Job Abandonment Situation

[Kimberly Allen]

#91452

We have an employee that has been off work since early October for mental health reasons. His medical leave expired at the end of November. Since then, he has failed to provide us with an updated medical note for our records and has not replied to our many calls and voicemails seeking an update. A job abandonment warning letter was sent via couriered mail and email. His mother contacted us stating that he was admitted to the mental ward of a hospital for the past two days and is only permitted to have access to his phone 2 hours per day. She did not know when he would be released. Can we proceed to terminate him due to job abandonment? He has not replied to our warning letter and it’s now past the deadline given to him.

[Rick Tobin]

#91454

It sounds as if your company has crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s. It is unfortunate that the employee is ill, but there is a burden on the employee to communicate, and it would appear that you are suffering undue harm. Yes you can terminate due to job abandonment, but a warning that you should keep all communication on file.

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