If one worker acts in this manner, others will soon follow. Because the jobholder may try to come back with legalities or claims of unfair termination, you must collect enough substantiation on your termination case. The memorandum has to do several things, but most of all it must clearly define the infraction, and how the company plans to respond. He and his legal defender need to convince the jury you terminated him for a bad reason. If you're dealing with problem employees in your workplace, there are several things to consider before dealing with that employee. However, regardless of the outcome you must document the incident in your own workers files so you can reference if it reoccurs. Here you must give the worker chances to improve before separation. Dismissing a worker for alcohol abuse is tough, but not impossible.

You also need to prepare for the severance terms you're willing to offer and prepare the firing letter and separation agreement. In addition, it should provide you with tips and advice in case the jobholder files a grievance or a litigation against you for unlawful termination. For example, if the jobholder produced poor quality work, the manager should have documented worker counseling sessions or written warnings. Explain the reasons why you must fire him or her. As you may recall from Chapter 4, a high-risk separation is one where the worker will sue for illegal dismissal (if you fire him) and he'll win in a court trial. If counseling does not reveal a valid reason for bad performance or reveals a problem that can't be resolved, you should issue a documented warning and place in the employee's Human resources folder. Terminating a jobholder is a serious step and you must not undertake it lightly.