No matter how you say it, terminations – whether they involve a single employee or a large-scale layoff – are probably one of the least favorite parts of your job. Along with the emotional stress they cause, terminations can also pose enormous legal risks. Make one mistake in the firing process, even an innocent one, and your company may quickly find itself embroiled in a costly lawsuit.

There are so many different ways to get it wrong:

• You say something to a departing employee in the heat of the moment that is prime lawsuit fodder later on.
• You discover after the firing that the ex-employee’s supervisor has always written glowing performance appraisals for that worker – and the documentation now suggests retaliation.
• You go the extra mile by offering severance payments with waivers to employees being laid off – but a common wording error later renders those waivers unenforceable.
• You make an error calculating a terminated employee’s final paycheck, or you withhold funds from departing workers that you’re not lawfully allowed to deduct.

Order this in-depth 90-minute audio conference recording, where you’ll learn:

• The most common termination-related mistakes employers make – and how to avoid repeating them
• Why you must prepare for the possibility of termination even before you hire an employee
• The specific policies and practices you need in place to lawsuit-proof your company before you terminate another employee
• What you should always say – and what you must never say – when letting an employee go
• How to review your severance agreements to make sure they’re binding, and risky language to watch out for
• The crucial post-termination steps you should take to stay out of legal trouble
• What to do when an employee fired for cause later asks you for a job reference
• The unique risks involved in group layoffs, as well as terminations involving older workers
• What you can – and cannot – deduct from a terminated worker’s last paycheck

Thomas M. McInerney, Esq., is a partner in the San Francisco office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., one of America’s largest labor and employment law firms. He has extensive experience in all aspects of labor and employment law, representing clients in a wide range of fields. McInerney regularly defends employers in federal and state courts and before numerous administrative agencies against termination, discrimination, wage/hour, and related employment matters. He earned his law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law.

Approved for Recertification Credit

This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org.

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