Take Your Time: Checklist for Terminations

03/05/07

Sam’s been a thorn in your side for some time. And now you have him—you caught
him stealing company property. You’re about to fire him. “Nothing to worry about,”
you think. “I have an ironclad case in favor of termination.” But do you really?

Whether you catch a thief red-handed, plan to let a poor performer go, or are
conducting a general reduction in workforce, take a little extra time to go through the
following checklist. (Note: The list isn’t meant to be exhaustive; and not all the items
will apply to your situation.)

I am not acting impulsively or out of anger; I have made my decision after serious
consideration.

I investigated the incident(s) surrounding the termination promptly and thoroughly,
and I documented my investigation.

I have strong evidence of any misconduct.

I have allowed the employee to explain his or her side of the story.

All company policies were made available to the employee in simple, easy-to-
understand language.

I am sure I have not offered “second chances” to others in similar situations.

I have documented performance and behavior problems meticulously.

I have never promised the employee a lengthy employment either orally or in writing.

I can offer detailed, specific reasons for the termination and point to policy or law to
back me up.

I have not created documents “after the fact” to support the firing.

I have been consistent in how I manage and discipline employees.

Appraisals of the employee have been accurate—not sugarcoated—and I always
asked the employee to sign off on them.

I have told poor performers explicitly what they must do to keep their jobs.

I am not retaliating against the employee for any protected activity (like union
organizing or pointing out discrimination).

I have offered poor performers “action plans” and extra help to enable them to
succeed.

I have compared this situation with others in the company; we have consistently
disciplined others in the same manner for similar infractions.

The age, race, religion, national origin, or sex of an employee has no bearing
whatsoever on my decision to terminate.

None of the employee’s supervisors ever made disparaging remarks regarding an
employee’s age, race, religion, color, national origin, or sex.

If the employee is disabled, I have taken the ADA into consideration when making my
decision.

Our handbook or other policy statements contain an at-will employment disclaimer.

The employee handbook and other policy documents say explicitly that the handbook
or policy does not create a contract.

None of our policies or handbook statements suggests that termination can occur
only for “just cause.”

None of our policies or handbook statements refer to nonprobationary employees as
“permanent,” “long term,” or any other phrase suggesting permanency.

I have followed the stepped disciplinary process in our manual explicitly.

Our manual contains disclaimers that allow us to bypass disciplinary steps if
necessary.

A senior manager or employment attorney has reviewed the situation in depth and
agreed with my plan to terminate the employee.