At some point or another, most businesses have to deal with problem employees. These are the people who consistently manipulate the system for their benefit, try to poison the environment for other employees, and generally make their bosses’ lives a living nightmare.
The best way to keep these toxic employees out of your workplace is by not hiring them in the first place. But if they are already in your employ and they are smart enough not to break any major rules, then getting rid of them usually requires time, patience, and (most importantly) documentation.
Avoiding an Improper Termination
We live in a litigious society. So if you terminate an employee without proper cause or documentation, odds are you may either have to hire them back or pay out a hefty settlement.
There are certain infractions that are so bad that the courts or an employment hearing judge will side with the company, such as showing up drunk, fighting, or threatening another employee.
But businesses may find themselves on the losing side of a court or employment hearing if the worker was let go without proper cause. Unfortunately, not getting along with their boss may not be enough to justify their firing. Even poor work performance can fail to meet the standard if it wasn’t adequately documented.
Providing Proof
That’s where tracking and recording violations of workplace rules and consistently and fairly measuring work performance become critical.
When an employee is disciplined for their workplace behavior — or even simply coached to improve their performance — a document should be created, presented to the worker for their signature, then placed in a permanent employee record file for future reference. It’s better if these disciplinary documents follow a recognizable progression: First Warning, Second Warning, Final Warning.
Similarly, employee performance evaluations should be performed according to a regular schedule, such as annually, every six months, or even quarterly.
Consistency Is the Key
This approach should be applied consistently to every member of the business’s workforce, not just problem employees. If it can be proven that the terminated employee was held to a different standard than everyone else, a court may rule that it was an improper termination.
In order to terminate a problem employee without having to worry about later consequences, the employer should be able to show a pattern of problems, that management made a genuine effort to correct the behavior and improve the worker’s job performance, and be able to provide fair and equitable documentation that was signed and acknowledged by the employee.
Getting rid of problem employees can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. Once you have systems in place that are consistently applied to the entire workforce, it can strengthen and improve your business and give you the confidence to move forward with important personnel decisions.