Terminating With Dignity

One of the less enjoyable aspects of my job is having to terminate an employee.  While the decision to terminate may be the best step for the organization, one of HRs goals should be to maintain the employee's dignity throughout the process.  When it is necessary to terminate an employee, here are a few guidelines that I recommend:

1. Consider the timing.  NEVER terminate on a Friday.
2. Always plan out the termination.  Who is terminating the employee and what should be said. 
3. During the termination process, provide the employee with positive feedback about some aspect of their work performance.  They need the kind words!  "Even in the termination based on performance, prompted by the fact that acquired skills were not adequate for a particular situation, the person's assets and liabilities can still be acknowledged," wrote Richard Bayer in Business Horizons.
4. Have an information package available for the employee.  It should contain items such as a termination letter outlining the reasons for the termination (remember to stick to the facts).  Discuss severance, compensation for unused vacation, unemployment compensation, benefits, any type of outplacement assistance, etc.
5. Don't allow yourself to be caught up in the emotions of the termination process.
6. Allow the individual to vent if necessary. After they have vented, allow them a decompression period.  They need to have some control over their departure!
7. Always, always, handle with compassion.

Please remember that each termination decision that is made carries a profound impact on at least one human being's life.  Handle with care.

Workplace Violence

"Workplace violence is now recognized as a specific category of violent crime. . . "  FBI, Workplace Violence, Issues in Response.

 

It is believed that 2 million American workers are victims of workplace violence each year.  2012 statistics reflect that nearly 1 out of 5 occupational fatalities is attributed to workplace violence.  In 2011, 780 fatalities (attributed to violence) occured with men making up the majority of fatal workplace injuries.   Media coverage has a tendancy to create an impression that workplace violence is more widespread than it is.  While incidents of workplace violence are serious, the rates of workplace violence have dropped sharply since the mid-90s.

 

Whether harassment or intimidation, the threat of physical violence or other threatening behavior, the prevention of workplace violence is a major concern for employers and employees.  Employers should train managers and supervisors to recognize the warning signs of potential workplace violence. 

 

Here's a couple of basic steps you can take:

1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate.  Ensure that the employee has an outlet for frustration.  Allow the employee to vent.  If your organization offers an Employee Assistance Program, ensure employees are aware of it and can use it as needed.
2. Assess your business climate.  Be aware of what's going on in your workplace. Pay attention to unusual changes in employee behavior. Has there been any recent events which could increase the sensitivity of an employee?   (Devil's Advocate here.  A couple of questions.  Do you know the spouse's names of your employees?  How many children they have, their names?  Are they going through a divorce or other life trauma?  If you can't answer these questions, you don't know your employees.  If you don't know your employees, how can you tell if there is something wrong?)
3. Prevention.  Employees spend the majority of their lives in the workplace.  Disagreements are always going to happen, how you handle those disagreements is key.  Potential aggressors can be identified - just look for the warning signs. Warning signs can include strange behavior such as the employee becoming reclusive, erratic behavior, deteriorating appearance.  Other observable warning signs can be emotional problems and/or performance problems.

The 2012 documentary, Murder by Proxy: How America Went Postal, is framed around the USPS shootings that took place in the 80s and 90s. I found the documentary interesting as a provided the perspective of a postal carrier who survived a shooting in 1991 (Royal Oak, Michigan) and his ongoing efforts to urge lawmakers to pass legislation designed to curb workplace employee "abuse."  Not just a film about mass murders, the documentary addresses some of the underlying issues within the workforce that drove individuals to begin killing at random.   

 

In the closing minutes of the documentary, possibilities other than mass workplace shootings are considered.   James Alan Fox, Ph.D., Lipman Professor of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, states; "Sabotage could be even more deadly and a greater risk to safety than bringing a gun to work." "It could be poisoning products, creating environmental contaminants. . . "  (September 1982 seven people in the Chicago area were killed by Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide.  I don't believe this case was ever solved, so I can proffer the scenario that this could have been the work of a disgruntled employee. )

 

The bottom line? Workplace violence needs to be proactively dealt with.   We can't completely eliminate it, but we can mitigate risk for violence by educating and training our managers, supervisors and employees.

