When Employment Ends: Layoffs, Job Termination, Firing, Resignations

Even the best employer has employees resign. No matter your work environment or your positive employee relationships, employees resign for reasons that are beyond your control. They resign for new jobs and better opportunities. They resign to return to school or move across the country. They resign because they want more money than you can...

Human Resources staff members are passionate about their work and HR employment. They work hard walking a fine line, in HR employment, to create a balance between management advocacy and employee advocacy. In HR employment, they must strike another balance between transactional and administrative functions, and forward thinking, employee...

Are you feeling increasingly unhappy about your job? Then, it may be time for you to quit your job. Or, address the issues that you dislike about your current career. Without leaving your job, you may be able to solve the problems. Take a look at these reasons to determine whether it's time to quit your current job. Perhaps you can identify...

No matter your job or your industry, this year is a challenge for employment. In 2008, 48% of employers laid people off, according to a Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) survey cited at CNNmoney.com.

Employment termination - no matter the cause - is scary, disorienting, and disruptive to habitual patterns. Getting fired is never fun; layoffs are equally disheartening. In either scenario, your feelings of self worth are dealt a blow. Just when you need a positive outlook to help you find your next opportunity, you feel dizzy as if your whole...

If you’re reading this, congratulations. You’re probably still employed. That means that you have time to put your financial, social, and work affairs in order in case your employment status changes. You can prepare for unemployment while still employed. In fact, there is no better time to prepare for unemployment than while still employed. Use these ideas to prepare yoursel and your family f…

Have you ever had an employee resign? The resignation brings up a number of questions about how to handle the situation. Here's what to do.

In the attached article, I discussed actions to take while you are still employed when you think your employment is in danger of termination. Do you have strategies to share about how to keep your job in the face of potential employment termination? In these economic times, keeping your job is the priority. Share your tips for keeping your job.

Have you experienced a job loss through a layoff or downsizing? Job loss and a job search are painful and upsetting for most people. Additionally, parents must tell family members about the job loss and mitigate their fears about the family, the income and the job search. Here are ten tips.

Buyouts are a common method for reducing the number and cost of employees. In a buyout, the employer offers some employees or all employees the opportunity to receive a large severance package in return for leaving their employment.

Sample letter of resignation or a resignation letter for the human resources policy, checklist, procedure, and samples directory. This resignation letter informs your current employer of your future plans.

Severance pay is money that an employer might want to provide for an employee who is leaving their employ. Normal circumstances that might warrant severance pay include layoffs, job elimination, and mutual agreement to part ways for whatever reason. Severance pay usually amounts to a week or two of pay for each year of service to the company. In...

While firing an employee is never fun, you can legally, ethically, and properly take the steps necessary to fire an employee. An employment ending must also look thoughtful and caring to the employees who remain. Here's how.

Are you miserable at work? Do you never feel good about heading to work? Do you feel unchallenged, unhappy, or not in control? Is your boss the worst? Do your coworkers engage in unjustifiable complaining. If you continue to participate in any of these situations, you will ensure that you will continue to hate your job. And, hating your job is...

Checking job or employment references is time-consuming and frequently unsatisfactory, as many employers, despite recent legislation, refuse to offer more than dates of employment, salary history and job title. Here is the format I use to check references. Take a look; it provides a format for reference checking that you'll find helpful.

The decision to terminate an individual’s employment carries with it the risk of a possible legal challenge. Depending upon an employer’s policies or whether an employee has an employment contract, an employee may, for example, have a breach of contract or “wrongful discharge” claim. Learn the right questions to ask before you terminate an...

Firing an employee can be a dirty job, but the IT department must help do it. It is necessary to involve IT in the employee termination process because a former employee who still has access to a company's network and proprietary corporate data is a security threat. Find out why and how the IT department needs to be involved in the termination of employees.

Managers cite firing employees as the job they most hate to do. Sometimes, 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...

The exit interview is your opportunity to obtain information about what your organization is doing well - and, what your organization needs to do to improve. Exit interviews are key to organization improvement since rarely will you receive frank feedback from current employees. The exit interview questions you ask help you obtain actionable...

Sometimes difficult people take such a toll that you decide that your best option is to find another job. Before you leave, or you fire the difficult person, try these 10 options.

Employees leave your organization for good and bad reasons. On the positive side, they find new opportunities, go back to school, retire or land their dream job. Less positively, they are fired for poor performance or poor attendance or experience a layoff because of a business downturn. In each instance, you need an employment termination...

Exit interviews are one of the best ways to get true and honest feedback from employees. The downside is that it takes time to build up a significant amount of data from exit interviews. Increasing your participation rate can help you get greater amounts of actionable information faster from your exit interviews.

Are you feeling increasingly unhappy about your job? Then, it may be time for you to quit your job. Or, address the issues that you dislike about your current career. Without leaving your job, you may be able to solve the problems. Take a look at these reasons to determine whether it's time to quit your current job. It may be time to quit your job.

A recommendation letter plays a specific role in the world of Human Resources and employment. A recommendation letter is occasionally needed, but never preferred. Employers would rather speak directly with the former supervisors of their prospective employees. However, employers realize that direct communication is not always possible - hence...

We had an employee resign in a resignation letter and offer two weeks' notice. The employee's resignation was welcome and we indicated that his services would end that same day. When you suggest that the company pay for his time, does that mean the company pays for the additional two weeks time that was given as notice as if the employee had...

Need an exit strategy from your current job? On a collision course with your current workplace culture? How about a boss whose strategies and approaches you don't support? You may need an exit strategy. You can plan your own exit strategy or ask your company to help you create an exit strategy. Learn more.

How to handle a lay-off, including benefits and unemployment information, and how to get on the fast-track to a new job. This is good information from Job Searching Guide Alison Doyle.

This legal guide, from Business Week, does an excellent job of discussing all aspects of hiring and firing including opinions and court decisions, issues relevant to only a few states. Is at-will employment really at will? Find out.

The employment market is fragile these days and unemployment may be only a paycheck away. Have you experienced a period of unemployment recently? Are you anticipating the probability of unemployment? Are you worried about the possibility of unemployment? If so, how are you preparing your family, your finances, and your life-style for unemployment? What do you wish you had done prior to your unemp…

You’d think that supplying a reference for a former employee should be a simple, straightforward activity. But, in our litigious society, providing a simple employment reference, in response to reference checks, is no longer widely practiced. In fact, most companies assign reference checks to the Human Resources staff. But, there are exceptions when employees may respond to reference check requ…