Abandonment of employment occurs where an employee, without notification to BigApple and without acceptable reason, absents himself/herself continuously from the place of employment.

If an employee is absent without any form of notice you should check their employment agreement carefully. Most employment agreements will identify a period of un-notified absence of (typically no less than three days) which is grounds for deciding that the employee has abandoned his/her employment.

Even then great care must be taken in making such a decision. Reasonable efforts should be made by BigApple to contact the employee. It is helpful to be able to demonstrate evidence of this. Should the employee re-appear a few days later with a genuine excuse (such as having been in hospital in a coma without the knowledge of next of kin) it would be wise to reinstate the employee.

Abandonment does not involve termination by BigApple. It means that by his/her absence the employee is regarded as having given up his/her employment i.e. he/she is deemed to have resigned. Use the Abandonment of employment letter to confirm the situation.