{"id":4768,"date":"2016-04-04T10:47:41","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T15:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/smallbusiness\/employment-law-and-human-resources\/termination-basics.html"},"modified":"2024-06-06T05:34:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T10:34:09","slug":"termination-basics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/smallbusiness\/employment-law-and-human-resources\/termination-basics.html","title":{"rendered":"Termination Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Termination Basics<\/h1>\n
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\n By Susan Buckner, J.D.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by Aviana Cooper, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last updated\n
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Editorial Note: We earn a commission from affiliate partner links on FindLaw. Commissions do not affect the editorial integrity of our legal content.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n \n

\n \n <\/i>\n Legally Reviewed\n <\/summary>\n\n
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This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n\n

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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

Small business owners have many duties. One of them, unfortunately, is firing employees. Employee termination is never pleasant, even if you have a human resources department that can handle the paperwork. If you must do the dirty work yourself, it becomes even more difficult.<\/p>\r\n

How you fire an employee begins long before the last day. If done correctly, ending an employment relationship can be painless for everyone. There are steps you should take before calling a worker into your office for the final interview.<\/p>\r\n

An employer must meet legal requirements when firing, laying off, or ending an employee’s relationship with the company. There are times when you should not fire someone and situations when you cannot fire them. This article will discuss protecting yourself from wrongful termination<\/a> lawsuits and keeping your employees happy, even when you have to fire them.<\/p>\r\n

Before Termination<\/h2>\r\n

Business owners don’t hire people intending to fire them. One of the biggest termination mistakes businesses make happens before onboarding begins. Employers need clear company policies about disciplinary processes. The employee handbook must be very specific about policy violations. Employees who don’t know when they’re violating the rules won’t change their behavior until it becomes too problematic for others to tolerate.<\/p>\r\n

Disciplinary actions must be immediate and fair. Developing a company culture that overlooks minor policy violations is easy, especially if they don’t hurt anything. In that case, you should revise your policy so these "minor violations" are no longer violations.<\/p>\r\n

Suppose company rules say employees may not have photos of significant others in bathing suits on their desks due to a complaint by an employee. A senior manager violates this rule. Since there are no complaints, you let it slide. Soon, many employees have similar photos on their desks. Then, a new hire arrives and places a picture of their partner wearing the type of bathing suit that garnered the original complaint. Since you didn’t change your company policy, you’ve put yourself in an awkward position on disciplinary action with this new worker.<\/p>\r\n

Have clear disciplinary and termination policies. Update your employee handbook regularly.<\/p>\r\n

If your business is in an at-will state, get legal advice before firing employees "at-will." At-will employment<\/a> does not mean you may fire workers on a whim. If you give workers any suggestion that you will not fire them for no cause, the courts may take that as a verbal contract. But, if your business gets a reputation for firing workers willy-nilly, you may have issues keeping employees.<\/p>\r\n

Performance Issues and Remediation<\/h2>\r\n

Employee performance issues such as absenteeism and poor work performance are the main reasons for worker termination. A good business owner or manager should keep track of workers’ productivity with regular performance reviews. As with policy violations, workers cannot know how they’re doing unless you tell them. Nothing shocks a worker more than to learn out of the blue, "I’m afraid your productivity has been declining for the last 14 quarters, we’re going to have to let you go."<\/p>\r\n

You should provide performance reviews at least annually or quarterly if you have an HR department. Give the employee time to ask questions and offer their suggestions and input. A good way to avoid hostile or confrontational terminations is by having a performance review process that allows workers to speak frankly to you or the HR manager.<\/p>\r\n

Alternative Measures to Termination<\/h3>\r\n

Sometimes, an employment contract will not allow immediate termination. Or you may not want to let an employee go despite underperforming in their area. If you are reluctantly considering termination as a last resort, there are other alternatives to try first.<\/p>\r\n