September 13, 2009
A lack of (Employee Warning Form) honesty is the first warning
A lack of honesty is the first warning sign of worker disobedience. And, if you're firing for an improper reason, you'll at least know you're inviting a lawsuit. If the employee is being separated for reasons other than internal business matters, be sure to outline exactly what behavior precipitated the firing. I don't think this is necessary when you clearly state you'll fire for the next infraction. Firing an employee seems as easy as saying "you are terminated" but this simply is not the case. It decides whether you win the law suit or end up spending tons of money and rehiring this individual. You also should document all the corrective actions you took to help him or her improve job performance.
It is important the employee understands why you're terminating her or him. Let's say you're a supervisor in an Information Technology (IT) firm and have hired a new computer programmer right out of college. A well written terminating workforce guide can help to ensure you take all proper steps to prevent any unfavorable action later. If this isn't the employee's first warning, then you need to state on the warning form, what warning it is and what the proper action will be if they continue to cause difficulties at the firm. Briefly describe the rationale for layoff. Also, it is important the jobholder was separated for no fault of their own, so if the worker was laid off because of a rehabilitative reason it may keep them from receiving unemployment. And gossip in the workplace can do much harm to your personnel' group spirit, their productivity and even your company's reputation. As you might expect, keeping healthcare coverage is a priority for most workforce. If you treat them with dignity, the workers staying behind and working with you will respect that and you will not create any rifts in the workplace.