What is Job Abandonment? How to Handle It Effectively

1. What Is Job Abandonment, Exactly?

In its most simple terms, job abandonment occurs when an employee fails to report to work for a prolonged period without notifying their employer. 

Unlike formal resignation (where an employee informs their employer either verbally or in writing that they intend to leave), job abandonment leaves organizations in a state of uncertainty. 

The difference is that you can plan for someone who is resigning and ensure there is adequate staff on hand to cover their work. When someone abandons their role, you don’t have the luxury of forward notice and can’t plan accordingly. Depending on the role abandoned, this can leave some organizations in chaos.

1.1 But This Is Absenteeism, Isn’t It?

Job abandonment could be considered absenteeism if the employee eventually makes contact or returns to work. However, the true difference between job abandonment and absenteeism is that an absence is typically pre-authorized or explained. 

In a nutshell: 

• Job abandonment occurs when an employee fails to show up for work and fails to contact their employer to explain why they are not there.
• Absenteeism refers to habitual absence from work that comes with notice or explanation. Vacation time, sick leave, and study leave are all examples of this. 

Where the line gets blurred is that occasionally, an employee will fail to turn up for work or notify the employer, but they have every intention of returning.  

The term for this is “unauthorized absence.” You will most commonly face this when an individual experiences some type of emergency and doesn’t think to call in.

2. Recognizing Job Abandonment

To tackle job abandonment, you must recognize when it is actually happening. But how do you distinguish between an unauthorized absence and job abandonment? 

The answer to this question lies in what you define as job abandonment and your tolerance toward unauthorized absence.

2.1 Duration

Most organizations will decide how many days can pass without an employee turning up or making contact before it is considered job abandonment. 

Three days tends to be a common benchmark, but this can differ according to the organization’s preferences.  

For example, a restaurant may have a shorter period because there is a more urgent need to fill the staffing gap. In contrast, an organization with very flexible working hours may have a much longer period. This is because it could be considered normal to not see employees for a couple of days. 

In short, you must decide the duration before you can consider the possibility of job abandonment.

2.2 Contact

If an employee remains unreachable despite multiple attempts to contact them through various communication channels, it may indicate abandonment. 

This lack of communication is a critical factor that distinguishes abandonment from other forms of absenteeism.

2.3 Policy

An absence that enters the realm of job abandonment is ultimately guided by the policy you put in place for it. 

Ensure there is a clear reference to job abandonment criteria in your organization’s company handbook or policy documents. This not only helps set expectations and reduces ambiguity, but it also defines what constitutes job abandonment and the steps to approaching it. 

This information is vital for helping other leaders in your organization when dealing with the problem.

3. Why Does Job Abandonment Happen?

There’s a myriad of reasons why an employee abandons their job, ranging from a simple “I just don’t want to go back” to something more complex. Some common reasons include: 

• Workplace environment: A toxic or unhealthy workplace is a significant factor and includes poor management practices, lack of support, harassment, and bullying.
• Personal circumstances: Employees may find themselves unable to balance their personal lives with their jobs. Family emergencies, health problems, bereavement, and other crises are all examples of this.
• Lack of engagement: The employee may feel bored, unmotivated, and stagnated in their role, especially if they see no path to advancement.
• Better opportunity elsewhere: Sometimes, an employee may find a better job opportunity elsewhere and choose to leave without going through a formal resignation process. This can happen if a new job provides better pay, benefits, or working conditions.
• Lack of clear policies: If attendance and communication policies are not clear, employees might not understand the proper protocols for reporting absences. This lack of clarity can lead to misunderstandings and unintentional job abandonment.
• Stress and burnout: High levels of stress and burnout occur when employees feel overwhelmed by their workload or working conditions. The result is they reach a breaking point and feel unable to continue.
• Financial instability: Employees facing financial instability may abandon their jobs in search of immediate income opportunities. This is particularly relevant for jobs that do not pay a living wage.
• Pure accident: Genuine mistakes happen—particulary if you have an inefficient scheduling process in place. Staff may miss a shift because they didn’t think they were scheduled to work.

4. What Does Job Abandonment Cost Your Organization?

The negative impact of someone abandoning their role can be immediately felt, but there are long-term implications at play, too. The most common problems organizations face are: 

• Workflow disruption, leading to unfinished tasks, missed deadlines, and chronic staff shortages.
• Additional costs from:
  • Hiring and training replacement staff
  • Hiring temporary workers to plug the resource gap quickly
  • Increased overtime if existing staff have to pick up the workload
  • Lost productivity
• Increased stress among the workforce and a negative impact on team dynamics.
• Diminished employee trust and loyalty.
• Reputational damage and negative reviews.
• A higher staff turnover resulting from the above problems.

