Hi everyone,
I have joined a company as an HR Manager and have to deal with a situation where a former employee has misused and broken the laptop that was issued to him. We want to try to recover dues from him as the damage and the financial loss to the company is significant. Can anyone suggest what kind of approach is good to take in this situation? Will you also share if you have experienced similar situations in the past and suggest a format for the termination letter to be issued to him?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Regards,
Sxr041
From United Kingdom, Leeds
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I have joined a company as an HR Manager and have to deal with a situation where a former employee has misused and broken the laptop that was issued to him. We want to try to recover dues from him as the damage and the financial loss to the company is significant. Can anyone suggest what kind of approach is good to take in this situation? Will you also share if you have experienced similar situations in the past and suggest a format for the termination letter to be issued to him?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Regards,
Sxr041
From United Kingdom, Leeds
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Dear sxr041,
Few questions emerge from your post. These are as below:
a) Do you have a policy on "Allotment of Company Assets to Employees" well in place? It appears it is not. Else you would not have come up with this query. First, you need to make this policy. You may refer to the following post to make this policy:
https://www.citehr.com/336602-policy...ny-assets.html
b) If the company allotted some assets to the employees, then are these recorded in "Fixed Asset Register" (FAR)? If you do not have this register, then you need to prepare this register. You may click the following link to know how to make FAR:
https://www.citehr.com/452041-compan...-register.html
c) Whether you have a policy on the allotment of company assets or not, whether you have FAR or not, during the separation of the employee from the organization, why was the recovery process not raised? Why was this employee given clearance from Stores or by the Admin Department?
d) By the way, do you have adequate evidence of the allotment of a laptop to the employee? Did the employee sign the loan card? Do you have evidence stating that the laptop was returned in a damaged condition? If yes, then you may conduct a domestic enquiry for the damage to the company assets. After depreciation, the residual value may be recovered from the employee.
If the employee is already separated, if all his dues are cleared, then possibly he may not depose before the enquiry. Under such circumstances, you need to conduct the second domestic enquiry and find out whose lapse it was to allow the employee to go scot-free. Suitable punishment may be awarded to this manager/employee. Further obtain the condemnation certificate from the competent authority and declare the assets as obsolete.
Last comments: Damage to the laptop is not a matter of "indiscipline" as such. This is an admin issue and it needs to be handled accordingly. It becomes a matter of discipline provided the concerned employee refused to pay the damage charges or the employee who cleared him without the proper recovery process.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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8227Few questions emerge from your post. These are as below:
a) Do you have a policy on "Allotment of Company Assets to Employees" well in place? It appears it is not. Else you would not have come up with this query. First, you need to make this policy. You may refer to the following post to make this policy:
https://www.citehr.com/336602-policy...ny-assets.html
b) If the company allotted some assets to the employees, then are these recorded in "Fixed Asset Register" (FAR)? If you do not have this register, then you need to prepare this register. You may click the following link to know how to make FAR:
https://www.citehr.com/452041-compan...-register.html
c) Whether you have a policy on the allotment of company assets or not, whether you have FAR or not, during the separation of the employee from the organization, why was the recovery process not raised? Why was this employee given clearance from Stores or by the Admin Department?
d) By the way, do you have adequate evidence of the allotment of a laptop to the employee? Did the employee sign the loan card? Do you have evidence stating that the laptop was returned in a damaged condition? If yes, then you may conduct a domestic enquiry for the damage to the company assets. After depreciation, the residual value may be recovered from the employee.
If the employee is already separated, if all his dues are cleared, then possibly he may not depose before the enquiry. Under such circumstances, you need to conduct the second domestic enquiry and find out whose lapse it was to allow the employee to go scot-free. Suitable punishment may be awarded to this manager/employee. Further obtain the condemnation certificate from the competent authority and declare the assets as obsolete.
Last comments: Damage to the laptop is not a matter of "indiscipline" as such. This is an admin issue and it needs to be handled accordingly. It becomes a matter of discipline provided the concerned employee refused to pay the damage charges or the employee who cleared him without the proper recovery process.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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Dear Dinesh,
Many thanks for your message. The company does not have the policies you mentioned. I just joined them last week and have to implement a whole lot of policies and processes, including those for asset management and discipline. Thanks so much for your advice. I will use the points you have given while framing the new policies.
Kind regards,
Sxr041
From United Kingdom, Leeds
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Many thanks for your message. The company does not have the policies you mentioned. I just joined them last week and have to implement a whole lot of policies and processes, including those for asset management and discipline. Thanks so much for your advice. I will use the points you have given while framing the new policies.
Kind regards,
Sxr041
From United Kingdom, Leeds
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