Thursday, February 21, 2008

Procedures in Serving Termination and Severance Package

Dismissing an employee is often a difficult task for an employer. Nevertheless in serving an employee his walking papers certain procedures must be followed. In order to do this, an employer must first prepare a good severance package for a departing employee.
The article, “Writing a Termination Letter – If you Offer a Better Severance Package “, posted on February 15, outlines the procedures for writing a better termination letter and a severance package.
According to the article, the ideal package must contain the following information:
  • A notice of termination stating the reasons
  • The terms of settlement in the severance package
  • The benefits offered by the company
In serving a severance package to an employee, certain procedures must be followed. This includes:
  1. The employer should inform the employee on his termination
  1. The employer must cite the reasons for his termination
  1. The employee must explain the benefits of the severance package
  1. The dismissed employee must be given a chance to explain his side of the issue
  1. The employee has a right to see and meet with his lawyer
  1. The severance agreement must be signed by the employee
In most cases, a severance package is offered in exchange for a release and it is considered a company option. If a worker quits his job voluntarily or dismissed with cause, he is not entitled to any severance package from the company. It must be remembered that employment severance packages are a company’s prerogative and is being offered as a gesture of goodwill to a former worker.
However, in some cases, legal disputes arise when a dismissed employee files an illegal layoff lawsuit. This happens when a company lacks the preparation to deal with the issue.
To properly address this problem, a company must anticipate this and hire the services of a lawyer who can draft a termination notice and a severance package even before the need arises. In terminating an employee, one should make sure that a worker has signed a termination form to set the records clear.