# General Business Category > Entrepreneurship and Business Management Forum >  Dealing with Desertion

## duncan drennan

An employee deserting their post seems to be an issue with is quite difficult to deal with under South African labour law. I was just reminded of this when reading the latest Labour Guide newsletter on desertion.




> The following is quoted in the arbitration award :  “ desertion is distinguishable from absence without leave, in that the employee who deserts his or her post does so with the intention of not returning, or, having left his or her post, subsequently formulates the intention not to return. On the other hand, the AWOL employee is absent with the intention of resuming his or her employment.”
> 
> The arbitrator observed further that “most deserters do not inform their employer that they are abandoning their job - they simply do not turn up for work.”
> 
> How then, does the employer establish whether or not the employee has the intention of returning to work?


This whole issue has come up here before, and I would say that most employers have no idea how to deal with this type of situation when it arises. This problem has come up here before (I just can't find the thread now - Marq has had issues in the past).

How would you feel about attempting to determine a protocol for dealing with this situation? i.e. set up a list of things to do to provide you the relevant information to "prove" that an employee has absconded were the case to go to arbitration.

Some input from those who have experience with this, or knowledge of the law would help a lot. Obviously this would not be a panacea, but could possible provide some guidelines that employers could work within.

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## Dave A

I think the thread you were looking for is Absconding Desrting Employees.

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## duncan drennan

At what point can you stop paying an employee who is absent without leave?

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## Dave A

I think a major factor is if you have dealt with desertion in your employment contract. 

I'd pay timeously for days worked. For anything past that, I'd argue there is a difference between suspending payments pending clarity and dismissal for desertion  :Big Grin:

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## duncan drennan

So would it be within the bounds of our labour law to have a contract that says that AWOL will be considered to be unpaid leave? Or alternatively that leave will be paid out until there is no leave left, and then unpaid leave from then on?

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## Dave A

The wonderful part of our labour law is that it defines what must be paid leave. Accordingly there seems to be no obligation to pay for absences that don't fall in the defined "paid" categories.

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## duncan drennan

Well, there we have the first two steps figured out,

Make sure your contract deals with desertion/absconding (anyone have some particular guidelines for this?)If the employee is AWOL there is no need to pay them.

Disclaimer: I (we) am (are) not a labour lawyer. I (we) take no responsibility if any suggestions come back to bite you in the bum. Please see the site disclaimer.

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## Dave A

Do you think I should add a link to our wiki disclaimer to the fine print at the bottom of the forum?

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## duncan drennan

> Do you think I should add a link to our wiki disclaimer to the fine print at the bottom of the forum?


Yes, I think that is a good idea. If anyone feels they are providing info that requires a disclaimer, they can then just link to that too.

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