Abandonment of employment occurs where a team member, without notification to us and without acceptable reason, absents himself/herself from the place of employment for a period of five consecutive work days. Abandonment does not mean we are terminating employment. It means that by his/her absence the team member is regarded as having given up his/her employment i.e. he/she is deemed to have resigned.

If one of your team is absent without any form of notice you should first check their employment agreement carefully to confirm what it says about abandonment.

During the period of absence, you must make reasonable efforts to contact the team member e.g text, telephone, home visit or enquiries with work colleagues. It is helpful to be able to demonstrate evidence of this so make diary notes including dates actions etc.

Once the five day period has expired and if you have made reasonable efforts to contact them you are entitled to decide that they have abandoned their employment. You then need to write to the team member confirming this using our abandonment of employment letter. If you have any doubts or concerns discuss them with Organisational Development and Capability.

Note: if they subsequently turn up and have a valid reason for their absence e.g. in a coma following an accident meaning they were unable to advise us  we would expect to reinstate the team member.