The right way to fire someone (and replace them!)

Fired

Firing an employee can be challenging for business owners of small businesses and large corporations alike. As hard as firing someone may be, it’s necessary for keeping an unproductive or unprofessional employee from stunting a business’ growth.

Small business owners can follow the tips listed below to learn how to fire and replace an employee the right way and protect their business.

Don’t humiliate your employee

Sometimes when people get fired, they face immediate removal from the premises and could make a scene. When such occurrences happen in front of the entire organization, it can be disruptive to productivity and humiliating for the terminated employee. For this reason, firing an employee in private may be best for them and the team morale.

Be honest with an employee about their termination

A seemingly random or sudden job loss can lead many people to question if they lost their job due to misconduct, insubordination, a lack of good teamwork, poor attendance, or budget cuts.

Being fired can be stressful enough for several reasons, but it can feel worse for employees who are unsure why their bosses terminated them and have unanswered questions.

Telling an employee the reason behind their firing can help them understand the decision was lawful, and prevent them from speculating and filing a formal complaint that argues they’re the victim of wrongful termination.

Know what makes a firing legal or illegal

In the United States, many states consider work as at-will employment, meaning that employers can fire employees for any cause, without warning, as long as the cited reasons are legal.

In Australia, the law addresses unlawful termination in Section 772 of the Fair Work Act (2009). This act states that employees can’t face termination for reasons such as temporary absence from work because of illness, injury, maternity or paternity leave, or complaints they filed against their employer.

Employees who lose their jobs because of discrimination against their race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, physical or mental disability, or more, are victims of wrongful termination.

Utilize technology to strengthen the team

Once there’s a vacancy in the workplace, hiring managers and hiring teams should recruit potential candidates to replace the terminated employee. Having an open position or several can be costly for several reasons.

Business owners and hiring managers would have to expend resources to advertise the open position to potential applicants, schedule interviews, conduct skill assessments, do background checks, and more. Additionally, each day with an unfilled position could cause a company to lose the value that previous employees brought to the bottom line.

The best practices for business owners and hiring managers looking to replace an employee are using technology to their advantage and optimizing candidate interviews and the hiring process. Using robust technology such as GoodTime software allows businesses to harness the best interview scheduling tools and reach the best candidates.

Such software enables business owners to streamline their recruiting and hiring processes and create an improved candidate experience. This product offers interviewer training to build a strong recruiting and interview team, interviewer selection so that the right interviewers match candidates, efficient interview scheduling, analytics, and insights that allow employers to forecast hiring. Business owners are sure to get the right candidate to replace a fired employee through less time-consuming, more accurate interviews.

Protect your strong team and business

No matter what type of business someone owns, they should consider getting business insurance to protect their company against risks. This type of coverage works the same as life insurance, property insurance, and commercial auto insurance.

Some features of insurance policies are mandatory, such as workers’ compensation, which is necessary for companies with a small or large number of employees. Companies may require business insurance policies that cover public and general liability, equipment and machinery, property damage, stock deterioration, and more.

Business owners who wish to compare business insurance options can use iSelect. This resourceful site collects and compiles information regarding the numerous types of business insurance available for companies and their associated costs. The costs of insurance policies depend on the products purchased and the business insurance company.

Some factors that impact insurance include the nature, size, turnover, and location of your business and the risks involved. Internet users who compare business insurance with iSelect can make well-informed decisions and purchase the best business insurance policy.