Employers Rights Legal

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

Sample employee termination letters, kept as templates, make the difficult and stressful task of firing a bad employee easier and simpler. This is true whether you are an HR manager or small business owner who must deal with personnel issues.

An employee termination letter should contain certain elements. This includes documentation of any warnings the manager has placed in the employee's file in the past, which contributed to the firing decision. You also must include the specific reason for termination, even if that reason is downsizing. List any employee counseling or special training the manager offered or the employee completed in attempts to prevent this termination.

In today's business environment, these items are crucial. Many attorneys will take cases on contingency and try to prove you fired the person without cause. Most states have a right-to-work law that states employers can terminate workers employment based on poor quality, poor quantity, lack of attendance or almost any other issue. But there are still people who try to place blame on someone else – namely, you as the employer. Proper documentation can prevent this time-consuming and potentially expensive hassle.

Samples Employee Termination Letters as Templates

You should keep sample employee termination letters as templates either on file or in your computer. These should cover the most common causes of termination. While some template sample employee termination letters must be specific to your industry or business, there are several common reasons for termination. These require template letters.

Failure to Perform Quality Work: If an employee has failed to perform their work with acceptable quality, you have probably counseled them before firing them. This, perhaps, is the most common reason for employee termination in technical workplaces and manufacturing industries.

Failure to Perform Acceptable Work Quantity: Everyone must deal with deadlines. Management expects employees to produce quality work in a timely manner. In some industries, workers must perform specific and measurable quantities of work daily; in other workplaces, employees must produce good quality results on schedule. If an employee has often failed to perform on schedule, you have probably provided warning letters or counseling sessions which you have documented. If the situation has failed to improve or has not improved to acceptable standards, you must write the termination letter.

Lack of Attendance: Repeated failure to attend work is unacceptable in any workplace. While many positions allow workers to take a certain number of sick days, abusing this benefit is unacceptable. When someone is out for the day or longer, another employee must cover their workload. Failure to attend work without calling in is usually cause for immediate termination in most positions. If an employee has taken too many sick days or repeatedly failed to call in, management should have documented counseling sessions and warning letters to the employee. They should remain in the worker's file. If the situation does not resolve itself, termination is sometimes the only solution.

Employee Theft of Company Property: Sometimes an employee will steal small items of company property. While almost everyone accidentally walks away with the pen now and again, theft of items over $1 in value can add up. Any intentional theft of company property is unacceptable. If the company policy allows for a warning on first offense, be sure to place that written warning in the employee's file. If theft occurs again, you must terminate the employee immediately.

Misuse of Company Property or Time: Usually the property and equipment employees use to do their jobs belong to the company. Also the time during which the company pays the employee belongs to the company. Abuse of company property or cheating on time and payroll records are enough cause for employee termination, especially if it is not the first case.