How To Fire Someone the Right Way
For those of you who have never had to fire an employee, you're lucky.
It is an awful experience, regardless of the circumstances.
There is a proper way to do this, to protect yourself and the employee.
As much as you would like to just tell someone to GTFO and never come back, ya can't. Legal would flip out and you'd expose yourself and the company to potential litigation and bad press. So what do you do when you want to fire someone?
Document Everything
This is very tedious but worth it if the fired employee ever brings a lawsuit to yourself or the company. What should you document?
Poor performance (mid year/annual performance reviews, performance logs, etc)
company policy infractions
behavior
time cards
When doing this you may need a year or more of documentation depending on what the fireable offenses are for. Obviously the more egregious they are, the less documentation you will need, but most employees who deserve to be fired require a lot of documentation. Expect this to be a grind.
Below is a standard timeline for an employee who is showing consistent poor performance:
As a manager, you notice poor performance over the last 3 months.
Contact HR and you begin the documentation process. This would include:
Creating a document of offenses (Excel/Word, doesn’t need to be fancy). Include the offense, when it happened, the negative results, and who it effected
Detailing this in the employees performance appraisal for mid or end of year
Documentation process continues for another 3-6 months (~9 months total)
Coordinate with HR by letting the employee know this is approaching performance enhancement plan status.
Another 3 months goes by of poor performance and documentation (~12 months)
Notify the employee they have been put on a performance improvement plan ~3-9 months)
If continued poor performance over the next 3-9 months, termination occurs
Coordinate with HR and Legal
HR is finally good for something!
They should be in the loop on what you're doing, as they should know what steps need to be taken to do this properly. Perhaps before you can terminate, the employee needs to be on a performance improvement plan.
The employee may also have an unspecified disability. HR can assist with that. These things are why HR exists so hold them accountable for doing their job.
Legal needs to be aware of the circumstances to deter litigation, especially if the person is a protected class.
If they are protected, you may be screwed and cannot terminate OR you need multiple YEARS of documentation and a blatant fireable offense before action can be taken. If you want to cover your ass, make sure you are lock step with Legal and HR.
The usual process for termination without an egregious offense includes:
Initial consultation with HR
Documentation of poor performance, offense etc.
The employee is notified they are on a PIP (performance improvement plan) and must make improvements in the next 3-6 months. Generally speaking, this is basically a courtesy that they need to look for another job.
Employee is terminated, with coordination from HR, Legal, Security, IT etc.
Remember, in most cases without an egregious offense, the employee will need to be put on a performance improvement plan. This is a standard practice that is essentially a warning to the employee that if you do not shape up you will be terminated. A PIP usually runs from 3-9 months, depending on the circumstances. Very rarely is an employee able to over come this and improve, but I have seen it done.
The Firing
You need to handle this based on how you (manager) believe the employee will react. No matter how you do it, you need to go through some standard protocols.
First, you need to have HR in the room with you. You need witnesses in case there is ever a lawsuit and back up to detail as to why they are being fired. Also people are less likely to get violent if they are outnumbered.
Second, have security outside the room. This is a precaution for you and the other staff protection. You never know how an employee will react to being let go. A hostile response should be factored in, just in case.
Once you tell them, security should escort them to their desk to pack up their possessions and then out of the building. If they become hostile, they should be escorted out immediately and their possessions mailed to them. Remember, safety for you and others should be priority.
If you are doing this remotely, you need to coordinate with IT so that their access is removed from logging into anything. This is critical as they could take IP and sell it to other companies or create havoc with any data they have access to.
When you tell them they are fired, do not mess around.
Be direct.
To the point.
Unemotional.
If they ask why, tell them.
Do this without saying too much.
Tell them their severance package (depending) and answer any questions. Lean on HR to help answer any of their questions, as well.
The Aftermath
Depending on the rank of the employee, communication does not need to occur. You can simply tell their immediate team members that they were terminated. If they have questions as to why, you just need to say that it is private. Legally you cannot give specifics just to be safe. These employees will still talk to the person who was fired. Nothing is stopping them.
If the employee was highly ranked or was very visible, then a standard email needs to be sent. Something simple that reads:
“John Doe is no longer with the company, effective immediately. A national search will be conducted to replace them. John Smith has been appointed interim [position] until a the position can be filled.”
Nothing more needs to be said publicly.
Quick Notes
Some barriers to termination include (this may be off putting, but it's the truth):
minority
disability
currently on FMLA
maternity leave
age (+40)
Exceptions for these are mass layoffs.
Employee fireable offenses:
sexual harassment
physical violence
breach of contract
anything illegal, especially at work
failed drug tests