Firing an employee is always a different kind of event. Some people are let go with regret, while others are dismissed from the company with great relief. And somewhere the turnover is put on a stream. It happens like this.
Hiring/firing an employee in the Projecto system can be done just in a couple of clicks. It is enough to remove an employee from their position or fill in the appropriate field in their profile. This is logical, because Projecto is not a bookkeeping software. It is a convenient organizer for managers, working in the cloud 24/7. It helps to automate many relationships with employees, facilitates planning and provides timely notifications and alerts.
And with Projecto you can’t lose data and contacts related to a departing employee. A special migration wizard allows you to close, reassign, take over or completely delete content (tasks, files, emails, etc.).
When working with human resources, you need to know how to correctly dismiss an employee without exposing the company to fines for untimely or wrongful termination. Besides, it is necessary not to forget about payments to the dismissed employee, if he decides to get his due through the court, it may cause large fines.
But in this material, we will consider another aspect — the dismissal of employees who do not want to quit. This manual is primarily for managers of problematic workers.
Method number zero. «I’m here to talk»
A company is first and foremost the people who work in it. First-line managers have always been and will remain the official face of power. Even if they themselves do not agree with the decisions of «tops» or «middles», with the opinion of shareholders or owners, have their own ambitions, adhere to the principles of autocratic or democratic management system, for ordinary employees they are always the first person who solves any issues and problems related to the organization of work.
In any team, there are formal and informal relations, both between ordinary employees and between the manager and staff.
So, many issues related to leaving the company, in 90% of cases, may be solved by personal communication with the manager. The manager should always keep his hand on the pulse and try to be the first to initiate such uncomfortable conversations. He should find out the problems and solve them. Perhaps, the situation can be resolved without any dismissals. Possible, the employee with his bad attitude shows protest against injustice to himself in this manner?
Some experienced managers can persuade an unwanted employee to «go away» in a few pithy words or even just a look.
Communicate with your employees more often, and you will find it easier to manage them.
Method 1. «Paradise» conditions
No one likes to work in a challenging environment where you are distracted every five minutes or priorities are endlessly changed with new inputs.
A new term «toxic» is even coined for it now. «Toxic» environment is the first reason not just to leave, but even to run away from a company. In management theory, there is another definition for this situation — micromanagement (i.e., complete control of all the employee’s actions, total control).
Although there may be particularly «stubborn» characters who do not understand delicate hints.
The most important criteria for creating such «paradise» conditions only for one particular employee is to strike a balance between personal dislike, outright pressure and all the necessary formalities (yes, everything must be strictly within the labor law).
The approach can be considered both as an independent method of fighting slackers and as a preparatory or supplementary stage to other methods written below.
The reverse side of «paradise» conditions may surprise you. Sometimes, under pressure, employees start to work better and take into account all the requirements you impose on them. What to do with such reformed workers is up to you.
Method 2. «Naked» salary
As one of the greats said, «The best motivation is the absence of demotivation». We won’t surprise anyone if we say that employees come to work for money, not just for fun. They exchange their time for potential benefits of civilization. And if an employee gets fewer benefits for the same notional month of time left at work, he or she will probably not like the job as much as before. And if the story will be repeated from month to month, he will rid you of his uncomfortable company on his own.
Only one question remains: how to reduce the amount of earnings of one employee without harming other members of the team? Use deprecation or lack of the bonus part. Nowadays, the motivational part of the salary is not a surprise to anyone. At least for commercial companies, it is almost the norm.
There can be many reasons to deprive motivating payments. You are not going to fire a particular employee without reason, are you? He is clearly working worse than the others, he has problems with customers, with order fulfillment, or with something else. You just have to make it in a such way that all the «mistakes» he made are directly reflected in his salary.
In the end, either the employee will correct himself and start doing what you require of him, or he will leave for another place where he can continue to do nothing, but still receive a fixed salary.
An important note: in case of litigation, the employment contract must detail the parameters of bonuses. If you cannot justify the «non-accrual» of the money due, it may cause issues. Payment offenses are always punished by the largest fines for companies.
