Reuters - Oil investor T. Boone Pickens said on Thursday he has a short position on oil and natural gas on expectations that prices will fall in the near term. Continue

AP - Oil prices dropped Friday after a U.S. government report showed domestic crude inventories rose last week. The decline, which began in the previous session, marked a reversal of a trend that had seen crude futures climb to a new trading record above $101 a barrel.

Continue
o Did the supervisor suitably apply progressive discipline and adequately investigate for overwhelming misbehavior? You, as a manager, can't hide from it when it happens and should deal with it consistently, fairly, and quickly. You want to be fair to all employees, both to those who will lose their jobs and those who will remain. While some template sample employee dismissal notifications must be specific to your industry or firm, there are several common rationale for lay off. Since the risk of a legal action is higher with a FMLA employee, you should consult your hr department and your company legal counselor. Since you have good documentation of gross misconduct, this can be no higher than a medium risk lay off.

o The higher the firing risk, the higher the cost (time, money and emotion) for you and your business. Once you have stated your reasons for sacking, give the details of the termination package. Whatever the case, this worker can lower business group spirit and hurt relations with customers and suppliers. This includes writing a worker separation memorandum. o Moving jobs to lower cost location. Normally, any worker, whether a "problem" or not, desires help to improve productivity and behavior. Since the jobholder did not do anything to bring about their termination, the idea is to not blame the employee. Steps to Follow when Separating a High Level Worker. Unless there is an urgent reason to have property returned, give personnel a specified amount of time to return property.