Employers Rights Legal

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

Whether you are a small business owner or a Human Resources Manager, you may have difficulty deciding to layoff employees. Think about it. You will have to face employees who have been hardworking and loyal to your company and tell them that you no longer need their services for an indefinite time. Not only is this troubling, but fact that you need to layoff employees usually indicates that your business is not performing up to expectations. Likely you will conduct layoff procedures under this added stress. You have invested time, money and effort training your workforce. If your company turns the corner, can you rehire these people and recoup your losses? Will they seek other employment while out of work? If they do, how much will it cost your business to retrain new personnel?

Deciding When to Tell Employees About the Layoff

Once you have decided to layoff your employees, you must decide when to let them know. Some employers provide advanced warning to their employees, while others wait until right before the layoff. While employees obviously appreciate the advanced warning, some employers wait to tell the bad news. They fear the employees will purposely slow down production or will find other employment before the layoff takes place.

Creating Layoff Letters for Your Employees

Regardless of when you decide to announce a layoff, you will need to draw up layoff letters to provide to each of your employees. To create these letters properly and to ensure you do not suffer from legal ramifications for wrongful layoff, find a sample layoff letters. Sample layoff letters give you get a better idea of the proper format to follow. In addition, they will provide a guideline on what information to include in the layoff letter you supply to your employees.

Choose your wording in the sample layoff letters carefully. This ensures good legal coverage. Also, select wording that will not cause employees to become disgruntled. Remember former employees can begin a smear campaign against you and your business and this will only add to your current problems. Follow the wording of the sample layoff letters as closely as possible, only changing the wording when necessary to suit the needs of your specific situation. If you have questions, consult your legal adviser.

Telling Employees about the Layoff

After you have created your layoff letters, call a meeting with all of your employees and let them know about the layoff. Now is the time to deliver the letters you created with the help of your sample layoff letters. Try to avoid getting caught up in a “question and answer” session at this meeting. Instead, restate the information in your layoff letter. Remember, a court or judge can use any information contained in the letter and anything you say to your employees at the meeting against you if employees decide to file a lawsuit or grievance against you.