Creating a pre-termination checklist can be stressful. Even though we have ready-made and sample checklist templates that you can use, you need to know what content to include and how to follow laws and regulations. With that in mind, we have provided an easy guide that you can follow when making a pre-termination checklist:
1. Research About Labor Laws and Regulations
Since the purpose of a pre-termination checklist is to help you avoid lawsuits and termination claims, you should ensure that labor laws and regulations regarding employee termination are properly implemented into your HR checklist. This means that the contents of your checklist should be relevant and in accordance with the labor laws and regulations.
2. Incorporate Your Company's Termination Standards
Before you start hiring people for your company, it is required that you create a code of conduct that details all aspects of employment including termination. To make sure you make decisions well within lawful grounds when planning to terminate an employee, you should incorporate your company's HR policies regarding termination in your checklist. The questions you include should relate to the grounds of termination you have included in your COC.
3. Clearly Phrase Your Questions
The main goal of your pre-termination checklist is to assess whether it is lawful to terminate an employee from his or her post. Thus, asking questions about why he/she should be terminated should be included in the checklist. It is important to phrase your questions comprehensively. Since various staff from your Human Resources department may conduct the assessment, the questions should be clear and direct to make it easily understandable.
4. Consider the Rights, Privacy, and Dignity of the Employee
Even though an employee is a candidate for termination, it is important to uphold his or her rights, privacy, and dignity when making your checklist. This means that you can include procedures that require privacy such as a non-disclosure clause for the information that will be included. List information, procedures, and call-to-actions that will not tarnish the reputation of the employee in question.
5. Check with Your Manager and Supervisors
After coming up with the questions and information to include in the checklist, you should check with your supervisors or managers to ensure that you are following company standards. Since they also know about the labor laws and regulations, they can help make sure that the employee checklist implements those laws into your overall termination process.