Terminations

Investigate before firing alleged FMLA ‘liar’

09/02/2021

Generally, employers are allowed to fire employees they believe lied about their need for FMLA leave. But there is an important proviso: The employer must act in good faith, showing it conducted an investigation into whether the employee was entitled to leave or not.

Survey: 68% of employers worry about talent exodus

08/31/2021

68% of companies report a concern about an exodus of talent. Asked by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas what is fueling workers’ desire to leave, 75% of employers cited a desire for more flexibility and 59% cite worker burnout.

Set objective criteria for who loses job in layoff

08/05/2021

Use objective standards to decide who will stay or go during a reduction in force. That helps eliminate the chance that bias will taint the RIF process and trigger an employee lawsuit.

PIP: Offer chance to improve before firing

08/05/2021

Smart employers make it a standard practice to establish performance improvement plans before terminating employees who can’t do their jobs properly. PIPs can help turn around an underperforming worker. They also demonstrate your good faith to courts, assuring them that a subsequent firing was because of a performance problem, not discrimination.

Can you fire worker for being a public jerk?

06/17/2021

When an employee’s bad behavior outside of the workplace draws negative attention on your organization online, is it legal to terminate that person?

4 smart things to do when hiring and firing remotely

05/14/2021

Leaders know that bringing new people on board and handling terminations properly are two activities too important to perform haphazardly. While remote hiring and firing pose challenges, managers cannot use location as an excuse to slack.

Exit checklist: When teleworkers terminate

04/22/2021

You probably have a plan in place dictating what happens when an employee quits. But with so many employees working remotely, traditional exit interviews and the accompanying rituals may slip through the cracks. Here’s how to safeguard your intellectual and real property in a work-from-home world.

Half of quits might have been preventable

04/06/2021

Fifty-two percent of employees who voluntarily quit their jobs say their manager or organization could have done something to convince them to stay, according to a Gallup poll.

Firing after FMLA leave: How soon is ‘too soon’ to trigger retaliation?

03/18/2021

When it comes to the FMLA, courts will always pull out their calendars to see how closely the employee’s protected activity (requesting or taking FMLA leave) coincides with the adverse action handed down by the employer (discipline, termination, etc.). The smaller the time, the bigger your risk of losing an FMLA-retaliation lawsuit.

#1 reason you can’t fire worker for going #2 on office floor