Question

How is Terminations addressed in an organization? Do you have any suggestions for improvements?

Answer 1

Termination of employment refers to the end of an employee’s work with a company. An employee may be terminated from a job of their own free will or following a decision made by the employer.

An employee who is not actively working because of an illness, leave of absence, or temporary layoff is still considered employed if the relationship with the employer has not been terminated formally with a notice of termination.

Some suggestions for improvements in terminations :  

1. Consider the reason: Position elimination versus performance issues

As a fundamental proposition, the employer must be able to articulate the reason for terminating an employee. A good exercise for employers is to summarize the reason for the action in a paragraph.

2. Consider whether the employee falls under protected status

The employer should consider whether the affected employee falls into a category that is protected by federal, state or local law.Employees may not be discriminated against on the basis of race, religion, age, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, disability and certain other factors. Essentially, all employees except for white males under the age of 40 likely fall into some class that is protected by law.

3. Consider any applicable collective bargaining or individual employment agreements

Most employees are employed “at will” meaning they are not guaranteed a job for any fixed period, and may be terminated at any time for a good reason, a bad reason or no reason at all, as long as it is not an illegal reason, such as discrimination.

4. Consider possible retaliation allegations

Employers are often annoyed when an employee voices concerns or files a written complaint about discrimination, harassment, wage-hour violations or requests an accommodation for a disability or religious belief and related issues.