Your first step is a thorough review of business policies including handbooks and any employment offer notices that you gave the jobholder. When Counseling Doesn't Resolve the Problems with Problem employees. o Bitter and angry at the world. Then, open the floor for others to tell how they're feeling and to ask questions about the layoff. This preparation makes the program easier on both you and the employee. These should include violations like arriving to work drunk, using drugs or alcohol at work, physically fighting with another co-employee, theft, threats of violence to the boss or other co-employees, or misrepresentation of themselves. o Put all the worker's take home materials (dismissal notification, separation settlement, COBRA notice, final paycheck and severance check) into a folder for easy access.

You don't want to dismiss someone for occasional minor misbehavior occurring over the years. You, as a manager, can't hide from it when it happens and must deal with it consistently, fairly, and quickly. Then you must put that person back on the payroll. This will keep you out of trouble even if later substantiation or the jobholder's legal counsellor proves your conclusions wrong afterwards. The conditions of your layoff will have an impact on your final paycheck, dismissal package, and your final benefits although we will discuss these with the finance organization to ensure that you reimburse the business appropriately. This call frequently comes with a sob story about how unemployable the worker is and how many kids he has. o Confirms continuing eligibility for benefits. The worker's legal counselor will prove the business has a loose policy, and other personnel, whom you didn't terminate, have worse track records. Your negotiation partner will either be the jobholder's lawyer or the employee directly.