It's best for your Hr department to keep the papers because the firing supervisor may leave the firm, and the records may become lost. Layoffs are a dirty firm, but necessary for a firm to survive and compete successfully. First, the worker is likely to sue and you have suitably documented a legitimate reason. If you're writing a dismissal notification for a downsizing or layoff, you will use a different tone. Besides lowering your legal risk, the fired employee's viewpoint will be the most honest you'll hear. By leaving the fired employee their dignity, a business can succeed in doing away with the poor jobholder and keeping the company esprit de corps intact. Also, fighting the claim can cause a group spirit problem back in your organization. In other words, start recording what you tell the employee. If the theft was minor, like a worker taking home supplies, you may just want to issue a written warning. In this case, you should treat this as a high-risk separation to cut your costs (more about this in Chapter 4). Because you'll likely offer more than your guideline package, you must ask everyone, low and medium risk, to sign a separation document with a release of claims.

For a resignation, the meeting generally occurs in the building and on the jobholder's last day. By engaging in escalating discipline, you may even actually reform the worker. He thinks the CFO has directed him to make an wrongful accounting adjustment according to rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. And, if the employee had a firm car, inform her you'll pay her back for cab fare.