Job Abandonment: Grounds to Fire Employee?

Q. One of our employees fell and injured his wrist on the job. A few days later, he didn’t come in to work. He did come in and tell us he’d been to the doctor for his wrist. Since he has neither reported for work nor told us he can’t work, can we report to the unemployment office that he’s quit?

A. No. You may have a case of work abandonment, or voluntary quit here, but that isn’t what it will look like to a hearing officer or a judge. They may see the case as an injured employee who is too confused to keep you informed of the care and progress of a work-related injury.

And if you move to break the employment relationship, a hearing officer or judge is likely see that as a wrongful discharge.

Treat this as a worker’s compensation claim with these five steps:

• File the claim with your insurer – or call the worker’s compensation division at AdvanStaff HR.
• Contact the employee’s doctor and get specifics of the injury.
• Ask the doctor when the employee can return to work.
• Notify the employee that you expect him to return when the doctor clears him.
• If the employee fails to report to work at that time, you have grounds to terminate.