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June 2, 2008

What to say when firing (Severance) a worker carries

Next: Our recommended guide for terminating an employee

What to say when firing a worker carries with it the need to know what to say to the other workers. Make sure your sample written notice of lay off includes space for this. When a worker is no longer connected to the business, he's more probably to inform the whole truth about what's going on. Now you may not offer a dismissal package or continued benefits for all sacked workforce.

There are books and articles available to guide a manager through this sticky problem. The dismissals for business reasons are different from those for performance, minor misbehavior or gross misbehavior. This affects overall firm profitability and jeopardizes every employee's position in the firm. Remember, you should be able to back up everything you say in this form. This is important since you should protect yourself and your small company against potentially costly court battles. When terminate a worker, in most states, the worker should receive a final paycheck within 24 hours after his or her termination. This letter doesn't supersede any favorable or unfavorable feedback you received while employed at [Your small business]. This leads to the jobholder feeling you didn't give him his "due." In such cases, suspend the jobholder for 3 days with pay to let everyone's emotions cool off, carry out a fair examination and prepare a proper separation. Therefore, keep your documentation and the jobholder's workforce file for at least this long. This is a practice that protects you as a entrepreneur and manager. Our offer of extra severance benefits expires on [Mostly 3 weeks from date of memorandum].

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Next: Our recommended guide for terminating an employee