Letting Go Legally: A Quick Guide to Smooth Employee Exits

The maximum amount an employee can be awarded for an unfair sacking is going up by over £10k to a whopping £115,000. That’s after all the legal fees you’ll have to cough up to defend yourself in court. Ouch. Let’s make sure you’re clued up on what to do to avoid getting it wrong. 

The fact is, not everyone is suited to every job, and you will find yourself letting people go. It’s not the decision to say goodbye that will see you in court but the process you follow and how everyone’s treated. 

So what can you do to enable an amicable end?

Whether you’re saying goodbye during probation or after 15 years, there’s a process to follow. 

We’ve simplified the steps you’ll need to follow next. This stuff can be confusing and intimidating, so we can walk you through it if you’d like, pop us a message here. 

Right, do this: 

Tell them the things they’re doing (or not doing) that don’t meet your expectations. Write it down and let them know what might happen if things don’t get better. 

Give them time to turn it around, with your support and a fair deadline. Write it down. 

Review progress together during this time. Write it down. 

Once the deadline comes round, hopefully you’ve resolved the issues and don’t need to do anything else, but sometimes that isn’t the case. 

If it didn’t work that’s ok, you both gave it a go. 

Now you need to be really honest with them, say what you mean but avoid anything that feels personal or unkind. Talk them through what their exit from your team will look like, what notice they’re entitled to, their last pay, annual leave etc. You can also talk about references and what you’ll tell everyone else. 

We know we’ve made it sound easy, that’s because the process is easy. What’s not easy is looking someone in the eye and telling them they’ve lost their job, it’s hard. If you’d like some support in that conversation you can lean on us and our discreet services packages. 

Different rules apply in the case of redundancy or dismissal for misconduct, we’ll be writing about these scenarios soon.