Termination of employees can feel risky to some employers.
No wonder. The prevalence of litigation in our society means that many disgruntled employees will begin legal action claiming you have unfairly dismissed them.

Here's the ironic part.

This often occurs even when the employee knows they have conducted themselves badly, either in work performance or on minimum behavior standards. So, if you do need to terminate one of these employees you must avoid being on the losing side of an unfair dismissal case. Let me tell you how.

Valid Reasons for Termination of Employees

A termination must not be harsh, unjust or unreasonable to be a fair dismissal. If you don't tell an employee the reason for the dismissal, or if the dismissal is about his conduct or performance and you don't give him the opportunity to correct the behavior, you may have a wrongful termination claim on your hands.

If you have a problem employee, you should always give a verbal warning for the first offense , followed by disciplinary action or counseling, before you consider termination of the employee.

Be sure the problem you are having with the employee's work-related conduct or performance. While it may not suit your culture or sensibilities to have a Hare Krishna among your staff, if he performs his job well, there is no legal reason for you to fire him. The same applies if you have an employee who engages in what you consider to be unethical or improper conduct outside work, even if you hear about it -- for example, drug-taking or sexual antics.

As long as the outside behavior doesn't affect their work performance or the performance of your business, you cannot dismiss them without fear of a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Termination of Employees Now?

If you have followed all these steps, it's firing time. You have given plenty of chances and have been more than fair. You can rest easy that it will be plain to a court and any lawyer that you have done everything possible to be fair in your termination of employees.

The truth about termination of employees. Employer's guide.