The Importance of Training Managers

What is the cost to an employer when a manager doesn't recognize s/he is acting in a discriminatory manner?   Some managers don't seem to understand what discrimination means, or oftentimes how to recognize it.  Discrimination, and the cost of discrimination, is a problem that companies just can't ignore.

In an EEOC Press release of 1/23/2013 the Dallas-based Fries Restaurant Management will pay a former employee $25,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit.  The employee, Ashanti McShan, is a member of the Christian Pentecostal Church which requires women to wear either skirts or dresses.  During the interview process with Burger King, Ashanti requested a religious accommodation to wear a black skirt versus the black uniform pants.  She was told by the interviewing manager that her accommodation would be granted.  However, during her orientation the store manager advised her she could not wear a skirt and had to leave the store.  McShan attempted to contact higher management, and was unable to speak with anyone.  She was later discharged as a result of the accommodation denial.   Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits religious discrimination.  It requires employers to make reasonable accommodation as long as such does not pose an undue hardship on the organization.   

Florida Courts:  In Hurley v. Kent of Naples, on or about 2005, Patrick Hurley was diagnosed with depression and related mental health symptoms.  The doctor who provided the diagnosis, and the therapist, both advised that he should take medical leave.   The employee advised the company senior officer that he had been diagnosed with depression and needed time off to deal with it.  Having accumulated several weeks of vacation, the employee requested to take most of the year off on vacation.   His request was denied and he was terminated.  Obviously an FMLA suit, alleging interference with FMLA rights and retaliation, followed and Hurley won.  (FMLA entitles eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons.)    The estimated judgement:

• $200,000 for actual monetary losses
• $353,901.85 for front pay
• $200,000 liquidated damages
• $233,109.75 for attorneys' fees
• $21,329.36 for "costs."

Texas courts: In an EEOC press release of December 18, 2012, Dillard's will pay $2 million to settle a class action disability discrimination lawsuit. Dillard's Inc, enforced a maximum-leave policy limiting the amount of health-related leave an employee could take. Additionally, since 2005, Dillard's had a national policy and practice that required employees to disclose the exact nature of their medical conditions to be approved for sick leave. Further, Dillard's terminated a class of employees nationwide for taking sick leave beyond the maximum amount of time allowed. This policy violated the ADA which prohibits employers from making inquiries into the disabilities of employee's unless it is job-related and necessary for the conduct of business.  The second violation was that managers/supervisors (or even HR) did not regularly engage in an interactive process with employees to determine if more leave was allowed under the ADA as an accommodation.  (More information is available on the EEOC website.)  While you can't blame the managers for this company-wide form of discrimination, logically HR should have identified the violation and pushed for policy reform.  But, who's to say that they didn't?

When discharging an employee who just revealed the need to take time off for a medical condition, use caution. Make sure the discharge reason is unrelated to the request.  Remember, firing an employee who is pregnant has legal risk.  Firing an employee because she is pregnant is illegal.

Employers can take steps to prevent discrimination claims by ensuring that all managers are properly trained.  Please invest in training your managers. 

"The best way to begin is to begin." 
                        - Benjamin Franklin.

Concerted Activity

When you think of the term "concerted activity" there is often an automatic assumption that a union, or union activity, is involved.  But that's not always the case.  Section 7 of the NLRA states "Employees shall have the right to self-organize, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any or all such activities. . . " 

 

Protected concerted activity sometimes has nothing to do with unions at all.   Employees who get together and complain to management about their pay or benefits is engaged in concerted activity.   Concerted activity can include internal complaints of discrimination, discriminatory harassment complaints, etc., all of which is protected by Section 7 of the NLRA.  

Marijuana Legalization and Texas Employers

With both Colorado and Washington passing state laws allowing for the legalization of recreational Marijuana use, Texas employers question the impact to their drug testing and substance abuse policies.   Without going into multiple scenarios or explanations, let's go with a short answer.  These laws have little, if any, effect on your policies/programs. 

 

Remember:

1. Marijuana possession is still unlawful under Texas and federal law. 
2. Texas has no law prohibiting employers from taking adverse action against employees engaged in lawful off-duty conduct.  As such, a Texas employer can take disciplinary action against an employee testing positive for Marijuana usage. 
3. Federal law still criminalizes the possession of Marijuana even in states that have legalized it.

