How To Properly Fire An Employee

There may come a time when you, as a business owner or a manager, need to fire an employee. If the employee does not have an employment contract, then you have the right to fire the employee at any time for good cause or for no cause at all. However, you may not fire the employee for bad cause. That means that you may not fire an employee for a discriminatory reason, such as his race, age or religion, and you may not fire an employee for exercising a legal right such as taking leave under the Family Medical Leave Act or being a whistleblower. You have no obligation to provide fired employees with a severance package unless you have promised the employee a severance or state law requires it. Fired employees usually look for new jobs, and you may be asked for a reference. If you can provide a good reference, go ahead and do it. If not, just confirm that the employee worked for you.