How to Terminate an Employee Correctly: A Founder's Step-by-Step Guide

The way you handle a termination determines whether it stays a personnel decision or becomes a lawsuit. Here is the process to follow.

Terminations are the highest-risk people decisions a founder makes. A well-handled termination takes 20 minutes and leaves a paper trail that protects your company. A poorly handled one can cost tens of thousands of dollars to defend even when you were completely in the right.

Before you schedule the meeting

The termination meeting

Severance: when it makes sense and what it requires

The offboarding process