Discipline and Termination

Sometimes employers believe they have all the evidence they need to discipline or terminate an employee, even without having talked to the employee and hearing the employee’s side.

The implications of the Court’s Bostock decision, and its interpretation of sex as a protected category, extends far beyond Title VII’s employment hiring and firing protections that are now afforded to workers like Hannah and Bob. This post explores some of those implications.

An unfortunate byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic is terminations. Many employers who have the resources provide a cushion in the form of severance pay. It is prudent to seek a release of claims in exchange for the payment of severance and critical to have the right form of release agreement. Note that there might be state-specific requirements.

Can the employer dock the pay of employees who are abusing the paid meal break in an amount equal to the excess amount of time they take? If the employer can do so, should it?

Do you provide terminated employees with information regarding their employee benefits upon termination? If not, consider doing so now.

Sometimes, asking “Can I fire this person?” is the wrong inquiry to begin with. The better question may be “If I fire this person now, will my reasoning be believable to an outsider (especially a group of outsiders called a jury)?”

Whether an employee leaves for another job or because the employer decided it was time for the employee to go, employers typically have to figure out how to replace a departing worker.

Employers with mandatory arbitration agreements should be careful to reaffirm their commitment to such agreements in light of the Adock v. Five Star Rentals/Sales, Inc. case.

What should employers do when an employee exhibits the jerk-type behaviors that are not conducive to a productive, team-oriented work environment?