After the introduction and cutting off any small talk, you must tell the employee she's fired. If you fail to do it right, you might find yourself in a lawsuit. For over 150 years, the law-of-the-land has been you could separate any worker for a good reason, for a bad reason or for no reason at all. You will avoid lawsuits and be sure that your final communications with a jobholder are clear, professional and concise. It means, essentially, than an employer can fire an employee at any time without cause. If counseling does not reveal a valid reason for poor performance or reveals a problem that can't be resolved, you should issue a documented warning and place in the jobholder's Personnel folder.

And, sometimes, you can't find the fraud, or the worker never screws up enough to sack. Knowing which reasons are wrongful is the key to avoiding a improper layoff suit. And, since you forced him to quit, you're open to a unlawful lay off suit. It's unlikely a nonunion worker will ask for a representative. Joe's parting gift is to make you seem cruel and heartless to everyone else. In many states more and more court rulings uphold the rights of employers to lay off workers for unacceptable behavior outside the workplace. In that event, you must be ready to follow good procedures for dismissal. It's better to negotiate with the worker later (and sue when necessary) for the disputed money. By following a formal procedure and making your termination notification worker foolproof, you are protecting the small business and, at the same time, minimizing disruption in the workplace.