Managing Employment Abandonment: Case Law
Background
A number of recent cases have highlighted the importance of having clear provisions in employment policies and agreements when employees 'abandon' their employment by being absent without the employer's consent or prior authorisation. This occurs when employees fail to show up for work without informing their employer that they are not coming to work. Good practice is to have a provision that states that an employee is considered to have abandoned their employment when a period of time, often three consecutive working days, has elapsed without the staff member showing up for work. Case law states that an employer must make 'reasonable' attempts to contact the employee to find out why an employee has not presented for work.
Keep an open mind and make attempts by email, telephone, text or letter. Sometimes employees will have genuine reasons for not turning up for work, such as a motor vehicle injury where they suffer trauma and shock. It is always good practice to check with their next of kin. Sometimes an employee is unable to contact their employer to let them know what has happened to them. Check if the employee is at their last known address. Despite the latter, an employer only has to make 'reasonable attempts' to contact the employee. If, after the expiry of the abandonment period, there has been no contact from the employee after yet another telephone call, text or email, write to the employee formally and/or email or deliver a letter to say that "despite many attempts to communicate with you by telephone, text and email and having received no response, continued absence from the workplace leaves the company with no option but to assume that you have terminated your employment by reason of abandonment."
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Members can access advice and guides from Business Canterbury in this area to reduce risk. Contact us for specialist advice at hradvice@cecc.org.nz.
For further information or queries around this, please contact Michael Prisk at michaelp@cecc.org.nz if you need advice in this area.
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