Protect your company with a sound termination policy.

Date01 February 2023

Terminating employees, particularly involuntarily, is a part of the job that most business owners and HR managers dread. Firing or laying off staff members is a tough decision, but it sometimes needs to be done due to misconduct or business changes. And when it does, it's vital to have a legally sound termination policy in place.

What to include in your company's termination policy

Your termination policy should restate and reinforce your at-will employment policy if you are in an at-will state. This is important as at-will employment allows employers to terminate employees without cause or warning if there are no illegal underlying reasons such as discrimination or retaliation for protected whistleblowing or complaint filings.

A termination policy is also an excellent place to lay out your expectations for employees who quit. Of course, an at-will policy goes both ways, so employees don't have to give notice in voluntary terminations. However, most people will as a courtesy to the...

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