In physician practices, most employees are "at will," meaning they can leave or be terminated at any time without cause. Offices bear a responsibility, however, to end such relationships in a professional and legal manner. If you're faced with the difficult task of letting a staff member go, consider the following advice from Physicians Practice to minimize the chance of a lawsuit or other repercussions:
Do
- Make sure your decision to terminate an employee is consistent with his or her performance feedback and your practice's treatment of similar performers.
- Have a third-party witness, such as a second manager or physician, present during the termination to witness what was and wasn't said by both parties during the conversation.
- Ensure that all keys, phones and laptops belonging to the office are turned over before the employee leaves, and that computer passwords are changed immediately.
Don't
- Do not put the employee being terminated on the defensive. As such, avoid listing details of the person's infractions, which could fuel an emotional employee's desire to seek legal recourse.
- Unless absolutely necessary for security reasons, do not have a terminated employee escorted out of the building. "I cannot tell you how many years of depositions I've heard from employees who said that being escorted off the premises, and being made to feel like a criminal, was one of the most damaging scars of the process," Ricki Roer, an attorney with Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker in White Plains, N.Y., told Physicians Practice. "What you will gain will be so minimal compared to what you may lose."
- Do not inform remaining employees of the staffing change via email or refuse to address their concerns. While you should not divulge details of the termination to other employees, you can provide reassurance that their jobs are secure.
To learn more:
- read the articles here and here