When you are in the process of terminating an employee, there are many things you need to consider before terminating, during termination, and after you have terminated them. You need to make sure that there is no break in your company’s confidentiality when you are separating employment. Here are a few tips to take into account before, during, and after separation of employment.
Before Termination
- Look over the employee’s files: review an employees post-employment obligations (such as confidentiality agreements) and make a copy for the employee to have. This is to remind the employee of their obligations.
- Get IT involved: if your employee has computer access, meet with an IT person in order to sever their computer access.
- Choose a location and time: the best time to meet with an employee is at the end of the day either in their office or in a conference room. The benefit of meeting somewhere other than your office is so that if necessary, you can walk away from the conversation.
While Terminating
- Tell employee you have severed their computer access: let them know if any personal information is on that computer, that you will work with them to get it back.
- Have employee return all company property: arrange a meet time for you to get all property back. Make sure that all emailed property is deleted from their email because this may be confidential information.
- Ask them about discrimination: Ask them if they have ever had any issues with discrimination. This is a crucial aspect of termination because this can help avoid future lawsuits.
After Terminating
- Give employees a termination letter: with this letter, you may want to add in any of their post- employment obligations as well. In some states, a letter of termination in required to give to the employee, which must contain the reason that the employee was terminated.
- Give employees their final paycheck: The laws pertaining to giving employees their final paycheck after termination vary state to state, so your company should check local laws to see if:
- You have to pay out unused vacation time
- You have to pay out unused sick leave
- When you must pay employees their final paycheck, which is dependent on whether or not they were fired, quit, or leave by mutual agreements.