Notice Periods

Here's a scenario for you to think about:  An employee's notice of resignation comes at 1:47PM via an email, with the employee departing immediately without speaking to his/her supervisor.   As an employer this surprise resignation may shake you a bit.  Stepping past your surprise and astonishment, my question to you is "what notice should an employer expect from employees?"

 

Let's remember that most of the US is "at will" employment, which means both the employer and employee are free to end employment at any time, with or without notice or cause. This implies that either party is entitled to terminate employment without notice for any reason, unless the termination violates federal or state laws or public policy (and/or unless obligated by an existing contract). Generally Texas Law does not require that either the employer, or the employee, provide notice of ending at-will employment.  In this case, the employee chose to exercise the right to exit immediately. 

Two weeks notice is an ethical standard, a courtesy.   From a 10,000 foot level a notice period will allow the company and the employee to attend to transition details. A departing employee generally has some body of specialized knowledge that will be lost to the organization if it is not fully documented before s/he leaves.  This notice period will allow:

• the exiting employee to transition their project, employee knowledge, etc., onto other employees.
• the employee and the company to carefully review work in progress.  
• the company time to find a replacement or to just shuffle resources to cover the vacancy. 

A notice period may be specified by company policy, for example in the Employee Handbook, and this could affect at-will status.  So please be mindful of how your policies are written.    In this particular situation, to avoid affecting at-will employment, the payment of a fringe benefit, i.e., unused vacation leave, was tied to a two week notice period.   In this scenario the employee was somewhat disturbed to find that the brief notice period provided didn't quite meet the two week requirement outlined in the policy.

Yes, it is sometimes desirable to transition the employee out of the organization as quickly as possible.  I am of the opinion that in most circumstances, the moment an employee resigns psychologically s/he is out of the company.  We have all heard of "short timers syndrome."  The employee may hang around to complete their mandatory notice period.  Despite their feelings about the job they are leaving behind, it's human nature to take a detached approach to something you know is coming to an end.

Resignations are an emotional time for everyone.  Let's all please ensure we handle them professionally and legally.

We'll Miss The Twinkies

Talks between Hostess management and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union failed on November 20th.  If a favorable agreement had been reached, over 18,000 jobs would have been saved.  It is unfortunate, but Hostess brand began terminating most of its 18,000 employees last week.  This action came after Hostess won court approval to shut down and start selling assets.

CEO Gregory Rayburn said 15,000 workers would be fired as soon as possible so that they could begin receiving unemployment benefits.  The Court ordered the Company to implement a non-executive employee retention plan to ensure the Company has the necessary personnel to implement the wind down.  Approximately 3,200 employees will stay on temporarily to clean plants and begin to wind down operations.  Employee headcount is expected to decrease by 95% within the first 16 weeks.  The closure of 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, approximately 5,500 delivery routes, and 570 bakery outlet stores could take up to three months. 

WARN Act
In May, Hostess Brands Inc. mailed out WARN Act notices to its employees.  The WARN Act requires companies to give workers sixty (60) days notice before closing a facility or performing a mass layoff.  Spokeswoman Anita-Marie Laurie stated Hostess wanted to notify employees that a "sale or wind down of the company is possible in the future." 

On November 21st a former employee, Mark Popovich, filed for damages on behalf of himself and all employees laid off by Hostess.  "We believe Hostess violated the federal WARN Act as well as state laws.  These employees deserved better," said Charles A. Ercole, who filed the Complaint for Mr. Popovich.   Failure to give sixty (60) days advance notice violates the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act. 

Hostess has a different viewpoint believing that the multiple notices issued throughout 2012 and the court declaration to layoff workers are sufficient to excuse it from WARN Act liability.

There are a lot of different versions as to who is to blame for the failure of Hostess and the loss of so many jobs.  Whether mismanagement or a union failing to make concessions, there are now 18,000 people facing unemployment.  The largest number of employees impacted are based in Irving, Texas.  I'm sad to say I haven't been able to find any information relating to job fairs for the Irving employees.    Texas, let's get moving on that shall we?  The Utah Department of Workforce Services and Ogden/Weber Technology College is hosting a job fair this Thursday for former Hostess employees. 

Hostess, previously with annual sales of about $2.5 billion, had been making 500 million Twinkies annually prior to the shutdown.  We'll miss the Twinkies. . . .

