Silence is not a resignation
Abscondment is unauthorised absence for so long, with no contact, that an intention not to come back can be inferred. No South African statute defines it and no law sets a number of days. It is a term from case law and from disciplinary codes, and three things follow from that.
- The employee has not resigned. Employment ends when you act on the absence, and that act is a dismissal under section 186 of the LRA.
- The dismissal must be fair (section 188): a fair reason and a fair procedure, which means a real opportunity to explain.
- The record is the defence. When the referral arrives, a commissioner looks at what you did between the first missed day and the letter: calls, messages, an instruction to return, a hearing notice.
The sequence the pack follows
contact log → Letter 1: return or explain → Letter 2: hearing notice → hearing → Letter 3: outcome
The part that gets read first
A commissioner reads the contact log before the letters. Think of the last employee who simply stopped coming in. Could you show every attempt to reach them, with dates, before the dismissal letter went out?
Three letters, in the order you send them
Editable Word (.docx) and print-ready PDF: a contact log, the instruction to return to work, the notice of a hearing that may proceed in the employee’s absence, and the outcome letter with final pay, UI-19 code 13 and the 30-day CCMA right.
Need one right now?
Copy the full text, paste it onto your letterhead in Word or Google Docs, and fill in the bracketed fields.
Day four. Nobody has heard from them. The next step decides the case.
Absenteeism, abscondment and desertion are not the same
The three words are used loosely, but the distinction decides how you charge the employee.
- Absenteeism (absent without leave): the employee is away without permission but intends to come back. It is misconduct, handled with your ordinary disciplinary steps, from a written warning upward.
- Abscondment: unauthorised absence for an unreasonably long period, with no contact, so the intention to return is doubtful.
- Desertion: the employee has left with the clear intention of not returning, which amounts to repudiating the contract. Even then, the contract does not end by itself. The employer still has to accept the repudiation, and accepting it is the dismissal.
You rarely know which one you are dealing with on day four. That is the point of Letter 1: it converts a guess about intention into evidence, one way or the other.
Abscondment in South African labour law: the two lines of cases
The Labour Appeal Court in SACWU v Dyasi found the dismissal of a deserting employee procedurally unfair because no inquiry was held, while accepting that an employer which cannot find the employee has little choice but to act on the absence. That is why the safe course is a hearing notice to every address you hold, and a hearing that goes ahead without them if they do not come.
More recently, the Labour Court in Sibanye Rustenburg Platinum Mines v CCMA (2025) upheld a dismissal for desertion treated as misconduct, where the employer had a clear, well-known absence rule that it applied consistently, and held that procedural fairness did not require the employer to investigate the reasons for a prolonged unauthorised absence.
Read together, the lesson is practical: write the rule down (your leave policy or disciplinary code), apply it the same way every time, and still offer the hearing. The 2025 Code of Good Practice: Dismissal, in force since 4 September 2025, lets a small employer use a simpler procedure, but not one that skips the employee’s chance to respond.
How to handle an absconding employee, step by step
Keep a contact log from the first day
Every call, SMS, WhatsApp, email, home visit and call to the emergency contact, with the date and the result, including the ones nobody answered. Hospitals and the local SAPS station are reasonable calls before concluding that someone has left. This log is the evidence that you tried, and it is Part A of the pack.
Letter 1, the instruction to return to work
When your policy’s trigger is reached, send a written instruction to return or explain by a stated date, at least two working days after delivery. Send it to every channel you hold and keep proof of delivery: a WhatsApp with two blue ticks is better evidence than a letter in a drawer.
Letter 2, the notice of hearing
If the deadline passes in silence, give notice of a disciplinary hearing with the charge, the date, the employee’s rights, and a clear statement that it will proceed in their absence. The structure follows the hearing notice template, with the abscondment charge already worded.
Letter 3, the outcome
After the hearing, a written outcome with the finding, the sanction, the effective date, the final pay arrangements and the employee’s right to refer a dispute to the CCMA within 30 days. If the employee resurfaces at any point before this, stop and hear them.
