How to Legally Fire an Employee That Isn't Meeting Company’s Standards

The firing of an employee is a difficult time in a company. It can be stressful, but stress should not hinder your decision-making process when it comes to firing someone that isn't meeting the standard you expected them to meet. In this blog post, we're going to discuss how to properly and legally fire an employee that is underperforming or isn't meeting the standards you expect from them. We'll also give tips on hiring new employees so that firing doesn't have to happen again.

Firing an Employee Is Not To Be Taken Lightly

Firing an employee isn't something that should be taken lightly. There are many ways to legally fire someone, so firing them because they aren't working out or have done something wrong is not legal in all cases. You can check your state's laws on firing employees here.

If you are considering firing the person after talking it over with management, then there are some things you need to know about how much time and steps involved before firing them for good reasons.

First off, have a timeline of what needs to happen if performance doesn't improve within a certain timeframe. This way both parties will know what business decisions may come next depending on the outcome of their goals by date X (ex: May 15th). Once this has been decided, you should set up another meeting to discuss how the project or your department is doing.

If firing an employee for good reasons isn't something that's legal in your state (or it doesn't fall under "just cause" firing), then there are other options available. One of those options include placing them on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). This way no one can argue they were fired without warning because they knew what was expected of them and if they couldn't meet these expectations within a certain timeframe; firing would follow. If this option is selected, make sure all employees know exactly what their goals are for improvement so everyone involved knows where the PIP stands at any given point during its duration. The last thing you want happening after firing someone is them saying they didn't know what to do or how to improve.

Another common firing option that isn't illegal in most states is firing the person because of their behavior at work, whether it's being rude to customers, co-workers, etc. If this option applies to your situation and you want to fire an employee for these reasons only then there are ways you can still be protected legally speaking when firing someone too. One example would be if a customer complained about the specific worker's actions multiple times with management making note of each incident on paper before escalating further which led up to termination without putting said worker through PIP or another form of disciplinary action beforehand despite complaints from other employees.

If none of these options apply (or firing an employee for any reason is illegal in your state), then the only other option you have to firing someone would be either letting them go or waiting until they quit. If this happens, make sure you are hiring new employees as soon as possible so that firing does not happen again.

Consolation Pay and Severance

If firing an employee is the only option left and you follow all of your company's rules on firing (including giving them what they're entitled to such as their final pay, unused vacation days, etc.), then make sure you are prepared for any legal action that may happen on behalf of fired employees.

Firing someone who has worked for a long time with no warnings or other disciplinary actions beforehand can lead to lawsuits against companies in some cases. This is why it's important if this situation does occur that firing doesn't leave bad feelings between former employees and current ones since there could be lingering negative effects from firing someone without considering how people would feel about it afterwards. Failing to do so can affect morale among co-workers which can lead to them leaving the company as well, firing costing more than it would have originally.

One thing that may help if firing an employee leaves bad feelings between everyone is offering something called "consolation pay." This isn't required by law but some companies do offer this benefit so employees aren't completely out of money if they are fired or laid off with no warning beforehand.

Another option for firing someone without lawsuits being involved legally speaking would be giving said person their final paycheck along with unused vacation days and other paid time-off hours owed to them before letting them go at any point after saying you're considering firing them. This way people know what could happen depending on performance levels in the future, don't feel taken aback when getting fired, and their firing isn't as surprising.

Another benefit firing someone this way is that you don't have to worry about offering them any form of severance (money offered in addition to final pay) since they will already be receiving what's owed to them before getting let go. This also saves money for the company hiring because firing people with no warning or other disciplinary actions beforehand can cost a lot more than doing it legally and giving employees all their due benefits first like vacation days and unused sick time either accrued over many years at work or allowed by current policy depending on how long they've been employed there.

What If They Have Ownership in The Company?

If someone firing has a large stake in your company, firing them is slightly different than if they do not. If this happens, talk to a lawyer before taking any action since there are many factors that come into play in these situations and you'll want all of your bases covered legally speaking so nothing can be held against you later on when trying to fire an employee with ownership stakes in the business itself.

There could also be tax implications involved depending on how much one person owns compared to everyone else who works for said company which makes firing difficult as well from a financial perspective even if it's completely legal from a moral standpoint or vice versa. Also make sure letting go of an owner doesn't violate employment contract rules either since firing someone this way may be considered firing without just cause.

Make sure to think things through before firing an owner of the company, including their ownership percentage compared to everyone else who works there and how much they make annually because firing anyone can come with consequences no one would expect depending on what happens afterwards.

Another option if you own a business is giving said person shares in lieu of firing them which could decrease your tax burden as well as save money by avoiding any severance pay or legal fees involved with firing them legally speaking since everything's done beforehand instead of after the fact like it sometimes has to be when hiring new people into open positions where former ones were fired for underperforming or not meeting expectations that weren't met previously.