Employee Actions Off The Clock

In case you missed it, Joseph Andolino, a senior vice president of Halliburton's tax department was arrested in a Harris County prostitution sting along with six other men (reported in the Houston Business Journal).  While there are no reports that he committed the crime on the job, several questions relating to his on-going employment with Halliburton come up.   

 

While I don't think that employers want to overly intrude into the private lives of employees, as an employer do you  have a policy or an employment contract that says an employee may be terminated if s/he engages in criminal conduct?  Do any of your company policies address employees conviction of a crime that indicates unfitness for the job or raises a threat to the safety or well being of fellow employees? 

Texas is an at-will state.  That allows Texas employers a lot of latitude in the hiring and firing decisions.  Essentially an employer can terminate an employee for any reason that is not specifically prohibited by law.  However, state legislation, employment contracts, union contracts or your internal policies may dictate your decision.   An employment clause may provide you with an avenue for dismissal.  But does it mandate the dismissal?

• Do you have to prove that the conduct has a direct impact on the job? 
• Does it compromise the employee's ability to do the job? 
• It is an embarrassment to the organization? 

We all agree that an employer shouldn't keep an employee whose after-work activities affect their job performance.  The general rule is the more off-duty behavior negatively affects the work environment, the more termination and/or discipline becomes a legal and valid option.  But, is failure to take remedial action regarding the off-duty conduct inferring that similar actions are condoned on the job?

 

Companies may face difficulty when dealing with terminating employees for off-duty conduct. Potential results when employee's are fired for off-duty behavior can be negative publicity, low morale and related turnover.   You must consider the nature of the crime and how it affects the workplace.  What effect, if any, does the behavior have to the workplace or the company's image?   Does the behavior justify adverse employment action?

 

If you are considering regulating the off-duty conduct of your employees, there are some things to be considered:

• Is the conduct legal or illegal?
• Is there an applicable law that protects the off-duty conduct of the employee?
• Am I willing to apply this policy consistently?

Jason Bosch, None Of Your Business (Interest):  The Argument for Protecting All Employee Behavior With NO Business Impact: " . . . employees should not have to relinquish autonomy over very aspect of their lives just to get or keep a job.   Employers have a vested interest in controlling those aspects of employee's lives that reasonably affect the employees' performance on the job, but that does not justify giving employers carte blanche to control every aspect of their employees' lives."

From the Ground Up, The Performance Appraisal

We all know how important a PA process is even if the annual process is about as much fun as a root canal.  It's a necessary evil for all businesses.  Employees need formal feedback.  When they don't have it they feel ignored. If they feel ignored, do you think they'll be motivated to go the extra mile?  Probably not.

Now, take a company with 100+ employees that has no PA program in place, and the fun begins.  The entire PA process has to be developed from the ground up. 

Process:  What type of process should be used?  An on-line appraisal?  Paper-based appraisal?  Electronic or manual tracking program?   What type of rating system will be used?  Should a software program be purchased?

Manager Training:  The value of the PA process.  Legal aspects.  Manager PA preparation.  Conducting the PA.  Rater Errors.  Setting Goals/Objectives.  What are the do’s and don’ts of the PA?  And, most importantly, what is the definition of leadership? 

Timing:  Focal/Common Review Dates or Anniversary Review Date?  What are the pros/cons of each?  What option is best for the organization?  For the employees?   Will the performance appraisal process be tied to annual compensation increases?

Assessment:   What are the competencies that should be addressed?  Adaptability?  Analytical skills?  Conflict resolution?  Dependability?  Motivation?  Teamwork?  Will the competencies be different for salaried and hourly employees?

Objectives:  Develop a training program for the managers.  Discuss SMART objectives.  Why are objectives necessary?  What are the company goals?

Performance Improvement Plan:  Develop a process that will tie to the PA.  Train managers in the proper application and development of a PIP.   Discuss potential liabilities in a PIP.  Can I have different completion dates for different employees on a PIP?  What if the employee doesn't successfully complete the PIP? 

Salary Increases:  Merit increase?  Equity pay adjustment?  Discretionary pay increase?  COLA?    Do the managers require training in identifying the different types of increases?  Develop an approval and reporting process for any compensation adjustment.  Are there salary bands in place?  Do we need to develop competitive pay bands? 