When the absence turns out to have a reason
The employees who are hardest to reach are often the ones with the best explanation: a hospital admission, an arrest, a family death in another province with no signal. That is why the contact log includes the emergency contact, and why Letter 1 asks a family member to make contact if the employee cannot.
If the explanation arrives before the outcome, the case is no longer abscondment. A genuine medical emergency becomes a sick leave question, with a certificate under section 23 of the BCEA. A funeral becomes family responsibility leave and, for the days beyond three, annual or unpaid leave. A failure to report, where reporting was possible, can still be dealt with as ordinary misconduct, proportionate to the harm it caused.
What you still owe an employee who absconded
Abscondment ends the employment. It does not cancel what was already earned, and the exit paperwork is the same as for any other termination:
- Wages for days worked and all accrued annual leave (BCEA s40). The leave payout calculator works out the leave.
- A certificate of service (s42), compulsory whatever the reason. Use the certificate of service template.
- A UI-19 with code 13, absconded. Not code 6: the employee did not resign. See all 18 UI-19 codes.
- No unilateral deductions. Unreturned property or unworked notice is recovered only with written agreement for a specific amount, or an order (s34).
Hold the final pay and documents for collection, or send them to the last known address, and note in the log when you did.
Five abscondment mistakes that lose at the CCMA
Treating the absence as a resignation
A “deemed resignation after five days” clause does not turn your decision into theirs.
One phone call, then a dismissal letter
The gap between them is where the case is lost.
Sending letters only to an address you know is stale
Use every channel you hold, and keep proof.
Withholding leave pay and the certificate of service
Both are owed, however the employee left.
Coding the UI-19 as a resignation
Code 13 is absconded. Code 6 tells a story nobody can prove.
The letters take an hour. The evidence takes the whole absence.
A commissioner reads the contact log before the letters: who phoned, when, on which number, and whether the absence rule was applied the same way last time. In most small businesses that history is spread across a supervisor’s phone, a clock-card system and an inbox. Synthro keeps attendance, contact attempts and the disciplinary file on one employee record, so the evidence exists before anyone needs it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days before an employee is considered absconded in South Africa?
No law sets a number. Neither the LRA nor the BCEA defines abscondment, so the trigger comes from your disciplinary code or leave policy, commonly three to five working days of unexplained absence. What matters more than the count is what you did in those days: the attempts to make contact, and the written instruction to return.
Is abscondment a dismissal or a resignation?
A dismissal. An employee who stops coming to work has not resigned. Their absence may show they have abandoned the job, but the employment ends when the employer acts on it, and that is a dismissal under section 186 of the LRA. It must therefore have a fair reason and follow a fair procedure.
Do I need a disciplinary hearing for abscondment?
You need to give the employee an opportunity to be heard, and the Labour Appeal Court has found dismissals procedurally unfair where none was offered. Where the employee cannot be found, a hearing notice sent to every address you hold, followed by a hearing that proceeds in their absence, is the safe way to show that the opportunity was real.
What is the UIF termination code for abscondment?
Code 13, absconded, on the UI-19. Do not use code 6 (resigned): the employee did not resign, and the wrong code is the most common reason a UIF claim stalls. The full list is in the UI-19 guide.
Must I pay leave to an employee who absconded?
Yes. Wages already earned and all accrued annual leave are owed on termination for any reason, abscondment included (BCEA section 40). A certificate of service is also compulsory (section 42). Abscondment is not a forfeiture event.
Can I deduct notice pay from an employee who absconded?
Not unilaterally. Section 34 of the BCEA allows a deduction only with the employee’s written agreement for a specific amount, or under a court or arbitration order. An employer that suffered a loss may have a claim, but it cannot simply keep the final pay.
What if the employee comes back after the dismissal?
Hear them. A genuine reason the employer could not have known, such as a hospital admission or an arrest, changes the fairness of the outcome. Where the explanation is credible and the absence could not reasonably have been reported, reconsidering the decision is usually cheaper than defending it at the CCMA.
Can an employee who absconded refer a dispute to the CCMA?
Yes, within 30 days of the dismissal, like any other dismissal. That is why the outcome letter should state the right and the date. A referral then turns on your contact log and letters, which is what the template pack is built to produce.
