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"HR never lets me fire anyone!" I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this over my career in HR. Supervisors who come to me and tell me stories of how their employee has been a problem for many years and it has finally gotten to the point in which the supervisor has had it. They want to let them go. But when it comes to examining the situation, I many times find issues with following through with termination.

credit union firing

Supervisors usually have had conversations with these employees, but there are many questions that I ask a supervisor that cannot be answered fully. Supervisors usually have not documented or made it clear that an employee would be fired if their performance or behavior did not improve.

Supervisors, to help in making the decision in exiting an employee, the following are things for you to ask yourself:

      1. Have you fully explained to the employee what he or she is supposed to do? 
      2. Have you not only explained the job functions, but the performance measurements or how those functions are to be performed? 
      3. Is there no possibility the employee misunderstood the duties and expectations?
      4. Does the employee know the policies and procedures of the credit union? 
      5. Have they read and signed an Employee Handbook/Policy acknowledgment and is a copy of it in their employment file?
      6. Are the requirements for this employee the same as for those for other workers? 
      7. Are the requirements enforced the same with other supervisors in the credit union? Are your requirements reasonable?
      8. Can you clearly show that you have seriously attempted to train the employee in the skills and knowledge required by the job? 
      9. Have you given the employee time to develop the necessary skills after training?
      10. Have you discussed the specific issues with the employee’s performance and/or behavior with him/her? 
      11. Does the employee know that his/her performance or behavior is below what is expected? 
      12. Have you told the employee exactly what needs to be done to meet expectations?
      13. Does the punishment “fit the crime”? Would a neutral third party agree that termination was fair given the nature of the conduct or the seriousness of the performance problems?
      14. Has the credit union administered discipline in a consistent manner? 
      15. Are members of a protected classification treated the same as employees outside the protected classification who engaged in similar conduct, under similar circumstances (severity of conduct, prior offenses, length of employment, etc.)?
      16. Have you told the employee what will happen if his/her performance/behavior does not improve? 
      17. Have you followed up with what you said would happen when performance/behavior did not improve?
      18. Have you followed established procedures by notifying the employee in writing of his/her unsatisfactory performance, violation of policy, unacceptable behavior etc., and what needs to be done to bring the work up to expectations?
      19. Does the documentation include dates discussed, nature of the counseling, the facts involved, the expectations and what will happen if performance does not improve? Is documentation in the employees personnel file? Did the employee sign the document and were they given a copy?
      20. Has the employee recently filed claim of discrimination, workers compensation, or rose concerned with other protected activities? 
      21. Will your action withstand scrutiny if retaliation is brought up?

If a supervisor can positively answer these questions, then termination may be an easier decision.

I do believe that termination is sometimes the only answer. I have seen employees that I think should be fired, but doing so not only cause potential liability, but may not be the fair decision. I say this because I do firmly believe if an employer treats an employee fairly (even those that it terminates), then they can insure that they will keep the ones they want to keep and they can attract more good performers.

Originally written by Susan Looney, SVP HR, Credit Union Resources, Inc. and posted on the Credit Union Resources blog

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