The above are just a few of the issues that will need to be addressed.  And I'm sure the list will grow!

Final Pay

Contrary to popular belief, employers are NOT required by Federal law to give former employees their last paycheck immediately.   However, states may regulate the timing of final pay so employers are always cautioned to check their state regulations.

In Texas, the timing of final pay is regulated by the Texas Payday Law, Section 61.014.  Under the Texas Payday Law, the timing of final pay is based upon the circumstances of the employees termination.   Did the employee resign or was the employee terminated?

In those situations where an employee voluntarily resigns, quits, retired or other wise leaves employment voluntarily, the final pay is due on the next regularly-scheduled payday following the effective date of resignation.  However, if the employee is laid off, fired, or in any way involuntarily separated from employment, the final pay is due within six (6) calendar days of the discharge.

 

States differ with respect to the handling of final pay.  For instance, in California if an employee is fired, s/he must receive their check immediately.  If the employee quits, s/he must receive their final check within 72 hours.  For Connecticut, final pay is due on the next business day if the employee is fired.

 

One of the most frequent questions I am asked pertains to withholding funds from an employee due to loans, cost of company equipment, etc.  As an employer, legally you can NOT make such a deduction unless you have the employees written authorization prior to making such a deduction.  Additionally:

• Depending on the state where you and/or your employee reside, there may be additional restrictions.
• Even where deductions are authorized, the employer may not reduce the worker's final check below the applicable minimum age.

In closing, carefully check your state laws to ensure that you handle an employee's final pay properly.

FOREWARN Act

On June 14, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) reintroduced the Forewarn Act (S. 3297) in the Senate.  The Federal Oversight, Reform, and Enforcement of the Warn (FOREWARN) Act was originally introduced June 25, 2009, but died in committee without any action.    This legislation would amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act by requiring more and smaller employers to notify workers of mass firings or plant closings and increasing employer penalties and enforcement mechanisms for noncompliance.  

 “A plant closing or mass layoff doesn’t just affect workers, but also their families, the surrounding community and the economic livelihood of nearby businesses. When workers are laid off through no fault of their own, they deserve enough advance notice so that they can begin to search or retrain for new positions,” Brown said. “The current WARN Act has too many loopholes that allow larger businesses to avoid doing the right thing and giving proper advance notice to their employees. While no law can fully help blunt the impact of a plant shutdown or mass layoff, this bill would help protect workers and communities when they do occur.”

Generally, the Forewarn Act would apply to employers with at least 75 employees, reduced from the current 100-employee threshold required to initiate coverage.  Additionally, the Act would reduce the number of laid off employees needed to constitute a plant closing from 50 to 25, and lower the mass layoff trigger. In addition to lowering the threshold of employees, the bill would require an employer to give a 90-day written notice of plant closing or mass layoff.  The current notice period is 60 days.  It would require the employer to provide affected employees with information regarding benefits and services available to them, including unemployment compensation, trade adjustment assistance, COBRA benefits, onsite access to rapid response teams and certain other services. One of the new additions is that the bill would authorize the DOL to enforce the terms of the Act, and increase employer penalties for violations to double back pay.  Under current law, an employer is liable for regular back pay only. 

The 10 Most Common Legal Mistakes HR Makes

Business Management Daily recently ran this great article outlining common legal mistakes that "HR makes."  Well, those mistakes can be made by any employer, supervisor, and/or business leader out there.  Not just "HR."  While a lot of this is just plain common sense, we all get busy from time to time and make a mistake. 

 #1: Advertisements, Interviews, and Offer Letters

Mistake: improper language in job advertisements. Too many employers still use inappropriate terms — such as "girl," "boy," or "young" — in their job advertisements. This is particularly true when managers, rather than HR, write the ads.

Mistake: unlawful interview inquiries. Too many hiring managers ask about personal and/or protected characteristics during job interviews, which sets the employer up for a discrimination lawsuit if the applicant is not hired.

Mistake: inaccurate description of the job. Some hiring managers work so hard to get top-notch recruits in the door that they fail to be realistic with their description of the job. The unhappy employee will leave, and it will have been a shameful waste of the employer's time and money.

Mistake: inadvertent creation of contractual promises. Too many employers include language in their job offer letters that inadvertently creates an employment contract. For instance, mentioning a yearly salary implies a yearly contract.

