July 23, 2008
Terminating Employee Memo (Separation Notice)
Your tone in a verbal notification should be "helpful" not "threatening." For example, you should say, "With these corrective actions, I'm sure your performance will increase." This is better than, "If you don't make these corrections in your behavior, you'll force me to evaluate your 'fit' with the company.". My goal was to keep you out of legal trouble, save your small company from a costly suit and make a tough layoff as easy as possible. Stick to the Facts in the dismissal Letter. Make sure whatever you draft is run by either your Personnel Personnel or the company legal counselor. Much like a worker reformatory form, or any employment related written document, you must keep a separation notice on file. Obviously, you must protect your business from any legal actions. You then talk to eyewitnesses, gather substantiation and draw conclusions.
Once the business has completed the examination, the boss should make the employee aware of the findings. When owning a company, you often have to deal with multiple problems, including handling difficult employees. Step 2-Before the layoff meeting, you should review the worker's financial information. This is why I developed my Termination Risk Estimate & Protection System(tm) to show clients how to separate workers with different risk profiles. Remember, the small business saw potential in this worker at one time and hired the individual. The employee termination notice is the last step in progressive discipline. Written warning: "As I warned you in the previous verbal warning, your [bad behavior] is unacceptable. Regardless of whom you're negotiating with, don't offer more than you can afford.
Central Services Risk Services Division City of Eugene 101 East Broadway Suite 450 Eugene, Oregon 97401 (541) 682-5062 (541) 682-5211 FAX www.eugene-or.gov/employeebenefits More