It happens all the time: an employee gives two week notice. You’re happy: the employee was a trouble-maker, or was not performing at an acceptable level, was absent too much, and you were struggling to figure out how you would handle the situation.
But there is another step that many employers will take in that situation which can lead to another set of problems. That “other step” is simply to terminate the employee immediately without any severance pay.
Watch out! That can lead to another set of problems.
- The government will no longer treat this as a “voluntary quit,” and instead it will be treated as an involuntary termination without cause. Result: the employee will have continued eligibility for UI.
- The employee may have a valid claim to be paid for the two weeks following your action in terminating the employee.
- Other employees who hear about this may later give you zero notice if they decide to resign themselves. That kind of action could be damaging to your business.
But allowing the employee to stay around for two weeks may also be unacceptable, depending on the particular employee’s position.
What can be done about this dilemma, where either of the two indicated actions is far less than 100% satisfactory?
Usually, the best course of action is to pay the employee for the full period of notice, but tell them that they are not to come into the office during that period of time except if scheduled for some essential action such as picking up their final paycheck.
While that may sound costly, it won’t in fact be costly at all if it avoids other problems that can in the long haul cost you considerably more.
The information presented is not intended to be, and does not constitute, “legal advice.” Because each situation varies, and only brief summary information is provided here, you should not use this information as a basis for action unless you have independently verified with your own counsel that it applies to your particular situation.
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