Employment termination general guide

Employment termination by the employer normally falls into one of these categories: redundancy, misconduct, or poor performance (which may be due to various reasons, often not the fault of the employee). The central principles (not the process detail) for dealing with all of these situations are broadly similar.

Here are the three essential rules for proper employment termination:

• Ensure you understand and apply the correct legal procedure for your situation. The process doesn’t necessarily begin with the termination interview or letter, it can be deemed (by a subsequent tribunal, court, review body or process, for example assessing an unfair dismissal or discrimination claim) to have begun as early as when the employee was first recruited into the organization. If employment termination is due to redundancy check with the relevant government department for employment as to the proper procedures and statutory requirements relating to pay and notice periods, etc. Liaise as necessary with trades unions and other interested bodies to understand all of the facts, options and procedures. In the UK from October 2004 there is a mandatory process for the dismissal of employees (more detail on the employment disputes page), which is an example of best practice for other regions of the world in the absence of specific legislation:
  1. Give reasons for the proposed dismissal to the employee in writing and give the employee a reasonable period during which to consider the facts and his/her response.
  2. Hold a meeting with the employee to explain the reasons and give employee the opportunity to explain his/her position.
  3. After the meeting give the employee the employer’s decision in writing (whether to proceed with the dismissal or other action), and invite employee to make an appeal and attend an appeal meeting.
  4. After the appeal meeting the employer must confirm the appeal decision in writing.
  5. A manager of proper authority must attend meetings, and meetings must be at reasonable times and venues, also the employer must not delay unreasonably any of the stages in this process.
• Concentrate on the facts of the situation, and the clear quantifiable measurements to support these facts. Ensure there is clear indisputable evidence for the facts and figures. This requires good record-keeping to be an essential part of the process, and therefore to also be a part of the management practice of the organization.
• Be fair and compassionate. Even in situations involving gross misconduct - remember you are dealing with another human-being who has their own problems, probably now made all the worse because their employment is being terminated. They don’t need you to start being vindictive, vengeful or spiteful and nor will any subsequent review process look kindly on any aspects of personally directed behaviour in the employer’s handing of the situation.

These principles are also a good guide for terminating other forms of supply contracts. Suppliers come in all shapes and sizes and the separation between the rights of full employee and those of certain other contracted workers, agents, distributors, etc., is not as distinct as many people think. Sales agents, for example in Europe especially, have extremely strong rights when it comes to termination of contracts and agreements. Franchisees of all sorts, agency staff, and tenants with tied retail agreements with breweries, are among other worker-supplier groups whose rights have significant implications for ‘employers’ when terminating contracts and agreements. Always check the law and follow proper process. The consequences for employers and organizations for failing apply correct process when terminating employment or similar contracts are increasingly serious.

As a matter of philosophy - always try to part as friends, not enemies. Nothing is gained by alienating people who already see themselves as victims; negative treatment can prompt them to be vengeful, which does nobody any good at all. Also by keeping employment termination and dismissal letters positive you avoid risk of libel or defamation, which carry potential legal liabilities for the employer, irrespective of the circumstances and process of the dismissal itself.

Employment termination due to redundancy

On occasions employer is forced to make a job position redundant. Sometimes a number of positions, or even a department or site team have to be made redundant. This results in redundancy for the people who hold the positions, unless alternative roles can be found and agreed. Large scale redundancies often involve negotiations with trades unions, workers representatives, and other interested bodies. This article does not seek to explain these processes, which vary widely, it simply suggests some style and framework ideas, and some basic letter templates. Make sure you obtain local qualified advice for your own situation, and whatever the outcome ensure you provide clear, full and compassionate information to the employees affected. (You must also provide clear information to the employees who’ll be staying, so as to satisfy their concerns too.)

Here is a basic example of a redundancy letter to confirm redundancy. Employment law around the world varies as to redundancy process - ensure you understand what the law is and then follow the correct process. This basic letter template provides a start-point from which you can compile and include all the relevant detail applicable to the situation concerned. The nature of redundancy is often that individual employees have been performing perfectly adequately - the job itself becomes redundant, which makes the employee redundant. Always remember this. Be compassionate and face your responsibilities. It can be a wicked world - do what you can to make it less so - be compassionate in your communications and dealings with people who suffer redundancy. Aside from whatever consultative meetings are held in reaching redundancy agreements, if applicable, when it comes to the time to confirm the termination you must do all you can to meet the person or people face-to-face to explain and apologise for the situation. In recent years there have been some awful examples of employment redundancy in which managers and executives have obviously shirked this responsibility: redundancy notices have been issued by email or post without so much as a thank you, let alone a personal meeting. It might be difficult for the managers who have to bear the news, but it’s a lot more difficult for the people losing their jobs. So be caring, and be compassionate. Treat people with respect.

source: www.businessballs.com

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