When you hire a new person there is always paperwork; tax forms, insurance forms, employee manual with policies and procedures, introductions and much more. Make a list of all the forms you need. Make copies of the forms and put them with the list. Make a list of things that you commonly need to prepare ahead of time’ cell phone, keys, alarm codes. It may be helpful to script the initial meeting so that you cover everything and get all the paperwork right.
If you script a typical meeting you will get everything done faster with less anxiety and you and the new employee can more quickly get about the business you hired them to complete.
I liked to hand out a copy of the employee manual and have the new hire sigh a receipt.
You need a similar check list for the much less satisfying process of terminating an employee. The purpose here is not to detail the reasons for the termination but merely to get the paperwork right. Your termination list will likely including collecting company property such a keys, phones, credit cards and the like. You may also need to notify the employee being terminated that their health or other insurance is being terminated if applicable. Know your rights and theirs in advance. They may be covered by a law allowing them to stay on your health insurance for a time if they pay the bill.
You should also develop a policy that includes restricting access to computer or other sensitive files once the employee has been notified of their termination. I am a firm believer in immediate termination. If you wish to give the employee severance pay you can do so but giving them several weeks notice gives them time to do damage. I had one trusted employee who needed to be terminated because of a major slowdown do a great deal of damage and another take proprietary files with them.
All original Content (c) Thomas Robinson 2010
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