Method 3. Significant one-time offenses
There are no perfect people. And workers even less so. All of us sooner or later break the work schedule, we are late, do not finish some work, make mistakes in calculations, etc.
As a rule, the labor law is on the side of the employer in the matter of misconduct. If the violation is significant, for example, absence without a valid reason, it is quite enough for firing with an appropriate note in a labor book .
Even if employees notify their leader in advance, for example, that they are sick, have had an accident, plan to help any grandmother cross the road, just «tired» or have not yet decided whether they want to work today, but there are no official documents justifying their absence, this can easily be recognized as truancy. Even a single absenteeism is a strict violation of labor discipline, which can be punished by dismissal.
This method is good in many ways, but there are nuances to it. It is important to meet the deadlines for the submission of justifying documents, the employee himself must be given written explanations (and the person may refuse to write them), his absence must be additionally confirmed by acts (not just by ticking off the time sheet).
Such dismissals can be challenged in court, so you must be clean before the law and before the labor inspectorate. You must have a «white» work schedule, familiarization with the shift schedule for the next month signed by the employee.
If the employee is particularly aggressive — prepare for a «war» in advance. But sometimes it is a matter of principle.
Method 4: Repeated default of duties
They may not be as significant as absenteeism, but they must necessarily relate to workplace discipline.
What is work discipline? It includes all the duties that are stipulated in the employment contract. Any deviation from the described conditions is a violation.
It is obligatory under the contract to work with weekly reports, and the employee does not submit them — a violation. It is obligatory to be at the workplace from 9:00, and the employee is late — a violation. But the most important thing is not to overdo it. And the same on leader’s side, everything at workplace must obey the letter of the law. Need time for a smoke break? Here’s a schedule. Need time to eat? Here’s a specially equipped lounge and a lunch schedule. And so on.
All misbehavior must be documented. The algorithm is standard everywhere: fixation of the event by an act (signed by several witnesses) and a report of the head, taking written explanation, for refusal to write — an act on refusal, and so on.
Three misbehaviors are grounds for a severe reprimand. A severe reprimand = grounds for dismissal.
Method 5: Inconsistency of the position held
A way for strong-minded managers and exceptionally experienced HR professionals. You need to act together. It is a very technically complex and rather lengthy process, which involves conducting an employee rating in strict compliance with the requirements of the law. Employees should be notified in advance of the upcoming procedure, given a list of questions and time for preparation.
Despite the many challenges, employee rating is a good and really effective way to get rid of a few employees who can’t or don’t want to work. It is also an opportunity to improve specialized knowledge and find out the current status of the knowledge and skills of the rest of employees.
If you don’t want any problems with the results, you should first study regulatory documents and court practice (to whom, why and on what grounds the results of the commission were refused to be recognized).
Method 6: Formal downsizing
The most expensive option for the company, but one of the most unavoidable for employees. The level of bureaucracy simply goes off the scale. A new staffing table must be drawn up by order, and if the number of staff units is reduced, it must be used to approve staff reduction measures in the selected department or service.
The employee to be downsized will have to be offered vacant positions in your company (refusals should be made in writing), which may correspond to their qualifications and level of knowledge. At least 2 months in advance, the employee must be notified against signature of the downsizing. The law provides a whole list of categories of employees who cannot be dismissed anyway.
When downsizing, in addition to all standard payments and compensations, the employer must be prepared to support the downsized employee for up to three months (if the employee does not find a new job during this period).
Be careful with wording in employment contracts
How to fire an employee in the best way? With the wording «By agreement of the parties». The agreement can not be revoked in any way, and the words in court that the application was signed under pressure, will have to confirm the employee, not the employer.
When applying to quit during the period of work off (not more than 14 days), the employee can change his mind and withdraw his application. But nobody prevents you from dismissing a person with the same wording, even on the same day.
If the dismissal is due to the employer’s initiative, you should be ready for various disputes in court (it is important to have all supporting documents in hand). Although, the practice shows that even a minor violation of employer can lead to the revocation of dismissal and reinstatement of the employee with fines and other sanctions for the company.
