According to Levitt, Employers will assign inexperienced personnel (managers) to conduct termination meetings without training, planning and legal advice. Dismissed employees can make mental distress claims if they experience poor exit interviews.

Levitt suggests a number of strategies that should be in place before termination meetings.

Terminations should be private. The meeting should be the place an employee is informed of his or her dismissal. Gossip will occur, but it’s better after the employee has left. Don’t escort an employee from your business, with other employees as witnesses. Judges may penalize a company that thinks terminations require melodrama.

Be careful about the timing of a termination. Ex-employees may claim additional liability if you terminate them just before their wedding, during Christmas, on their birthday or after recovering from an illness. In some cases, however, their termination may need to be immediate because of their infraction of the rules or policy.

Don’t schedule termination meetings for Friday afternoons either, since those being terminated may not have access to an attorney, doctor and social services or the opportunity to seek a new job immediately.

Levitt added, “Employees may plead, debate or become hostile. Do not be baited into argument or acrimony. Unless you are prepared to reconsider (in which case you were not ready for this meeting), such discussions can damage your position. If you are not alleging cause, offer a reference letter and provide a letter delineating the severance package.”

Terminations may be necessary, but if you have a plan and process, instead of making mistakes, then ex-employees are less likely to claim any liability.

High-risk employees are those that must be leave the premises as soon as possible because of the severity of the infraction that led to termination. Before he or she is escorted through the door, the small-business owner or manager must create a termination notification that briefly describes why the employee is being terminated.

Business policies that are explained to all employees, even verbally, can protect most businesses from a termination “battle”; however, business owners must prove that their employees know those policies and the consequences.

A medium-risk employee is treated a bit differently, since he or she may have been disciplined previously and is being dismissed for continuing to violate that policy or rule. The employee must understand why he or she is being terminated, and it’s best to speak with him or her directly and not through a supervisor. Documenting the termination—when it occurs—is the best way to reduce the risk of being sued.

Business owners should keep in mind that there are many federal statues relating to age discrimination, disabilities, family and medical leave, etc. that could affect employment claims and liabilities.

Paul Munoz, president of the HR Group Inc. in Plainview, doesn’t endorse firing by e-mail because it does more harm than good. But he understands why some managers resort to it: It helps to minimize anxiety or fear over having to tell someone his or her position is being eliminated.

It also saves time “as each person would have to be told separately,” he said, adding that if a company has several locations, it would be an efficient way of communicating the decision.

However, he said: “Using e-mail to notify employees that they have been downsized is certainly legal but a very poor employee-relations tactic.”

Read more at <a href=”http://www.newsday.com/columnists/carrie-mason-draffen/firing-by-e-mail-is-legal-but-unprofessional-1.1566777″ target=”_blank”>Newsday</a>.

• Taking business records with them.
• Telling clients that they are considering leaving the company or are leaving the company.
• Telling co-workers that they are leaving the company before telling management.
• Sabotaging records.
• Granting an exit interview.
• Failing to segregate between private company information and public information.
• Accessing the office after hours when they do not normally do so.
• Bad mouthing the firm on the way out.
• Failing to work until the last minute.
• Failing to consult an attorney prior to resigning.

While it may seem obvious, employers should specifically instruct new hires not to take any business records or any other company information with them if they ever should leave. If any employer gets wind that an employee is doing any of these things, or if the employee has suddenly or suspiciously resigned (e.g., at 5 p.m. on a Friday), an employer should take some immediate steps to protect itself, including:

• Get the employee to do an exit interview so you can find out about the employee’s new job and confirm that the employee has not taken any business records or copies of business records.
• Make sure that the employee has returned all electronic devices and that he or she does not have any company information such as client contact information on their personal devices.
• Supervise the employee’s access to his or her office and his or her departure from the building.
• Give the employee a copy of any restrictive covenants to remind the employee of his or her obligations.
• Talk to other employees about the departing employee to find out what they know and if the employee has engaged in any suspicious behavior.
• Disable the employee’s access to the premises and your computer system.
• Inspect the employee’s files and computer to see if anything is missing.
• Immediately reassign all of the employee’s accounts and clients, and have the employee’s replacement ask your clients if they have heard from the former employee.

Implement a checklist of actions to take immediately when an employee resigns and assign these tasks to a specific employee.

Source: Business & Legal Reports, Inc.