An employee stops coming to work, without notice and without explanation, and days turn into weeks. The employer treats the relationship as over. The employee, when he resurfaces, says he was dismissed unfairly. The question before Courts in that moment is stark: did the employee walk away, or was this a dismissal in disguise? This is one of the most heavily litigated issues in Indian employment law, because the answer decides whether the employer must comply with retrenchment safeguards or whether the separation falls outside the statutory framework altogether.
