There were lots of comments to my post on,polo homme, and I’d like to address some of the points. raised two main issues: First, that the policies I outlined in my employee manual are written for the benefit of the company as opposed to the employee and, second,chanel occhiali More to Fields Than a Pregame Hand, that I seemed to be favoring firing people instead of training them. Both of these are complex issues that are handled differently by different companies. I can only comment on my own thoughts and experiences. Please don’t blame me for the many, many bad bosses and companies out there.
That said, let’s start with the balance of power between bosses and workers. Here’s the news in a nutshell: If you work in America, and don’t have an employment contract that explicitly states otherwise, your boss can fire you, for any reason or for no reason, whenever he or she feels like it,polo homme. This is known as . Similarly, unless there is a contract that states otherwise, you can quit any time you feel like it, for any reason or no reason. That’s the broad picture, although there are exceptions. Employment law varies from state to state, and in some places employees have more rights. There’s an excellent article on this subject .
The basic principle is that employers can act without restraint. But —,longchamps sac; and this is a big but — they have to accept the consequences of their actions. This can take several forms, but the one I have encountered is the need to pay to discharged workers. In Pennsylvania,outlet gucci, if I fire employees without cause or lay them off, I have to pay a large portion of their unemployment benefits out of my own pocket. The state pays the discharged worker, and then it charges me higher unemployment compensation taxes in the subsequent years until I have paid off most of that money. This is a significant cost — in 2009 my unemployment rate jumped from less than 2 percent of payroll to more than 10 percent. This is a powerful disincentive to discharge workers needlessly.
On the other hand, if I fire someone for cause,polo femme It’s the SEC’s job to protect those p, I am not required to contribute to their unemployment payments and the payments may be denied altogether. This is why I have an employee manual and why I take care to document the cause of discharge and the actual firing — it’s all evidence to be presented to the unemployment compensation referees in the event the employee files for unemployment insurance. Most discharged workers do file, because?they have little to lose by doing so. Their payments start almost immediately and the process of adjudicating my challenge can take months. I have gone through this process twice — and won both times because of the evidence I was able to present. That saved me many thousands of dollars that I used to keep the business running (to the benefit of the other employees).
There is no doubt that other companies,longchamps, particularly larger companies, fire people in ways that are inhuman, retaliatory and unfair. Those organizations then suffer the consequences of their actions — although many of them probably have figured out what those costs are and are perfectly happy to keep operating the way they do. In a small company like mine, however, where I know my employees well and rely on them to work at a high level, I would be crazy to act capriciously,longchamp. I have never fired someone without a darned good reason.
Now for some comments. The first one I have selected was written in response to my explanation that when firing someone I videotape the conversation and ask the employee to sign an acknowledgment. Four of the five people I have done this with admitted to breaking the rules; the fifth got up and left.
One reader responded: One of five made the smart decision upon discovering this set up. An employee should refuse to sign anything to this effect, or make any statement to this effect, so as to preserve all their legal rights and options (such as they are). This is a setup for the sole benefit of the employer; nothing the employee does (beyond walking out) will improve his/her situation. While you state they were all fired for reasons that would strike almost anyone as fair and reasonable, it is not clear that all employees so fired would share your view of events.
The guy who got up and left wasn’t as smart as you think — I called the meeting not to fire him but to try to get him to show up on time and do the work that was piling up in his department. The meeting was intended as a formal warning,ralph lauren pas cher, with documented reference to the relevant sections of the manual. If he had changed his work habits, he would still have his job. As it was, he tossed the manual at me,polo lacoste, got up and stalked out before I had finished the first sentence of my explanation. Then I fired him, for not being willing to sit through a disciplinary meeting.
The unemployment referee agreed that refusal to be managed was a firing offense, and his claim was denied. In the other cases, the employees were caught doing illegal activities (theft and drug use) with indisputable evidence,ralph lauren italia. But I fully documented the offense, the evidence, and the firing anyway. Only one of those guys claimed unemployment, and he lost his appeal. All of the things I did were for my own protection. They minimized my unemployment costs and prevented me from being sued. The guy who stalked out threatened me with a suit,ralph lauren pas cher, but I reminded him that I had filmed the exchange and nothing came of it.
Another reader asked about our list of offenses that can lead to firing: There are some boundaries,polo ralph lauren pas cher, but your item “Other reasons not listed here” is anything but clear,longchamp. Basically it is saying that you can make up any reason at any time. Sounds like you are trying to keep your options open without actually telling your employees what you are thinking.
I added the “Other reasons not listed here” on the advice of a labor lawyer who reviewed our employee manual. And it makes perfect sense; there is no way for me to anticipate every possible situation that might arise. I didn’t do it because I have some secret list of offenses that I won’t tell anyone about until they commit them. That would be insane. Instead, it’s there to make clear that the list of offenses is not all inclusive. Same with the language about the company’s ability to modify the manual at any time. It’s so that we can respond to unexpected circumstances.
From reading your post it wasn’t clear to me if you gave the employees that you ultimately fired warnings, either verbal or written, before you lowered the boom on them. Also, would you mind sharing how long you would take to build up a case against the employee before you let them go?
With those who were fired for cause, I did not give warnings because I do not tolerate theft. In the case involving falsified time sheets, it took several weeks to document what was happening,ralph lauren femme. Only when I had indisputable evidence did I act. In the case of the fifth guy,ralph lauren pas cher, as described above, I was trying to give a formal warning. This included a description of the problem along with the clearly outlined steps, in a written document, that I wanted the employee to take to rectify the situation. If the employee had accepted this information and changed his game, he would still be here. He was a highly skilled worker who had a lot of value, and I was not at all happy to lose him. But my workers have to be willing to have a civil conversation about problems.
For those of you who have issues with my employee manual, I offer two thoughts: First,ralph lauren pas cher Felda Raises ralph lauren pas cher Felda Raises $3.1 Billion in.1 Billion in,borse gucci, you should understand that I did not reprint the whole thing here. There are also long sections on what the employees can expect of the company, which, in a nutshell, is that it will act in a legal manner, pay them on time and provide a safe workplace. (It also describes our benefits program.) Second, whatever its faults, this manual is a lot better than nothing. Plenty of small businesses don’t have a manual,louis vuitton outlet * Sarkozy defends pledge to s, which leaves both employer and employees in precarious positions. When things go wrong, there’s nothing keeping them from getting worse. By taking the time to write a manual, I am demonstrating to my workers that I intend to take a rational approach to the boss/employee relationship. The real protection we both have, though,longchamp pas cher, isn’t the words on paper. It’s the mutual benefit we derive from treating each other well. Good employees help the company make money,ralph lauren, and when we are profitable,polo ralph lauren pas cher, I can be a lot more generous with my employees.
One last comment on my power to fire at will: If Mr. Downs’ company ran out of money in 2008,borse louis vuitton borse louis vuitton The Great, doesn’t that say something about HIS performance,polo lacoste pas cher? Why didn’,polo ralph lauren Do Small Businesses Create Jobs;t he fire himself then?
Yes, it does say something about my performance, and it also says something about the economy in 2008. My mistakes cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars. As for why I didn’t quit, well, if you don’t understand,ralph lauren pas cher, then I would suggest that you never try to start your own company.
In my next post, I will address the issues of training workers and layoffs. If you have anything more you want to say about firing for cause, please chime in.
Paul Downs founded in 1986. It is based outside of Philadelphia.
