If an employee does not comply with your policies and procedures, make sure to document the offense. In it you should be honest about what has lead to the firing of personnel. The act of taking a jobholder aside and criticizing them can be stressful and now and then backfire.

If it does become necessary to fire a worker, you should handle the matter with as much discretion and dignity as possible. If you have the authority to negotiate, you must begin the negotiations. Every disciplinary step should include this warning form program. In a recent Cornell University study, researchers found that how the company fired the worker was a major factor in any resulting suit. If the firing is on the account of a layoff, restructuring or downsizing, you can express some sensitivity in the letters of lay off. If you are considering corporate outplacement services, understand that they not only provide help with the termination program but also with the discontinuance package you will offer, and other details. Alternatively, you may unknowingly offend the employee with patronizing remarks or give her false hopes of another chance. By sticking to policy and giving written warnings, employees know that they are just a few bad decisions away from losing their job, and most of the time will reform their behavior. Finally, you give the worker several chances to offer his own productivity improvement plan and to rebut your warnings. Also, you can layoff a worker on FMLA if they fail to return from their leave when expected. Have a representative review the letter and make sure you're following proper business processes. Let's say you are a supervisor in an Information Technology (IT) firm and have hired a new computer programmer right out of college.