You must review this and ask the commission to correct any errors. Since you gave no reason for dismissing this person, the jury will have to seriously consider the worker's "made-up" reason. Of course, expect to settle with the employee and her legal counsellor, but this will usually be cheaper and less disruptive to the department than leaving her job open indefinitely. You'll look like an idiot, the worker will be angry, her legal counselor will have a field day and the jury will give the worker a big unlawful separation award.

You'll also learn how to handle the immediate aftermath including getting the worker out of the building and what you should say to the remaining workers, customers and suppliers. There are many myths that could be discussed about handling difficult employees but in truth they all boil down to the idea that separating a bad individual means an automatic settlement in a court of law. You should never give information which is irrelevant to job productivity. Question: Can you offer a jobholder you're about to fire a copy of a dismissal letter and a copy of a resignation notice and let him decide which one he needs to sign? You may have been told that to "legally" fire you should document the jobholder's performance problem and bad behavior. o Does the punishment (the lay off) fit the crime? The ex-employee could sue you for defamation. Obviously, it needs to be clear and to the point. o Acting as a representative for employees to management. So what does this mean for you, the manager, if you must sack an underperforming worker? Likely nothing right now would taste sweeter than transferring the problem worker to a location halfway around the world.