• Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Call us now: 01243 836 840   [email protected]
Pure Employment Law
  • Who We Are
    • Nicola Brown
    • Peter Stevens
    • Elena Elsam
    • David Jones
    • Linda Nye
    • Brenda Cherry
  • For Employers
    • Advice on HR and People issues
    • Investigations, Hearings and Appeals
    • Restructuring and Redundancy
    • Defending Employment Tribunal Claims
    • Dismissal of Senior Executives
    • Contracts, Handbooks and Policies
    • Employment Law Training
  • For Employees
    • Settlement Agreements
    • Workplace Issues including Disciplinary and Grievance
    • Bringing an Employment Tribunal Claim
  • Employment Law Events
  • Legal Updates
  • Testimonials
  • Vacancies
  • Contact us
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

How to deal with a ‘ghosting’ employee

This article first appeared in People Management

‘Ghosting’ is a term which came from the world of online dating. It describes what happens when someone ends a relationship with someone suddenly, and without explanation withdraws from all communication.

In an employment context, ghosting happens when an employee stops turning up for work and doesn’t respond to the employer’s attempts to contact them. They don’t actually resign, but sooner or later the employer reaches the conclusion that the employee isn’t coming back.

Although employees going AWOL is something most employers have come across from time to time, the subject is particularly topical at the moment because economists in the US have started to notice an increase in millennials ghosting their employers. And as people tend to say, when America sneezes, Britain catches a cold, so it seems likely an increase will happen here too.

According to the US economists, employees are much more likely to ghost their employers when they are in transient temporary work and when employee engagement is low, so the rise in casual and zero-hours work seems likely to be a factor.

What can UK employers do?

As a starting point, if someone doesn’t report for work without explanation, their absence would normally be unauthorised and therefore unpaid. However, even if they are not being paid, their absence is often very inconvenient, and employers understandably want to be able to take control of the situation rather than letting it continue indefinitely.

Unfortunately, UK law does not have a concept of ‘self-dismissal’, where an employer can deem a dismissal after a certain period of time based on an employee’s lack of contact.

In the UK, if an employee is in fundamental breach of contract (such as being absent without authorisation and not responding to the employer’s contact), that breach would need to be formally accepted by the employer, and the resulting termination would be a dismissal by the employer, not a resignation by the employee. Understandably, the employer would normally argue that the breach of contract has terminated the employee’s employment with immediate effect, so that no notice pay would be payable.

For employers, the best approach is usually to try to contact your absent employee by as many different communication methods as you can – for example, by phone, text, email, recorded delivery (keeping records of all the attempts to contact them, and giving a clear and reasonable deadline for response). This is a good reason to ensure your staff contact details are kept up to date.

If you do not receive a response by your deadline, you can terminate employment. That termination will be a dismissal, rather than a resignation, so you will need to bear in mind a fair procedure and the Acas Code (particularly for employees with two years’ service or more). It is always best to take advice before proceeding with any dismissal.

Case law shows that a dismissal can only take effect when it is actually received by the employee. Unfortunately, employees who ‘ghost’ their employers often change their address without letting their employer know. Therefore, employers should ensure the dismissal of a ghosting employee is communicated by as many methods as possible, to try to minimise the risk of them claiming not to have received it (and therefore not having been dismissed).

It can also be worth including a clause in employment contracts to specifically state that written notice will be deemed to have been received by the employee a certain number of days after it has been sent to their last known address, but at the moment those clauses are relatively untested in an employment context.

If you are dealing with a ‘ghosting’ situation then we can help. Please call us on 01243 836840 for a no obligation chat, or email us at [email protected].

Please note that this update is not intended to be exhaustive or be a substitute for legal advice. The application of the law in this area will often depend upon the specific facts and you are advised to seek specific advice on any given scenario.

Share this article
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail

Join our mailing list

* = required field
Mailing Lists


Recent Legal Updates

  • Fire and rehire – what does it mean and is it lawful? 30th March 2021
  • Sleeping on the job – Sleep-in workers not entitled to National Minimum Wage 30th March 2021
  • Do your contracts need updating post lockdown? 30th March 2021
  • What are Vento bands and what are the latest rates? 30th March 2021
  • Tribunal rates and compensation limits from 6 April 2021 17th March 2021
Link to: Contact Us

Any questions? Why not get in touch!

Our advice is always given in plain English without any waffle, and we focus on providing practical solutions to our clients’ problems.

Contact us

LEGAL INFORMATION

Pure Employment Law | 1 Little London, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1PH
[email protected] | Tel: 01243 836840

Pure Employment Law is the trading name of Pure Employment Law Limited, registered in England and Wales with company number 07134294 and whose registered office is 1 Little London, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1PH. Pure Employment Law Limited is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with registration number 533794. A list of the company’s directors is available for inspection at the registered office

DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by Pure Employment Law and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

Privacy Policy | Cookies Policy | Terms & Conditions | How to make a complaint | Sitemap

© Pure Employment Law 2021

Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies as defined in our cookie policy.

Accept Cookie Policy

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy
Accept settingsHide notification only