliffsNotes](http://cliffsnotes.com).
Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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Any operating asset gets depreciated over a period of time. Therefore, how can you achieve 100% recovery? Depreciation results from wear and tear of the assets. When you purchase the assets, you have to assign a useful life to each asset.
I recommend talking to the Accounts department. Find out whether they maintain a Fixed Asset Register (FAR). It could be in the form of a register or in electronic form. Nowadays, there are very good software solutions available to manage fixed assets. If you wish to learn more about the depreciation of operating assets, you may visit [CliffsNotes](http://cliffsnotes.com).
Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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The general rule followed by companies is that if the equipment is damaged in the custody of the employee, he is responsible for the loss. No loss is attributed to the employee if the damage is due to an unaccounted accident that was beyond the control of the employee or where he has taken normal precautions to prevent it. It is therefore sensible to have insurance cover.
There is no law, so each company makes its own rule. However, most countries require the doctrine of equity and natural justice (to be fair and give the person an opportunity to explain).
In terms of the value of loss, the market value of the asset would be considered, not the original cost. Again, it's up to the company to decide what it wants to do, but it should have notified the same to the employees well in advance.
That said, I have recently seen a case where Kuoni Travels (a company owned by the Swiss government) deducted the cost of repairing a laptop (normal wear and tear in 2 years of use) from an employee when he was leaving. So mostly you are at the mercy of the employer.
From India, Mumbai
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There is no law, so each company makes its own rule. However, most countries require the doctrine of equity and natural justice (to be fair and give the person an opportunity to explain).
In terms of the value of loss, the market value of the asset would be considered, not the original cost. Again, it's up to the company to decide what it wants to do, but it should have notified the same to the employees well in advance.
That said, I have recently seen a case where Kuoni Travels (a company owned by the Swiss government) deducted the cost of repairing a laptop (normal wear and tear in 2 years of use) from an employee when he was leaving. So mostly you are at the mercy of the employer.
From India, Mumbai
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