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Terminations

Your best protection against bias lawsuits: Let he who hired be the one who fires

04/24/2017
If the manager has moved on, all is not lost. You can still argue that the worker was hired knowing his status and that it makes no sense to then have fired him for that characteristic.

ADA: The Limits of Accommodation

04/22/2017
White Paper published by The HR Specialist ______________________ The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) isn’t an open-ended demand that employers do whatever is necessary to accommodate workers with disabilities. The law requires employers to make “reasonable” accommodations to allow a disabled worker to perform the essential functions of his job. The key question: What is […]

Do we have to comply? Former employee demands to know why he was terminated

04/19/2017
Q. We fired a worker for poor performance, but we didn’t tell him exactly why. Now he is demanding the discharge reason in writing. What do we do?

Employee’s safety may be legitimate reason to end employment contract

04/12/2017
Sometimes, it becomes clear that safety concerns require an employer to move a worker and even terminate him if it isn’t possible to offer a different, safer position.

Use last-chance agreements to show you’re fair about making termination decisions

03/29/2017
Sometimes, it makes sense to use a last-chance agreement in which an employee agrees that one more violation of a company rule will mean immediate termination.

Can we refuse to pay out accrued vacation if employee suddenly quits?

03/23/2017
Q. Our company policy is not to pay an employee for unused vacation time if the employee resigns without giving the required two weeks’ notice. A former employee has challenged this policy and is threatening to take the company to court. Is this policy lawful?

Do we have to keep job open for Minn. employee on extended jury duty?

03/23/2017
Q. We are a small business and cannot afford to have employees out for extended leaves. One of our employees will be on jury duty for a trial that we’re told could continue for at least a month. Do we have to keep her job open to her when the trial is over?

You don’t have to offer reason for discharge

03/23/2017
Sometimes, if you want to help a terminated employee move on to better opportunities, it may also make sense to not offer a reason for the discharge, especially if stating the reason could interfere with his or her job hunt.

It’s OK to fire staff who protest taxes, file false W-4

03/16/2017
Consider a policy that allows for terminating employees who file false W-4s.

Zero-tolerance policy OK if evenly enforced

03/15/2017
A zero-tolerance policy regarding violence is usually fine. However, you must be prepared for a lawsuit if one of the people disciplined has previously complained about some form of discrimination.