Introduction
Have you ever needed to fire someone from their job? Then after consulting with Human Resources, you learn very quickly that you need to do it right or you open the company up to some significant liability risks. It is important to follow a few simple best practices to limit your potential liability and reduce the risk of having to pay unemployment
to the State for the termination of the employee or possibly civility penalties for violating Federal or State Law.
Termination - Best Practices
These best practices include adopting a personnel policy that outlines your process. Even though most non-Union jobs are at-will, meaning that an employee can be terminated at any time, there are still limitations to that. Union members generally follow a progressive discipline process prior to termination. A best practice is to adopt a similar process for your at-will employees. Progressive discipline is a stepped process that may follow this example:
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Step 1: General Coaching – Explanation of the general expectations of performance
or behavior
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Step 2: Warning #1 – This is a summary of the violations and clear expectations to address the
performance or behavior.
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Step 3: Warning # 2 – This is also a summary of the continued violations and
clear expectations to address the performance or behavior.
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Step 4: Warning # 3 – This can vary from a suspension to a final written warning
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Step 5: Termination
Goal and Process
The goal is to find and retain staff. You put a great deal of effort into recruiting staff. If you follow these steps, you may be able to correct the actions or behavior of the employee. Discipline is designed to retain the staff versus
simply punishing them. Ultimately, it is up to the Mangers and how they want to run the company.
Your process can be a regimented process like this example, or it can be as simple as one violation and you are out. There is a risk to the company if you do not correctly document the discipline of the employee. With documentation, there is a risk that there will be a misunderstanding of the reason for the termination. The employee may feel that it was due to other than performance or behavior in the workplace. This will cause greater risk to the employer for possible regulatory,
civil, or criminal charges to be filed against your organization. If an organization does choose to terminate the employment of an employee for no cause, it is allowable when done properly. For instance, if there is a reduction in the workforce due to an economic downturn. A good rule of practice would be to eliminate staff based on some sort of metric of performance or seniority.
Legal
This is very critical to ensure that you can defend your actions when terminating employees of a protected class. Applicants,
employees and former employees are protected from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, and genetic information (including family medical history).
Applicants, employees and former employees are also protected from retaliation (punishment) for filing a charge or complaint of discrimination, participating in a discrimination investigation or lawsuit, or opposing discrimination (for example, threatening to file a charge or complaint of discrimination). To learn more about this, you can visit the EEOC Government website.
Conclusion
Follow these best practices.
It is important to follow a few simple best practices to limit your
potential liability and reduce of possibly civil penalties for violating Federal
or State Law.