5. Are Employees Allowed to Abandon Their Jobs?

The answer to this very much depends on what is stated in the employee's contract.

While no law explicitly prohibits employees from jumping ship, the act is fraught with consequences and potential legal implications. 

Employees under contractual obligations can face issues because the contracts often include clauses requiring a specific notice period before someone leaves. Additionally, there is usually a procedure for resignation that must be followed.  

Violating these terms can result in legal action or financial penalties for the employee. 

Other consequences of job abandonment—even if it occurs in an “at-will” state include: 

• Termination of employment
• Negative employment record
• Ineligibility for unemployment benefits
• Damaged professional reputation
• Diminished career prospects

6. Handling Job Abandonment Effectively in 7 Steps

It’s happened. Someone hasn’t turned up for their shift. What happens now?

Step 1: Double Check the Absence

This may sound daft, but you should first check that the employee didn’t actually book time off. This can happen in organizations with a large workforce or when absences are arranged and managed by a separate department such as HR. 

The last thing you want to do is hound an employee while they are taking a well-earned vacation, so be doubly sure that the absence is unauthorized before proceeding.

Step 2: Attempt to Contact the Employee

Once you have confirmed that the employee should have shown up for work, you must ensure that you have made every reasonable effort to contact them, including: 

• Calling their personal or home phone and leaving a message
• Sending a text in case the voicemail wasn’t received
• Emailing their personal email address (if given)
• Reaching out to the employee's emergency contacts 

While you should definitely try to contact the employee several times, do not call them incessantly since this could quickly turn into harassment.  

Also, note that there is an emphasis on “reasonable effort.” It is considered highly inappropriate for an employer to visit an employee's home unannounced to check on why they are not at work. Depending on where you are based, it may even be illegal. 

Additionally, do not contact employees via their social media channels, as this is similarly inappropriate. 

Essentially, you may only contact the employee via the given communication channels (typically phone and email). No matter how frustrating it is, you must respect your employee's privacy and adhere to professional and legal standards when addressing a potential job abandonment issue.

Step 3. Document Everything

You must meticulously document all your attempts to contact the employee, including the time, method, and whether or not you left a message. 

This is crucial for demonstrating due diligence and will be required should the situation escalate to legal proceedings. 

You also need to record all the dates and times of the unauthorized absences. This is made easier if you use time-clocking software since the employee’s absence will be automatically noted in the system.

Step 4: Arrange Coverage

While you are attempting to contact the employee, you should also arrange for their work to be covered. 

This can be more challenging for shift-based workers in industries like hospitality, where resources are often stretched. Therefore, have an emergency plan in place for when no-shows occur such as hiring temporary or agency workers. 

For office or desk-based jobs, find out what the employee was working on and what their priorities are. Shift the urgent tasks to other staff members for the time being.

Step 5: Start Long-Term Planning

Okay, so you’ve temporarily plugged the work gap. Now, you must start working on a long-term solution for workload distribution or start the recruitment process to fill the missing job role. 

While your existing workforce may initially be willing to take on extra work, they won’t be happy if you continue to pile on additional jobs unless you start compensating them for it.  

Therefore, it’s best to address the problem early on so you don’t risk a disgruntled workforce and the possibility of more job abandonments.

Step 6: Begin the Termination Process

If you have exhausted all attempts to contact and there is still no sign or response from the employee then you can start the termination process. 

This starts by sending a letter of termination that clearly details the reasons for termination and references your job abandonment policy. 

You should send the letter via multiple channels, such as email and certified mail, which provides a clear paper trail. This is not only to ensure delivery but also to protect you from a legal standpoint.

Step 7: Legal Compliance

Whatever you do, you must align your termination process with your local labor laws and your company policies. That way, there can be no risk of wrongful termination claims. 

At this point, it is highly recommended to consult with HR professionals or legal advisors since they can guide you through all steps and ensure you maintain compliance with the applicable laws and regulations. This includes considering any potential claims related to discrimination, retaliation, or wrongful termination.

7. Best Practices to Prevent Job Abandonment

7.1 Ensure a Fair Work/Life Balance

Overworked and burned-out employees are among the first to jump ship without notice. 

Question why your employees are stretched thin. Do you need to employ more staff? Redistribute workloads? Or, maybe there’s a skills gap or training issue. 

