Tag Archives: firing

Running Off an Underperforming Employee Is Not a Viable Option

Discrimination, Management, Termination, , , , , ,

In my long experience as an employment law attorney, I have come to realize that employers really, REALLY hate to fire employees. Some employers are scared of confrontation, others hate admitting they made a bad hire, and some just can’t find the right words.

Whatever the reason for being unable to fire a poor performer, employers often ask me about “running off the employee”. Running off an employee usually means making the employee so miserable the employee will voluntarily quit.

The employer trying to run off an employee may give the employee the worst duties at the company, criticize the employee in front of others, deny the employee’s vacation request, cut the employee’s pay, transfer the supervision of the employee to the worst supervisor, or make the employee work the graveyard shift.

Of course, this approach to termination often also makes the employee so angry that when the employee leaves, he or she becomes much more likely to sue the employer.

Running off an employee is the layman’s way of doing what we in the legal field call a “constructive termination”. A constructive termination occurs when the employer makes the working conditions so intolerable that any reasonable employee would feel forced to resign.

When an employee quits with good cause because the employer made continuing to work there intolerable, there are numerous legal consequences, such as: Continue reading Running Off an Underperforming Employee Is Not a Viable Option →

Simple Firing Form Keeps Employer’s Story Straight

Documentation, Forms and Policies, Termination, ,

An employer should always carefully document the reasons for firing an employee. But your termination documentation doesn’t have to be complicated.

I’ve attached a one-page form that you as an employer can quickly fill out and place in the employee’s file whenever you have to terminate the employment of one of your workers. But just because the form is simple doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t put some thought into the process.

Even though Texas is an “at will” employment state, it is wise to have good reasons for firing an employee. You need to stick to those reasons exactly when you complete the unemployment form from the Texas Workforce Commission, if you get a discrimination complaint from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and if you hear from the Department of Labor on a retaliation case.

Nothing looks more suspicious to a government investigator or to a jury than an employer’s termination story that changes over time. The all-important consistency of your answers begins with this document filled out on the day that the employee is terminated.

Clients are always asking me what they can do to prevent getting sued by an employee who was fired. Having good, nondiscriminatory reasons for the termination and documenting those reasons carefully are the first steps in preventing a lawsuit, or at least winning one.

Click here to download this simple firing form:

Termination Documentation Form 

White House Fails Basic “Firing 101”

Discrimination, Documentation, Litigation, Termination, , , , ,

Note: This is not a political post. President Donald Trump had the right and the authority to fire Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates last night.

From an employment lawyer’s perspective, the White House’s written statement about Sally Yates’ firing is a textbook example of how I advise my employer clients not to behave. https://www.whitehouse.gov/…/statement-appointment-dana-boe…

“The acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States. . . . Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.”

We employment lawyers encourage our business clients to leave a fired employee with his/her dignity. I would never suggest an employer use loaded words like “betrayed” and “weak” or to impugn a long-term, high-ranking employee’s integrity during a job termination meeting. It is ill-advised in most industries to burn bridges like this or to set your business up for a lawsuit by a scorned ex-employee.

Sometimes terminating an employee’s job is necessary. For advice on how to fire in a more beneficial way, read my blog post on firing without fear.

Firing without Fear

Termination, , , , ,

Many Texas business owners and managers that I know are extremely authoritative and competent until it comes to firing an employee. Then the most confident bosses become fearful. Getting sued by an employee scares them and rightfully so. But times are tough economically and you may have to terminate some employees just to keep your business afloat. So how do you fire without fear of the legal fallout?

A “good” termination doesn’t happen overnight. I have often advised employers that even though quick, decisive action is needed, the employer may need as long as six months to fire someone if the employer hasn’t been diligent about policy-making, documentation and training before then. So before you can fire without fear, here are some preliminary steps:

  1. Make sure you have a great employee policy manual that is up to date and makes clear your expectations of all employees. Policies that clearly prohibit illegal harassment, discrimination, drugs, Internet pornography and violence, as well as strict procedures for reporting violations of these policies, can dramatically reduce your exposure in lawsuits.
  2. Training of your supervisors is essential to firing without fear. Day to day careless comments made by a first line supervisor often comprise the most damaging evidence in an employee lawsuit. Make it clear through training of every person with any supervisory authority that throwing an “Over the Hill” birthday party can indicate age discrimination, compliments about a woman’s clothes can be twisted into a sexual harassment complaint and grumbling about an employee’s reluctance to work on a Sunday can be perceived as religious discrimination. The behavior required of supervisors nowadays often defies common sense and human nature, so training is the only sure-fire way to know that your supervisors will not say or do something that the company will come to regret after a termination.
  3. Regular performance evaluations that honestly identify an employee’s short-comings are essential to a “good” termination for poor performance. No one should be surprised that he is being fired because at least a couple of prior poor performance reviews should have preceded the termination.
  4. Don’t fire anyone unless for disciplinary violations such as absenteeism unless you have warned him in writing at least a couple of times that his behavior is unacceptable. Those written warnings should include a plan for improvement and a statement that if his actions do not improve, he will be “subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”
  5. Call your employment lawyer before you fire the employee. Your attorney will probably want discuss the employee’s entire employment to identify all the possible red flags that this particular employee’s record could wave. (Click here for a checklist for termination red flags when a Texas employee is involved.) Be prepared to send your lawyer your policy manual, the supervisory training records and the employee’s file for review. The lawyer may want also to talk to the employee’s direct supervisors to gauge any exposure there before advising you as to the wisdom of a job termination.
  6. Write a termination memo to give to the employee. It should briefly set out the policy violations that resulted in the employee’s job termination. This memo may be repeatedly scrutinized by the employee, her lawyers, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and even a jury, so it must be worded carefully. However, don’t skip this step out of fear. The memo will prevent the “he said, she said” exaggerations if litigation does ensue and keep everybody focused on the nondiscriminatory reasons that the firing occurred.
  7. Terminate the employee when you are calm and well-rested and you have another trusted manager available to be a witness. Make the meeting brief. Just hand the employee the termination memo and ask if she has any questions. Stand firm on your decision and don’t argue with the employee. Assure the employee that she can return to gather her belongings at a mutually agreeable time (don’t just give her ten minutes to pack up her belongings and then march her out under armed guard). Let her leave with some dignity and wish her well.