Managers cite firing employees as the job they most hate to do. Sometimes, however, terminating a staff person’s employment is the best step to take for your organization. Sometimes terminating a person’s employment is the kindest action you can take for the person. In some circumstances, firing an employee is an immediate necessity for the safety and well-being of the rest of your employees.
Because employment termination can take many forms, depending on the circumstances, we’ll take a look at immediate termination for cause and termination for non-performance due to lack of productivity or a general mismatch of employee, job and company.
Immediate Employment Termination for Cause
Occasionally, situations arise for which you will want to terminate a person’s employment immediately. Make sure you have these listed in your employee handbook. These often include situations in which an employee:
- threatens violence or commits a violent act,
- brings a weapon to work,
- views pornographic movies on work computers and on work time,
- steals company property, and/or
- commits similar offenses of a dire nature.
The best you can do, under such circumstance, is to follow this process to terminate an individual’s employment.
- Ensure the employee is not a danger to himself or other employees. (If he appears to be, help other employees to safety and call law enforcement authorities and security personnel immediately.)
- If the employee does not appear to be dangerous to himself or others, notify law enforcement authorities if an illegal act has taken place.
- Utilize internal security personnel, if available.
- Remain polite and respectful.
- State the offense calmly and with a witness in the room.
- Tell the employee his employment is terminated.
- Obtain the return of all company property.
- Allow the employee to pack personal items from his work station, if circumstances warrant.
- Enable the employee to ask any questions about the end of employment.
- Escort the former employee from the building with the understanding that if he returns he is trespassing.
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**Please Note: I make every effort to offer you common-sense, ethical management advice, but I am not an attorney and the articles on the site are not to be construed as legal advice. The site has a world-wide audience and employment laws and regulations vary from state to state and country to country. When in doubt, always seek legal counsel.
