Unfortunately, sooner or later, most business owners stand a good chance they will have to terminate an employee’s role in their organization. Firing someone can be one of the most difficult tasks you face. After all, you are telling them that you are taking away their source of income, knowing that will impact how they live and may likely be placing them in a tough position. Nonetheless, it still needs to be done, especially if you have someone who’s “poisoning the well” and bringing the entire business down with them.
This article discusses some good practices to consider when terminating an employee – assuming this person is an “at will” employee (someone who doesn’t have an employment contract that guarantees employment for a specified time period).
Be cognizant of any prior feedback you’ve given the employee. Was it all positive? Don’t hesitate to sit with him or her and explain that you’re unhappy with their performance. You may also wish to give him or her a specific timeframe in which to correct the problem(s) with a clear understanding that you will have to let him or her go if unsuccessful. Immediately after the conversation, prepare a “memo to the file” detailing what you told the employee.
With the above said, be even more careful that their behavior and attitude are not “cancerous” to the rest of the staff. If so, you may be well advised to remove them sooner rather than later.
If it is definitely the time to terminate the employee, be careful not get caught up in the employee’s emotions. Having a box of tissues handy on your desk may not be a bad idea. Many employers or HR representatives also try to have a witness present during the meeting in case the employee threatens retaliation.
- Tell the employee that they’re being terminated and when they’ll be expected to leave the office.
- Explain that the firing is “for cause”. If you previously had a discussion about the need for improved performance, point out that the employee did not attain the goals you wanted them to reach in their latest “Performance Review.”
- Explain how much severance pay (if any) you’ll be providing and what other benefits they’ll be entitled to after they leave your employment.
- Ask for a release, and give the employee an incentive to sign it. If the employee is a minority, a female or is over the age of 40, you may consider asking them to sign a release of liability. Do not draft this yourself – there is very specific language a release form must contain in order to hold up in court, especially if the employee is likely to claim “age discrimination”. Offer the employee something in exchange for signing the release, along the following lines: “If you sign this release form, we will extend your severance pay equal to “x” weeks.”
- Consider a formal Exit Interview questionnaire. You can gain valuable insights about your company and its employee mechanism.
- Present him or her with a document listing all items to be returned such as passcodes, access cards, keys, etc.
Unless you have an important reason to keep the employee around for a few days, ask them to leave the premises as soon as they have returned whatever needs to be returned, filled out any paperwork with you/HR and they have collected their personal items. You may wish to escort him or her out of the office/building as well so that he or she does not have any opportunity to steal any company files, trash any computer data or change any computer passwords without your knowledge. Better yet, have another employee change these while the terminating employee is in your office, so they can’t go back to their desk and wreak havoc with your computer system.
As soon as reasonably possible after the employee leaves the premises, call your other employees together, tell them that the employee is no longer working for the company (but avoid giving details), and reassign his or her duties if applicable. This may help prevent a “rumor mill” from starting and will inoculate the employees against any negative phone calls or e-mails they may receive from the terminated employee.
Lastly, get the job done. There’s only one thing worse than firing an employee who’s likely to get emotional, angry or violent, and that’s not firing them. Holding onto an employee who’s not performing or wreaking havoc with your business poisons your workplace in two ways: It allows the harmful behavior to continue, and it sends signals to other employees that they can get away with similar behavior.
Firing an employee can be tough. Many owners do not take it lightly at all – and they shouldn’t. However, the careful considerations enumerated above should help keep you on the right path. Just be careful not to put off the inevitable. That could end up being an even greater, toxic disservice to your business.
