Employers Rights Legal

Terminating an employee? Here's what you must consider before firing.

Whether you own a small business or are in a management position at a large corporation, you must know how to write-up an employee. Savvy managers use these tools to document employee behavioral problems. These may include issues like endless tardiness, unreasonable absenteeism, consistently poor work quality, use of illegal drugs on company property, acts of violence while on company property and many others. Your employee handbook should list out specific behaviors unacceptable in the workplace. At the time of hiring, you should give every employee a copy of this handbook. Everyone needs to understand what behaviors violate company policy at the outset. If you don't have a company handbook, you can always post employee rules in the common areas of the office.

Once you clearly set the rules and communicate them to employees, you can use employee write ups to document behavior. Why do you want to do this? First, documenting violations of company policy tells the employees you mean business. There are consequences for poor behavior. To use employee write ups effectively, you must not only document the bad behavior, but also the corrective actions you want the employee to take. Another reason to use employee write ups is for legal issues. Your problems with this employee may be ongoing. When the rubber hits the road and all else fails, you may have to fire this person. As a manager if you failed to document the employee's poor performance or behavioral problems, you are leaving yourself and your company open to a lawsuit. Your employee write ups will protect you if the employee files a wrongful termination suit.

Tips for Writing Effective Employee Write Ups

Writing effective employee write ups is important. When creating a write up, be specific. Explain the problem or how the employee violated company policy. Include dates and times. Then describe what you want the employee to do to fix their problem. Include specific dates and targets if applicable. If you offer the worker more training, make a note of this. Also, you should write the document in clear and concise language. Do not leave anything open to interpretation.

Employee write ups are an important part of managing workers in a fair and efficient manner. Your workers cannot do their jobs unless everyone obeys the company rules. Remember your ultimate goal is to create a safe and productive working environment for all employees.