10 Steps To Separate Employment

1. Clarify the Reason for Termination

• Is it misconduct or egregious behavior?

• Has the employee been warned before?

• Have you gotten the employee’s side of the story?

• Is the employee’s performance lacking?

• Have you put a Performance Improvement Plan in place?

These questions are a great place to start when you are thinking about terminating an employee.

‍

2. Understand Protected Classes

Gender, gender identity, race, and religious practices are all considered a protected class. It is a bad idea to terminate someone’s employment based on a protected class. This could set you up for legal action against your company. Protected class does not prohibit you from terminating an employee, however it does mean that you want documentation in these areas to be factual and concise. Bluspark HR Solutions can help you in this process, please reach out for more details.

‍

3. Severance Agreements

Severance pay is often granted to employees upon termination of employment. It is based on length of employment for which an employee is eligible upon termination. There is no requirement in the Fair Labor Standards Act for severance pay. Severance pay is a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee.

‍

4. At-will Employment

At-will employment is an employer’s ability to dismiss an employee for any reason (that is, without having to establish “just cause” for termination), and without warning as long as the reason is not illegal (e.g. firing because of their protected class). If you are confused about at-will employment or do not have an at-will section of your employee handbook, reach out to Bluspark HR Solutions.

‍

5. Document Everything

When drafting the termination document, try keeping it in a letter format and give it to the employee during termination. Include any termination of benefit information that you need to include. Make sure to keep a copy of the letter if the employee files for unemployment.

‍

6. Termination Pay

Check your state’s regulations regarding when you need to pay an employee who leaves your organization. For involuntary terminations, check to see if you need to give the paycheck the same day. Some states, like Colorado and California, have this regulation. Once you have confirmed the regulation in your state, make sure to set up a date for the termination and order the final paycheck. Reach out for assistance!

‍

7. Termination Day

On the employee’s last day, set up a meeting with the employee, preferably at the end of the day. If you worry this meeting could be disruptive, make sure to have a back-up plan and always include another team member. If this case has been documented correctly, the employee should be expecting this meeting. Once you have held this meeting, let the employee collect their things. If they would prefer to have you pack up their belongings and ship them, that is an option.

‍

8. Collect Company Property

Once you have met with the employee, make sure you terminate all IT logins, company email, company access, and deactivate keys. If the employee has a company-issued laptop or tablet, make sure you collect those in the termination meeting. If the employee has a physical key, collect it during their termination meeting.

‍

9. Benefits and Payroll

Once you have met with the employee and terminated all of their logins, make sure to notify your benefits administrator as well as your payroll provider to make sure you have the correct items ready to go. If you have over 20 employees at your business, it is likely that the employee is eligible for COBRA insurance. Follow up with your benefits administrator to make sure the terminated employee has received the correct information on COBRA insurance.

‍

10. Notify Employees

Now that you have completed all of the steps, it’s time to notify the other employees. Keep in mind that terminating an employee is likely emotional for people who worked directly with the employee you terminated. Keep the email formal and do not disclose any details in the email. Make sure you have a sentiment of wishing the former employee well in their next endeavor.

‍

Did you know?

‍

According to the Department of Labor, each year, nearly 100,000 charges of discrimination are filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Companies can expect to lose 6% of their staff due to involuntary turnover, such as poor performance or reduction in force.

‍