Message #53470

[cmeknit]

Firing someone is never easy, but with some preparation and moral support from your boss, it’s possible to manage through.  Also, I'm in the US and am sure that labor relations in the UK are managed differently than they are here.  You may need to check with your local Employment Department (or whatever it's called where you are) for advice.

First, document the deficiencies that this person (let’s call her Jane) has ... in writing. I.e., “Contrary to company policy, Jane has been using the company FedEx account to send personal packages” or “Jane has not completed the monthly report for the past 3 months” - whatever is set out in her job description that she’s not doing or personnel policies to which she is not adhering.

Next, determine the acceptable performance level and write that down too.  Then use this document (the corrective action plan) to have the counseling session with Jane.  In the examples above, the corrective actions could be “Jane will not use the company FedEx account to send personal packages” or “Jane must complete compilation of the monthly report by the 10th of every month”.  

Have a frank discussion with Jane, telling her that her job is on the line due to her poor performance.  Detail the corrective actions necessary to retain her job and the agreed upon time frame for improvement.  Have her sign the corrective action plan acknowledging that she understands the issues and agrees to the plan.

Then you monitor Jane’s performance over the agreed upon time frame.  Should Jane’s performance continue to be sub par, that’s when you have the “You’re Fired” discussion.  Tell her that even though you’ve counseled her and given her a chance to improve her performance, her unwillingness or inability to change has led to this consequence.  

I’m sure labor law in the UK varies from that in the US, but in addition to her final paycheck,  we had to give her a check for her unused vacation time or send it to her within 3 days.  Be sure to have all your ducks in a row in that regard.

The only time I had to fire someone, I worried about having to confront “Liz” and put a single mother out of work.  But “Liz” had stolen from a guest of the company and was using our FedEx account to send personal packages (to the tune of several hundred dollars).  When we had the “You’re Fired” talk, I think she was more relieved than me.  She never asked for a reference (nor would I have given her one), and I learned that I really could manage through a very difficult situation.  

I’m sure you’ll do just fine.  Like Raindance says, document everything.