Preventing Termination Headaches
A well-planned meeting and following some simple guidelines can help avoid ugly confrontations and potential legal problems.

By Bill Dustin

Discharging an employee is never easy, and owners and managers often avoid it. It is much easier to hope the situation will go away and life will go on. However, seldom do these situations reverse themselves. Ignoring problems puts the respect and credibility of company management at risk.

Once you have made the decision to terminate, there are steps that can help make the process more comfortable for both you and the employee. The fact that the termination process is such an uncomfortable situation may lead you to make mistakes. Unfortunately, mistakes may result in lawsuits. Although a well-orchestrated discharge meeting will not necessarily avoid every lawsuit (very few people realize their inadequacies), being prepared and respectfully dealing with the employee can circumvent many legal problems.

The Golden Rule of Employment Law
Do unto this employee as you would do unto other employees. Ensure that your personnel policies provide termination direction and that the procedure used in this discharge is the same as those used in previous and future discharges of a similar nature.

Limit Discussions About the Termination
To ensure confidentiality and limit defamation claims, discuss termination decisions only with those with a need to know. This may include the employee’s immediate manager and legal counsel or human resources staff.

Give Thought to What You Will Say
Plan what you will say before the meeting. Consider awkward situations and how you will handle them. Two employer representatives should be present at the meeting, one to present the notice and one to listen and document (and witness, of course). To avoid any emotional interjection, it is a good idea for the immediate supervisor to be present but not engage in the discussion.

Location, Location, Location
The one thing on your mind as you consider the termination notice is to lessen the employee’s discomfort. You should give the individual respect by eliminating potential embarrassment or humiliation and provide an atmosphere to regain composure, if necessary. The meeting should be in a private office or conference room, away from the employee’s normal work area.

Get to the Point
An effective termination meeting should take no longer than five to 10 minutes. There’s no need to beat around the bush. Get to the point within the first minute by telling the employee that he or she is being discharged. Explain the reason for termination and what policy was breeched. Avoid getting into an argument about the reason for termination, thus providing an opportunity for the employee to try to reverse the decision. The decision to terminate has been made, and, at this point, there is no turning back.

Simply say, “The decision has been made, and I am here to communicate that decision.” This is why it is paramount that you have done a thorough investigation, and the facts are clear. Nothing is worse than to be in a termination meeting and find that you did not have all the facts, thus causing a reversal.

Stick to the Facts
Make the announcement objective, avoid assumptions or subjective references, and do not accuse someone of something unless you can prove it. You should reconsider the discharge (before the meeting) if you cannot prove the misconduct. A false or misleading reason may support future litigation against the company.

Hurt Feelings
All too often, we try to minimize the impact by offering apologies. Do not be complimentary to the employee in an effort to avoid hurt feelings. Saying, “You are a valuable employee,” when you have just told an employee they are being terminated for cause obviously isn’t good. This is one reason to allow a company representative trained in termination proceedings, such as a human resources staff member, to conduct the meeting, as opposed to the supervisor. For consistency, the same person should always conduct termination meetings.

Move On
Once you have delivered the discharge message, move on to explain the benefits the employee will be entitled. Explain what benefits they will receive and when they will receive them. This will help transition to closing the meeting.

Close the Meeting
You must have complete control of the meeting at all times. Close the meeting by offering to gather any personal belongings and allow the employee to review the contents for complete inventory. Do not allow the employee to return to the work area, thus avoiding an embarrassing situation and possible verbal exchange among fellow employees.

Document, Document, Document!
One of the cardinal sins of any employment action is not documenting. You should prepare a complete written report of the discharge meeting. Two years from now, if you are before a judge and jury, you may not remember what was said.

Although these suggestions may not avoid all legal action, they may allow for an orderly and respectful termination process.

This article is not intended to be a legal opinion, simply an expression of a tried and proven process for employee termination.
Bill Dustin is the managing partner of Human Asset Management Group, LLC (www.hamg.org), a Raymore, Mo.-based human resources consulting company. He can be reached at .