Management doesn't want to take back an employee who was on leave for family planning for 2 months. Management is asking the employee to resign due to poor performance at work since her joining. Can anybody please suggest if Management is doing right or wrong?
From India, Hyderabad
From India, Hyderabad
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Dear Venkatalakshmi,
Whatever reason for leave it might be, the employee is expected to apply for the leave, get it approved, and proceed on leave only if the leave is approved. Did the employee follow this routine process? If the employee's absence was unauthorized, then what kind of official communication did you send to the employee? Did you give a warning to the employee that if she remains absent, then her services could be terminated? If you have sent official communication, then it strengthens your case.
Anyway, even now, you may conduct a domestic inquiry to investigate the unauthorized absence of the employee, if any. If the culpability of the employee is established, then your management may take appropriate disciplinary action.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
8032Whatever reason for leave it might be, the employee is expected to apply for the leave, get it approved, and proceed on leave only if the leave is approved. Did the employee follow this routine process? If the employee's absence was unauthorized, then what kind of official communication did you send to the employee? Did you give a warning to the employee that if she remains absent, then her services could be terminated? If you have sent official communication, then it strengthens your case.
Anyway, even now, you may conduct a domestic inquiry to investigate the unauthorized absence of the employee, if any. If the culpability of the employee is established, then your management may take appropriate disciplinary action.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Dear Venkatalakshmi,
At the outset, let me share some thoughts on the issue of termination of employment of an employee on performance-related reasons. Even in the U.S., the only major industrial power in the world which mostly maintains the doctrine of "Employment-at-Will" as a rule, the higher Judiciary, at times, do not hesitate to strike down an order of a summary dismissal of an employee by his employer simply on the feeble and subjective reason of underperformance coupled with adherence to the notice clause of the contract of employment. It is very difficult, although not impossible, to predict what constitutes a valid dismissal of an underperforming employee for poor performance, as it is basically a subjective inference in the absence of certain explicit norms or reasons associated with performance appraisal. They can be as follows:
(1) Specification of grounds of dismissal
The collective bargaining agreement or standing orders or service regulations should state that underperformance is an act of misconduct that would warrant the extreme punishment of dismissal.
(2) Fair standards of evaluation
There should be fair and reasonable standards of evaluation appropriate to the nature, type, and difficulty of job functions.
(3) Provision for appropriate support and assistance
Generally, the satisfactory accomplishment of many jobs or tasks in terms of quality and time delivery involves teamwork that may comprise sequential or simultaneous operations from different people. If the arrangement in place is loose and ineffective, indicative of the lack of support or assistance from the employer in this regard, then the dismissal of an employee on the grounds of poor performance would amount to scapegoatism and eventually render it illegal.
(4) Avoidance of absolute standards of evaluation
If a prefixed number or percentage of employees to be selected as poor performers based on an Absolute Standard Evaluation System (usually followed in the IT and ITES sector as an austerity measure during the phase of slump), it is unjustifiable.
(5) Absence of multi-faceted evaluation
In order to eliminate or prevent the factor of subjectivity, the system should facilitate multiple reviewers to evaluate the performance of an employee.
(6) Provision for evaluation results
There should be well-documented clear instructions for improvement based on every evaluation.
(7) Proof of continuous poor performance
General poor performance of an employee on a single occasion that does not result in any catastrophe cannot be a sole reason for his dismissal. There should be continuous poor performance.
(8) Opportunities for improvement of performance
There should be adequate provision for performance improvement, such as job retraining, relocation to another department, implementation of PIP, continuous monitoring, mentoring, and the like.
(9) Consideration of precedent
(10) Provision for Voluntary Separation.
I understand that being mindful of all the above factors and only after realizing the difficulty in expelling the employee on the grounds of poor performance, your management insists on his resignation.
From India, Salem
At the outset, let me share some thoughts on the issue of termination of employment of an employee on performance-related reasons. Even in the U.S., the only major industrial power in the world which mostly maintains the doctrine of "Employment-at-Will" as a rule, the higher Judiciary, at times, do not hesitate to strike down an order of a summary dismissal of an employee by his employer simply on the feeble and subjective reason of underperformance coupled with adherence to the notice clause of the contract of employment. It is very difficult, although not impossible, to predict what constitutes a valid dismissal of an underperforming employee for poor performance, as it is basically a subjective inference in the absence of certain explicit norms or reasons associated with performance appraisal. They can be as follows:
(1) Specification of grounds of dismissal
The collective bargaining agreement or standing orders or service regulations should state that underperformance is an act of misconduct that would warrant the extreme punishment of dismissal.
(2) Fair standards of evaluation
There should be fair and reasonable standards of evaluation appropriate to the nature, type, and difficulty of job functions.
(3) Provision for appropriate support and assistance
Generally, the satisfactory accomplishment of many jobs or tasks in terms of quality and time delivery involves teamwork that may comprise sequential or simultaneous operations from different people. If the arrangement in place is loose and ineffective, indicative of the lack of support or assistance from the employer in this regard, then the dismissal of an employee on the grounds of poor performance would amount to scapegoatism and eventually render it illegal.
(4) Avoidance of absolute standards of evaluation
If a prefixed number or percentage of employees to be selected as poor performers based on an Absolute Standard Evaluation System (usually followed in the IT and ITES sector as an austerity measure during the phase of slump), it is unjustifiable.
(5) Absence of multi-faceted evaluation
In order to eliminate or prevent the factor of subjectivity, the system should facilitate multiple reviewers to evaluate the performance of an employee.
(6) Provision for evaluation results
There should be well-documented clear instructions for improvement based on every evaluation.
(7) Proof of continuous poor performance
General poor performance of an employee on a single occasion that does not result in any catastrophe cannot be a sole reason for his dismissal. There should be continuous poor performance.
(8) Opportunities for improvement of performance
There should be adequate provision for performance improvement, such as job retraining, relocation to another department, implementation of PIP, continuous monitoring, mentoring, and the like.
(9) Consideration of precedent
(10) Provision for Voluntary Separation.
I understand that being mindful of all the above factors and only after realizing the difficulty in expelling the employee on the grounds of poor performance, your management insists on his resignation.
From India, Salem
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