Firing an employee for a position has been disolved.

nvpusa · October 2003

We have an employee that as a result of his current school schedule, he is no longer able to work on a project we need him for. We have tried offering him other projects that we find more suitable for his school schedule; however, he has declined the offers for he believes it will still conflict with his school schedule.

I want to make sure that I have grounds to release this individual. Do I? And if I do, can somebody, please, explain the process of termination for this particular situation?

Thank you.

mbeam · October 2003

It would be for performance. The individual is no longer able to perform to the expectations needed for the project.

lnelson · October 2003

If you have offered other positions to accomodate his school schedule and have documentation of the offer and his refusal you should be able to terminate his position with no further repercussions. It seems he is unwilling to bend in order to keep his job.

Follow normal termination procedures with documentation I would also offer the employee the option of resigning rather than being fired. He is being terminated for not being able to maintain projects due to his school schedule not for work performance.

marc · October 2003

It sounds like a self-termination to me. If an ee could no longer meet the ers needs, there should be little reason to discuss further. You have already reached out with other opportunities which the ee has refused. Reaching out makes sense because it is economically beneficial to you - some of the new-hire expense is avoided, however, you have gone further than you needed to.

Don D · October 2003

It's an 'availability' issue. The employee's performance is not the issue. He is unavailable for the work assignment; therefore, his termination is based on his documented statements to you that he can no longer continue in the position you have. If he is part time and going to school you probably will not have an unemployment insurance issue. If he is full time and is going to school and you have decided to assign him to a project which changes his work hours, he may well draw unemployment insurance. Depends on your state's laws. I don't see there being a labor law issue.

mwild31 · October 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-01-03 AT 06:28PM (CST)[/font][p]>
>I want to make sure that I have grounds to release this individual.
>Do I? And if I do, can somebody, please, explain the process of
>termination for this particular situation?
>
>Thank you.

The process of termination is fairly simple. Meet with the employee and state they are not meeting the standards set for performance/availability and the company can not/will not adjust his schedule any further than has already been offered.

By the by, this seems like a fairly straight forward situation which can easily be addressed without forum advice - are there any other circumstances surrounding this issue that we should be aware of, namely an employment contract or that the employee is represented by a union & there might be some sticky points or is the employee covered by FMLA or ADA accomodations? If not, no worries and welcome to the world of HR x:-)

E Wart · October 2003

I couldn't tell from your question if you changed the employees hours or if he wanted the change due to change in school hours?
If you changed his hours and he isn't able to accept this change, I would say it was a termination. If he needs his hours changed because of school, I would say it is a self-termination or resignation. (He is no longer available to perform the work that you have for him.)
Either way, I don't see any reason why you can go forward, unless you are not an at will state or unless there are hidden issues that you haven't shared.(such as allowing this for one employee and not another, or ADA.)
E Wart

System · October 2003

I gotta rant on this one.
When we interview applicants one of the most important questions we ask concerns their availability. That is one of the basis for hiring in our co.
Then two weeks after they are hired some ee's start claiming that "uh, I can't work saturdays now because thats when my band is going to practice from now on" or similar nonsense. I realise school is not nonsense but nonetheless ee's are hired to help make the company function profitably. That is it. If their schedule does not allow this to occurr then we must find someone with a schedule that does. Therefore the ee who's schedule no longer suits the company's needs must look elsewhere for employment.

Crout · October 2003

When you say "projects" do you mean that this person is a contractor of sorts, or is he/she a FT/PT employee?

Firing an employee for a position has been disolved.

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