Termination without Notice: Ask the HR Guy

I am the HR manager for a small company. My CEO has just informed me that he wants me to terminate an employee who he feels is producing very low and not doing the job he thinks she should. He has never counseled her or even mentioned his dissatisfaction. I have asked him multiple times to please talk with her and document that conversation. He seems to ignore me. He now wants me to do the terminating and I am not even the one she reports to. It scares me to no end to terminate an employee with no paper trail leading up to the problem at hand. Any advice?

Annie

Dear Annie:

Unless the employee is under contract, her terms of employment are at will and employment-at-will dictates that either the employer or the employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time for any or no reason. Is it the smartest thing to do without a paper trail? Well, that's for you to decide. Employers fire employees every day without notice, and the far majority never have a problem. Just make sure your affairs are in order and that you are firing the employee for a legal reason. Poor work performance is a perfectly legitimate reason, the fact that the employee is slowing down because she 6 months pregnant is not. Also, make sure you haven't made any false promises about job security to the employee. Some employers trap themselves because they have policies dictating disciplinary procedures that they then don't follow. The situation isn't ideal, but sometimes that's life in management...

HR Guy

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