Addressing this and restoring a fair work/life balance will reduce stress and fatigue while improving the working environment.

7.2 Embrace Flexible Working

Flexible working is highly desirable among workers. Having autonomy over when or where they can work allows employees to fit around family commitments or emergencies that crop up without the fear of being penalized. 

Offering remote working capabilities can also help prevent burnout and a better work/life balance. 

For shift-based work, give employees the ability to self-schedule and shift-swap.  

Where set work hours are concerned, work on empowering shift workers with the autonomy to manage their own schedules. Doing this promotes a sense of ownership and responsibility among staff. The enhanced flexibility also means they can work around other commitments.

7.3 Approve Time Off

Do managers in your organization have a habit of canceling or rejecting time off requests? If so, they are shooting themselves in the foot from an ethical and legal standpoint. 

First, what’s the point of offering PTO as a benefit if you're not going to allow workers to take it? Second, depending on your labor laws, doing so might actually be illegal. Moreover, if workers don’t feel like they can get some much-needed time off, then they will simply stop turning up. 

Make sure your leadership is well-trained on this issue and establish a clear policy for requesting and approving PTO.

7.4 Look After Employee Wellbeing

Besides establishing a healthy work/life balance, look after your employees in other areas as well: 

• Give employees adequate breaks and make sure they take them. An absence management tool can help you with this.
• Foster a positive work environment through respect, inclusivity, and open communication. Implement reward and recognition programs so employees feel valued.
• Regularly solicit feedback from your workforce and—more importantly—act upon it. If employees are listened to, it increases satisfaction and lessens job abandonment.
• Invest in leadership training to foster a supportive environment. Ditch micromanagement and fear tactics and encourage a leadership style that is approachable and empathetic.
• Provide training and development opportunities and career development so staff don’t feel stifled or bored in their roles.
• Take accusations of workplace bullying and harrassment seriously. Have policies in place that include proper investigatory action and consequences if the accusations are found to be true.
• Provide resources for mental health support, such as employee assistance programs (EAPs) and wellness initiatives to help employees manage stress and mental health challenges. Doing this can make employees more likely to seek help when needed rather than simply leaving without notice.

7.5 Establish Clear Call-Out Procedures

Do employees know what to do if they have to call out of work?  

It may be that they don’t know who to call or what is considered an acceptable method of communication for your organization. If this is the case, then they may fail to notify you that they are going to be absent because they are simply unaware of the procedure. 

The remedy to this is quick and easy.  

Establish official call-out protocols for your company, including: 

• Who to call
• When to call
• Whether you prefer email, text, or a phone call 

Embed this information into your onboarding program and the company handbook. For existing staff, ensure you run training sessions so everyone is clear on the call-out process.

7.6 Utilize Scheduling Tools

Effective staff scheduling is essential for avoiding workload pitfalls. Employees that are overburdened or underutilized are more likely to abandon their posts since they’re probably suffering from stress or boredom. 

A manual scheduling system can make it challenging to set staff schedules that work. Moreover, a paper-based schedule can easily get lost or forgotten about.  

Switching to an automated digital scheduling system will save you a lot of headaches. Your managers can use it to create staff schedules with set shift patterns so everyone knows where they stand. Additionally, managers will be able to check for upcoming absences and plan additional resources accordingly. 

The best thing is that a digital system can be viewed from anywhere, including online or via a mobile app. Staff are able to access their schedule whenever they need to which means they are less likely to accidentally skip a shift. 

Make sure to use the scheduling tool while respecting employee availability. Your leaders should regularly collect and consider each staff member's availability and preferred work hours since doing so reduces resentment and conflicts.

7.7 Have a Clear Policy

Everyone needs to know where your organization stands on job abandonment, particularly how long they can be absent before the abandonment process kicks off. 

Establish clear rules—your call out process will form part of this—and set out the procedures on what happens should someone not turn up for work. 

Train all staff on this policy and what the consequences of job abandonment are, including the termination procedure and any disciplinary action. 

Regularly review the policy and adjust it based on feedback and the outcome of any job abandonment incidents.

8. Final Thoughts

If your organization has suffered from job abandonment in the past, it’s time to dig into the “why” and uncover what’s making them leave without notice. 

Taking a step back and objectively analyzing the working environment will enable you to spot the issues and put improvement measures in place. 

Doing so will not only reduce or eliminate job abandonment, it will also create a place where people want to—and do—enthusiastically turn up for work.