The "misconduct" alternative is usually better than the "job elimination" alternative because with job elimination, state laws often compel you to hire the worker back even for a lesser position. Your employment with ABC Business will separate effective right away. With the sue-happy nation we live in, it is easy for a laid off employee to bring a case against you and claim that you had no real ground for dismissal. Now I must stress this is VERY simplistic. When firing for unlawful reasons (which does now and then occur), you don't want any documentation. Should you fight the jobholder's compensation claim? There is nothing to apologize for as you made every attempt to work with and help the employee before dismissal. You follow this with a written warning, a final written notification, and then layoff.

Use progressive discipline to tell the jobholder what is wrong and how to fix it. Otherwise it will cost the small company in both time and money. While you will need to change it for each dismissal, a sample notification will aid you avoid mistakes and set a professional tone for this important legal document. You should not give your opinions about why the worker failed to follow methods or to work up to expectations. Specifically, it shows you spoke with the difficult worker before deciding on a warning to find any mitigating causes. Since the risk of a legal action is higher with a FMLA employee, you must consult your human resources department and the business lawyer. The jobholder lay off notice is key to this method. The court upheld sacking these employees as lawful.