#2: Wage and Hour Issues

Mistake: misclassification of workers. Exempt vs. non-exempt status: Finding and correcting these mistakes are an Obama administration priority. While there are many factors to consider, you're basically basing your determination on the employee's level of responsibility and/or training, and a salary test.

Mistake: mandating confidentiality of wage information. Prohibiting employees from discussing their wages is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act.

#3: Privacy Assumptions and Violations

Mistake: permitting an expectation of electronic privacy. Too many employers fail to advise employees to expect no privacy on their computers. If you asked employees, "Do you think the stuff you put into that computer is private?" you might get some interesting answers.

Mistake: improper electronic monitoring. Some states have statutes that require employers to give employees notice if they are being monitored electronically.

Mistake: inadvertently revealing private employee information. HR possesses a great deal of sensitive information about individual employees. It is your duty to keep that information confidential.

#4: Training and Performance

Mistake: failure to train supervisors. When supervisors are not trained, they're the ones who get you into trouble. They may say rude, racist, or sexist things, or be unintentionally discriminatory, and because they are in a supervisory position, the entire company is on the hook.

Mistake: misleading performance evaluations. If you try to discipline an employee for a performance/behavior problem that was never noted on their evaluation, your hands may be tied.

#5: Rough Beginnings and Sharp Endings

Mistake: sloppy start. Among HR's common errors in this area are: failing to submit the state notice of a new hire; failing to tell the employee the key terms and conditions of employment; and providing the employee with a misleading description of working conditions.

Mistake: sloppy finish. Regardless of whether a termination is voluntary or involuntary, always allow the employee to leave with dignity.

#6: Investigations

Mistake: failure to oversee supervisory investigations. As an HR professional, you know that timeliness and thoroughness are important in an investigation. But what about when a supervisor is the one investigating, not HR? It's still HR's responsibility to provide oversight.

#7: Record-Keeping/I-9 Issues

Mistake: failure to document past practices. Courts love to know not only whether the treatment of an employee was against the law or company policy, but whether it was in line with past practices.

Mistake: failure to comply with Form I-9 requirements. Failure to complete the I-9 form properly and failure to keep the form in a separate file are common mistakes employers make.

#8: Breakdowns In Communication

Mistake: failure to keep employees in the loop. Forgetting to notify employees about policy/procedure changes, outcomes of investigations/discipline issues, or unsatisfactory behavior or work quality can be a costly slip-up.

#9: Accommodations

Mistake: failure to explore accommodations. "Accommodation" can be defined as "a determination in favor of the employee." Employers should explore accommodation options when an employee: has a disability, is pregnant, is called to active military duty or has a family member called to active military duty, or wants to engage in a religious observance/practice.

#10: Non-Compete Agreements

Mistake: unreasonable scope. Obviously, an agreement prohibiting an employee from working at any position in the same general industry forever and ever isn't going to hold water.

Mistake: lack of consideration. Legally, contracts are valid only if both sides give something. If the employee gives up their right to compete, the employer must also give something. Too often, the employer gives nothing, making the non-compete agreement invalid in a court of law.

Terminations and Employee Dignity

Terminations are a minefield, emotionally and legally. Unfortunately they are a necessary task. But whether you are downsizing or terminating an employee due to poor performance, as an employer your terminations should be conducted in a professional manner. So, I have a few pointers for you to consider that may make the process a bit easier on everyone.

Timing? At one time I worked with an organization whose policy it was to never terminate an employee from the first of November through the end of the year. This holiday avoidance "practice" was one of the most employee friendly policies I had ever seen. And, it's a practice that I encourage all employers to use. We all know that the holidays are extremely stressful for any person. Compound the stress of the holidays with the emotional impact of losing a job and it can be devastating to the employee. (The loss of a job has an equal and similar impact on an employee's emotion as a death or divorce.)

While there is no good day for a termination, I recommend that you never terminate an employee on a Friday. I always recommend a Monday or Tuesday. Terminating an employee early in the week allows the employee to be proactive in terms of filing for unemployment benefits and looking for another job. Encourage the employee to begin their search early, additionally help them by providing the instructions necessary to file for unemployment benefits (if eligible).

Why not terminate on a Friday? The former employee is just sitting there doing nothing but thinking about how you fired them! Do you want that employee building hostility towards you over the weekend?

