How to Fire an Employee

Recruiting employees is one of the most important processes in running a small or large business. You need to consider some significant points such as the skill of the potential applicant, salary range for the job, conditions for employment, job responsibilities, and other aspects. Just like recruitment, employee termination is also to be considered essential when there are some employee-related issues going on in the business. The management should be aware of the formal steps on firing an employee legally. If proper legal procedure is not adopted in this process, the employer can face difficulties such as the terminated employee suing the employer for any matter.

Assistance from the HR Department
The very first step the management should take is to get in touch with the Human Resource Management (HRM) department for the issue of termination. Discuss with the HR manager regarding all legal procedures and formalities required to start out with the employee termination procedure. Along with informing about the legal methods as per state and federal laws, the HR manager may even provide some additional tips and guidelines on how to fire an employee. For those wanting to know how to write up an employee or terminate him, depending on written records is a must.

Document all Proofs and Records Needed
The federal or state law may even require you provide an employment-at-will statement which is to be signed by the recruit and a company official during the hiring procedure. This document includes a written confirmation that the worker can leave the job whenever he wants, and also that the employer can dismiss him for any legal reason. Note that the law does not permit a company to fire an employee on account of age, gender, religion, race, or any other matter.

You will have to collect documents such as the employment application employee handbook mentioning inappropriate behavior, company policies regarding termination, and documents about the expected performance expectations and employee performance appraisals. You also have to collect documents about any disciplinary counseling and warning letter to employee, formal actions taken, and reports of internal investigation leading to the termination.

Termination Formalities
The termination should include all paperwork which consists of the employment termination letter, and records stating the reason for the termination. You need to prepare a severance package with the amount due to be paid to the expelled employee. Make a list of all company-issued materials such as PDAs, credit cards, laptops, etc.; and talk to the IT department for deactivating his email and cell phone account. You do have the option of availing the services of an expert employment attorney for complex legal formalities if any.

Select a separate room for carrying out the termination formalities with the employee. In starting the conversation with the employee, be direct and do not revolve around the main point. In a private and confidential meeting, discuss with the employee about the termination in short. Do not give every detail why the termination was decided. The termination letter should be signed by a minimum of two company employees, wherein one employee would serve as a witness. The presence of and written record by the witness can be used as a security in case the employee chooses to drag the employer to court.

When it comes to how to fire an employee legally, make sure you keep the HR department in loop for every step you take. The firing process is considered extremely confidential and only the HR and IT department and related bosses should be informed about the same. These are some important points on how to fire someone with considering proper company policies and employment laws.