A Manager's Guide to Firing Employees

The final, and most often toughest, step in the employee lifecycle is termination. If handled incorrectly, terminations can expose an organization to a variety of legal exposure. Kentucky is an at-will state, meaning an employer can terminate an employee for any reason or no reason, except for a reason that is otherwise protected by law.

There are several things that employers can do to make this process go as smoothly as possible while reducing legal exposure.

• Be concise
• Have your documentation ready
• Have a witness
• Stay professional

For one reason or another, an employer may want to use a severance agreement. When offering a severance agreement, it needs to clearly state what the employee will be receiving and what they will be giving up to receive that benefit. For a more in-depth overview of severance agreements from an employer's perspective, check out this video.

Employers can also do several things throughout the entire term of employment that can reduce the risk of legal claims in the wake of an employee termination, including:

• Keeping an up-to-date employee handbook
• Uniformly enforce every policy
• Investigate every complaint of misconduct