November 12, 2008
Termination Form - If handled badly, you'll have productivity and esprit
If handled badly, you'll have productivity and esprit de corps problems for months. Learn how other small company owners are dismissing problem employees while lowering their risk of wrongful layoff lawsuits. Again use escalating discipline to create satisfactory documentation and prove you gave the sick and disabled worker chances to improve performance. Obviously you should do this in private, giving the worker opportunity to vent his or her feelings. It may not be the contrite disposition you would wish; the jobholder may respond in anger. After all, this may be their supervisor you're sacking! For example, the Older Employees Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) covers the benefits you need to make workforce over age 40 aware of. List any employee counseling or special training the supervisor offered or the worker completed in attempts to prevent this lay off. And, you inform him 3 times you'll terminate him if his performance doesn't increase. After careful study, a pregnant woman holds the job you want to cut. If the worker is being separated for reasons other than internal business matters, be sure to outline exactly what behavior precipitated the lay off.
Keep in mind that just because you have a worker who falls under one of these groups, this does not mean you cannot lay off this worker. It's a tricky aspect, for many reasons and many sole proprietors are completely unprepared to deal with this problem. First, the jobholder has only a small back pay claim in any court trial, and no legal defender will want this small damages case. If the business does not have a legal department, use an independent legal defender.