How? Well, never by telephone, text or email. There is no law addressing exactly how an employee should be terminated and there are pros and cons to every situation. And sometimes the manager has no choice but to terminate an employee by phone (such as employees that have abandoned their job, remote employees, or those situations of gross misbehavior, etc.).

I believe that terminations should be face to face. Show the employee respect and they’ll have respect for the company in return. Remember, terminated employees talk among their family and friends. Handling the employee with respect may lead the employee to recommending your organization as a good place to work. Consider the employee a potential goodwill ambassador. Another point to consider is the attitude of your remaining employees. If you terminate an employee in a professional and respectful manner, the remaining employees will be assured that they will receive the same treatment. And, they'll respect you for it!

Be prepared for emotions, don’t try to remove them from the process. Stand in the employees' shoes for a moment and understand his/her range of emotions. Terminations are a sad chapter in anyones life. *I once observed an HR Generalist who during a termination process, broke down into tears. She was handling the termination! While I always have a box of tissues handy in HR for employees (for any reason), having to hand one to the HR Generalist and her lack of professionalism left me close to speechless. Please don't do this!* If you have an EAP (Employee Assistance Program), ensure you provide the contact information to the employee. As a manager, I doubt that you are trained in counseling. My recommendation is that you show concern, but recognize your professional and personal limitations.

Ensure the employee's privacy during a termination. I recommend holding terminations in a conference room or other area away from prying eyes. In addition to providing a level of privacy during the termination, the area may allow the employee a “decompression period" after the termination. The individual may need some time to compose him/herself prior to leaving the room.

Allow the terminated employee some control over how they leave and allow them to leave with dignity. Timing, again is everything. Consider how/if the employee is to be escorted from the building. Can the employee say goodbye to his/her co-workers? Does the employee need to pack up their desk? Did the employee car-pool? As an employer try to make the process as painless and seamless as possible.

In closing, I have to throw the following quote in: “Firing employees is the riskiest thing you can do at work with your clothes on,” says Jay Shepherd, author of Firing at Will, A Managers Guide. Read his book – there’s some good advice in there!

Termination: They Didn't See It Coming

If you have been in HR long enough you will have horror stories. One of the worst experiences I ever had was to walk into a conference room packed with 30 employees, with the task of laying them all off. These were all good, dedicated employees. Not flawed, bottom-of-the-barrel employees.

For a brief moment, let's talk terminations. That's fire. Not layoff, not RIF. But fire.

To avoid termination, you have already met with the employee and communicated your expectations. You have taken steps to assist the employee in correcting the performance issue. You have clearly communicated that the employee is being held accountable for the performance improvement.

If you do everything you can, then if termination is necessary you have the assurance that you did everything possible to help the employee succeed. If management is doing their job, then employees know what is expected of them. The conversation, whether termination or disciplinary, doesn't come as a surprise. And there should be no surprises. Whether or not the employee admits it, they play an active role in the decision to get themselves fired.

When there has been that communication, and nothing has changed, I don't feel bad about terminating an employee. I didn’t tell them to do whatever they did to get themselves terminated. I didn't tell them to be consistently late for work. I didn’t tell them to take a 2 hour lunch, or have drinks at lunch, or to spend 8 hours sending personal emails. The employee made the decision to do these things and they have to accept responsibility for their actions. Maybe the employee is unable to meet company standards. Perhaps the employee is consciously, or unconsciously, asking you to fire them. Maybe they just don't like the job.

I always impress upon managers the need for good communication with employees. Remember, if it hasn't been communicated to the employee that what they are doing is wrong, then their actions become acceptable. Being disciplined, suspended or even terminated shouldn't be a surprise to the employee.

Whatever the situation, before you terminate, have your documentation in place. If it's not documented, it might as well not exist.

I believe that the termination message should be delivered by the employee's immediate supervisor. Not HR. Yes, HR should be in the room during the termination meeting. But the supervisor should have the responsibility of delivering the message. And that message should be short, sweet and to the point. Don't blame. Don't make apologies. Be clear. Answer questions. If there is a problem during the termination, HR is there to assist. However, managers should have the proper training, and experience, to conduct the termination without HR stepping in.

No matter what the scenario, always handle a termination in such a manner as to allow the employee to depart with dignity.