(My favorite is Option 2: Downgrade the Risk before Termination.) If you're sacking for an wrongful or stupid reason, is it worth it? Again, the trigger incident is either a single event of misconduct or a culmination of lackluster productivity. How to fire Employees Protected by Federal and State Laws.

In Montana, the law requires any dismissal to be "for good cause." But as you learned in the last chapter, federal and state governments and judges have created over 30 laws preventing employers from sacking for wrongful reasons. For example, you wouldn't dismiss a 22-year old male who sexually harassed a coworker. Since theft is common in most companies, owners should know how to handle this problem. Or, certainly, you may have sacked the worker for bad behavior or poor work productivity. As you complete the form, you must think through the employee's behaviors, how it violates business policy and what the employee must do to change. Knowing your rights as an employer will aid you to go through the dismissal according to all the rules, and safely wash your hands of someone without worrying about him claiming illegal lay off in the future. For example, you should terminate a plant boss for an unacceptable number of safety violations or missing quota. In either case, the risk level is medium, and you should offer the jobholder extra severance benefits in return for a release. If you make reasonable accommodations and the employee still can't do the job, you can still layoff her for poor performance. The exact information included in your employee termination agreement depends on you, the worker, and the specific terminating situation. From these 2 examples, you can see how tricky it is to terminate someone when you don't apply your layoff reasons consistently. Have you had difficulty crafting a discipline notice for staff?