When you sit down and let the employee go, you must be sincere about the reasons you feel the need to sack him. The wise boss will put the employee into progressive discipline and document directives in a clear, concise written format. Of course, those that act out for a onetime offense, which is a fireable offense, know that they have done wrong. The purpose of this article is not to pitch you on my layoff manual and proprietary methods, but to give you some real help with separations whether you decide to get my manual or not. When a jobholder is no longer connected to the firm, he's more likely to inform the whole truth about what's going on. Second, don't worry about acting like a legal adviser in the meeting. This notice is an important legal document if a former employee files a improper separation suit against the company. o Excessive absences without approval. o Does the employee have a contract (verbal or written) and is the boss sacking only for reasons stated in the contract? Whether you're a small, medium or large company, you must document the reason behind the lay off based on legitimate business desires. This should accompany the example separation memorandum we created for our Case Study. Then explain what severance you will give the worker and how you came to these final numbers.

Review Chapter 10 in The Employee termination guidebook to get the details on how to handle negotiated separations. Objective: "Since the beginning of the written notice period 30 days ago, I've counted 36 scheduling errors with other managers and important customers. You will have to face employees who have been hardworking and loyal to the small business and inform them that you no longer need their services for an indefinite time.