HUMANRESOURCESSERIES:TERMINATING ANEMPLOYEE

Part 4 of 4

Joanne Rinardo

IN PART 4, MS. RINARDO EXPLAINSHOW TO PART WAYS WITH ANEMPLOYEE.

Is there an employment contract or is he/she at-will?

Is the employee in any protected class?

How should the employer handle termination?

What happens after termination?

There are several questions to ask to protect yourselffrom possible litigation:

IS THERE AN EMPLOYMENTCONTRACT OR IS HE/SHE AT-WILL?

Remember, Louisiana is an "at-will" employmentstate, so unless you have a contract with theemployee, you may fire them with or withoutcause.If you have a contract, review the contract todetermine under what circumstances theemployee can be terminated.Consult with an attorney about your rights.

IS THE EMPLOYEE IN ANYPROTECTED CLASS?

Does your employee have a membership in aprotected class?

If you do not have 15+ employees, you are exempt frommost state and federal laws that protect employees.

Protected status can be based on age, gender, race, religion, colorand/or physical/mental disability.You may still terminate an employee in a protected class as long as youcan document that 1) the employee violated a policy or procedure or 2)you have terminated others not in a protected class for similar reasons.It is helpful to have an Employee Handbook that specifiesprocedures and violations of policy.

HOW SHOULD YOU HANDLETHE TERMINATION?

The less said, the better. You do not owe the employee an explanation

and should keep the reasons brief and general.

Do not provide the employee with a written explanation for the

termination. Remember, Louisiana allows one party to tape

conversations secretly. Assume you are being recorded!

Avoid disruption to the workplace by: changing the person's computer

password, retrieving copies of keys, and escorting them off the

premises.

You are required to pay them all wages owed and any unused vacation

within two weeks or by next pay period.

You've determined the termination is without legalconsequence, now it is time to inform the employee.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTERTERMINATION?

Once the employee has been informed, you need to alert your staff without explanation

that he/she is no longer employed.

All reference requests concerning the terminated employee should be handled by HR

or the Office Manager and should be neutral.

If you want to provide severance pay, you should consult an attorney about securing a

release form as a condition for the severance.

Informing the Rest of Your Staff

REMEMBER: COMPETENTAND CARING STAFFDECREASE YOUR RISK OFBEING SUED!

Joanne Rinardo504 593 0616jrinardo@deutschkerrigan.com

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