Termination Practices

Just as employers often are not thorough in their hiring and reference checking practices, they often are not trained on how to lawfully discharge workers.  Most employees are considered employees-at-will, meaning that they can be terminated at any time, for any reason, with or without notice.  Exceptions exist, however, to the employee-at-will doctrine.  Public policy and federal and state law prohibit employers from discriminating against employees based on protected characteristics, because they engaged in protected activity, or otherwise treating employees in a manner that is contrary to public policy.  Unionized employees may require “cause” to be terminated under their collective bargaining agreements.  Employees with a written employment contract setting a particular term of employment, like one year or a set number of years, for example, may not be summarily terminated.  In some cases, policies in handbooks, such as disciplinary procedures, or verbal representations may have altered at-will employment.  And termination decisions related to employees who recently were on a leave of absence -- whether for FMLA, worker’s compensation, jury duty, or for a disability accommodation -- must be carefully reviewed to ensure that no basis for a claim of retaliation exists.  Thus, an employer must act carefully to ensure that each termination decision is a sound one.  To do otherwise may result in costly litigation. 

So why does your organization need EPG’s training on Termination Practices?

Wrongful discharge, retaliation and discrimination claims arising out of an employee termination can arise if employees feel they are not treated fairly at the end of their employment.  If an employee is being terminated for misconduct or poor performance, employers must follow all of its policies and procedures regarding the involved conduct, research how the organization has handled similar situations in the past, and ensure that all communications have been properly documented.  In cases where employees are terminated due to a reduction in force, careful planning and compliance with all laws is essential to proactively avoiding litigation.  “Building a case” to let an employee go can be a time-consuming process, but will pay dividends if litigation is avoided.  EPG can help your organization develop the tools that will minimize the risk of liability arising from termination decisions.  

Training Objectives for EPG’s Termination Training Module

Employment Practices Group will train your management employees or human resources personnel on the current law and best practices regarding termination.  EPG will assess your organization’s practices and policies regarding termination to ensure that they are effective and legally-sound.  We recommend combining this training module with EPG’s Hiring Training Module.  EPG will tailor the training module to your organization’s needs so that it reflects the organization’s size, industry, and current termination policies and procedures.  Management employees and human resources personnel who attend the Termination Training Module will:

• Identify the organization’s policies and procedures regarding termination.
• Review termination do’s and don’ts.
• Identify lawful reasons for termination.
• Understand the legal pitfalls in terminating employment.
• Understand the limitations on at-will employment.
• Identify any organizational practices that limit at-will employment.
• Develop best practices concerning personnel file documentation.
• Recognize the impact of documenting all personnel issues and training personnel on the legally-sound methods of documentation.
• Review disciplinary policies to determine legal ramifications on termination decisions.
• Understand the impact of performance improvement plans and verbal representations on termination decisions.
• Explore issues related to reductions in force or layoffs and how to best prepare for them.
• Identify the value of exit interviews.
• Understand the importance of consistency and uniformity as the key elements to lawful termination.