How To Fire Someone

Fire someone quickly and legally with this "how to" guide.

At any given time during a business day, throughout the United States employers are calling wayward employees into their office to give them the ax, the heave hoe, the old pink slip. What leads up to employment termination can vary from company to company and scenario to scenario. As a business owner or human resource personnel, you must find your threshold then decide a course of action for what some believe to be the “hardest” part of the job—firing the unwanted employee.

Finding the right time and method of breaking the news to the employee, who may be underperforming, presents the most difficult obstacle. Many business owners put off the inevitable by fantasizing the employee will get better with time, or the reprimands and written notices will eventually do their job and the message will get through. But how long is too long to wait? Can you immediately replace an employee who constantly underperforms? Would the new blood in the work environment help speed up production, help uplift the morale of the entire business? Maybe so, and maybe not.

Employment Termination Missteps and Obstacles

Before bringing in the employee to your office, jot down a few notes to think about why you should terminate the employee. By answering a few questions, you can develop a decisive, short speech to give the employee, which will help relieve any turmoil afterwards and give insight into why you are terminating them.

* What problems has the employee caused?
* Are there specific policies the employee has broken?
* Have you warned the employee?
* Have you taken other measures to bring back the employee within good standing?
* Are there legal considerations to keep in mind?

This last question brings to mind why it is crucial to have certain actions thought out before bringing in the employee. Employers do not want to leave any doubt about why they are firing an employee. Do not let the imagination of the terminated employee run wild with discrimination lawsuit ideas. Be concise and direct about the missteps of the employee and the employment termination proceedings will be over within moments. Most terminations do not end in long-drawn-out conversations, but guarded goodbyes, but be prepared for pleas and some shameful comments.

Many different companies handle employment termination in various ways, even by emails and text messages recently. We recommend face-to-face encounters, where the employee can leave with the respect of the company for having the nerve to tell him or her in person. If nothing else, it will keep your company out of the headlines and where it should be headed, towards success.

The smart employer's guide on how to fire someone.