Letting
an employee go may be fraught with many problems and correlating
legalities. Even “at will” employees
who understand that they may lose their job at any time may have
legal recourse if your reasons for firing an employee are invalid.
Therefore, it is well to review some of the reasons for firing
an employee. Some of these include:
*Misbehavior or rudeness toward clients or customers
*Drunkenness or substance abuse on-the-job
*Theft of company property
*Frequent and unexplained absences from work
*Entering false information on records
*Gross insubordination
*Incompetence or failure to respond to training
*Fighting or other physical aggression
*Sexual harassment
*Verbal abuse
*Using company property for personal business
Document Your Reasons for Firing an Employee
In each these cases, the well-informed employer
will have clear documentation the employee understood company
policy. Also, the
employer should document evidence of misconduct and keep it on
file with a written summary of the termination. Even when firing
an “at will” employee, the manager must exercise
care in wording the reasons for the termination. For example,
the employer should not claim “downsizing” when he
or she plans immediately to hire another employee to perform
the same job.
It is not enough merely to suspect that an employee has violated
a company policy. The employer should never fire an employee
on a whim or out of resentment. Management should remain calm
and collected during the entire process. The reasons for firing
an employee may be valid, but handling the situation badly can
cancel this.
When there are economic reasons for firing
an employee, consider several factors. The main question an
employer will have is, “Which
employee should I terminate?” This can become a sticky
situation and there are many aspects to consider:
*Which employees have the greatest longevity of service?
*Which employee shows the greatest productivity?
*All things being equal, which employee would recover best?
*Is voluntary retirement a possibility?
*Which employee has the best attitude toward the business?
Reasons for firing an employee are as varied as their faces.
Even when the action becomes necessary through no fault of the
employee, both the decision making process and the act of firing
are not pleasant duties. It is, however, no time to let emotions
get out of hand.
The
right way to fire an employee. Fair and legal.
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