Managing Non-Performers —Fioernza

THE DECISION to discharge a problem employee can seem so right at the time. The employee may be a disruptive and even destructive influence on your workplace, and you know it’s the right thing to do. So why wait? Get it over with quickly; like pulling off a bandage.

Unfortunately for many employers, it’s this “quick trigger” mentality that can make a decision that feels so right, go so very wrong. Too often, the decision to discharge an employee takes place in a perfect storm of high emotions, immediate business needs and disregarded legal rules. Such a decision—justified though it may be—can end up costing your company thousands of dollars in legal fees, back wages to the employee, and could result in that same problem employee being reinstated to his or her prior job.