How to fire an employee?

Fire an employee It is a challenge that must be carried out professionally to protect the rights of both the company and the employee. This situation is not easy for employers, as they can feel intimidated when making the dismissal.

When a worker is fired he is forced to face a situation that in many cases he did not expect. Because of this, those in charge of notifying you should plan the steps appropriately and wait for any negative reaction from the worker, so try to make this process as fast as possible possible.

It is important to provide the employee with a written notice describing the reason for the which was fired and the legal regulations to which the company adheres to have taken that decision.

Factors to consider when firing an employee

Here are some factors that companies or employers should take into account when fire an employee:

1. Leave everything legally documented

It is important that facts or reasons for dismissal are clear and properly documented, this will avoid a possible demand for illegal dismissal by the worker.

2. Show respect regardless of the cause of termination

Every worker deserves respect, even if he or she is not. The employer should try to use a neutral tone of voice and control his behavior and emotions, He can also seek the support of the human resources team or the manager of the company to help him help.

3. Be brief and precise

It is necessary to have an established plan before notifying the dismissal, that way the employer will have the security of knowing what he is going to say, how and where will you say it, since it is not a pleasant conversation for the worker, so it must be as precise and fast possible.

4. Avoid negotiating

The decision must be final before communicating the dismissal to the worker. He may be allowed to ask some questions himself, but he must be firm in the decision and the employee must not be allowed to provoke an argument.

5. Do not make jokes or use inappropriate languages

Workers generally complain about unjustified dismissals, as they are upset by the way they were treated. Making a joke could be understood as a discriminatory gesture and this could cause serious problems for the company.

In this sense, it is necessary to avoid the use of inflammatory language, where terms that are interpreted as defamatory are used and rather make him understand that his work was not adequate.

6. Wish you a better future

Even if a person is not suitable to work in the company, it does not mean that he is a bad worker. The conversation can be culminated by highlighting positive aspects and wishing him that he can find another job where he can adapt better so that he has a better future.

7. Apply for company belongings

During the conversation, the opportunity should be sought to request from the worker all the elements that he has in his possession that belong to the company such as devices, keys, credentials, among others, since after you leave it could be difficult get them back.

8. Disable any access to the company

The employer has to ensure that the worker is totally excluded from any access to the systems immediately after the dismissal takes place. This is because all internal company information is valuable and should not be left in the hands of a former employee.

9. Allowing the employee to recover after being fired

It is essential that every time there is a meeting with a worker to talk about his performance is negative or positive, be it in total privacy and in case he must be escorted when leaving the company, he must have the availability of a security discreet.

One way, it can be at a time when there is not so much volume of personnel and thus reduce the discomfort of the worker when facing their colleagues and the workplace. The employer needs to make sure they have a witness during the meeting to protect themselves from a possible future claim.

10. Avoid possible future mistakes

Regardless of the reason for dismissal, the company must analyze itself, since the worker was hired after passing a selection process.

In this sense, it is convenient to make the necessary modifications by the resources department. human beings and thus reflect to choose better professionals for the company and reduce layoffs in the future.

Reasons for firing an employee

There are a wide variety of reasons that allow companies to fire an employee, some of them are:

• Lack of contract performance: One party may terminate an employment contract in certain circumstances if the other party breaches the contract, which indicates that not every breach of contract justifies its termination.
• Termination of contract: Any employment contract with a fixed term or that has an end in a specific project or activity, ends automatically at the end of the work.
• Misconduct: Some workers show unfavorable behaviors that are grounds for dismissal such as theft, robbery, intentional harassment behavior, fraud, cause risks that harm the safety and health of a person, disobey legal instructions or discredit the reputation of a colleague, among others.
• Notice given: It may happen that some of the parties terminate an employment contract by granting a minimum period of notice, which may be subject to legal employment regulations.

A worker with poor performance could harm the company, the rest of the colleagues and even customers, so many times their service must be dispensed with and in that case the company must know How to fire an employee correctly and take action as a warning to other low-profile workers.

We hope you liked the post!

Sources and references:

• Torres D. (January 2021) Step-by-step guide to fire an employee

• Busch T. (2019) 10 Tips For Terminating An Employee