I hate running to a legal counsellor and paying at least $1,000 to answer this question for every new "tricky" separation. Document your meetings with the worker and document any programs he or she should attend. Keep in mind the entire dismissal memorandum should remain objective. Before starting a full-blown probe, you must talk to the jobholder about what happened. For example, you might note that a report was late or the worker has missed many days of work over a certain period of time. (These are just thumbnails of discipline warnings.

Don't delegate the phone calls or meetings to a low-level worker or the employee's replacement. Also, it is important the worker was fired for no fault of their own, so if the jobholder was dismissed because of a rehabilitative reason it may keep them from receiving unemployment. Is the firing adequately detailed? And you'll discover how to lay off a worker that has filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) action or has blown the whistle on the company to the press or government authorities. But when their bad attitude affects their work or that of their co-workers, it becomes a serious issue. Create a recorded letter, but keep it as short and factual as possible. In this way, a business owner or manager eliminates liability on their part and can hold the worker solely responsibility for any future missteps. And if the employee goes back to school full-time, he's ineligible. Also, select wording that will not cause employees to become difficult.