Terminated Employee in Texas
levycompany
1 Post
I had an employee that was terminated for cause on Friday. We had done everything by the book - verbal warning, written warning, and the problem continued. Instead of waiting for the employee to come back to work, the superintendent went by the employee's house (long story short - the employee lived out of town, and called in sick again, but would not bring the company truck back to town), and terminated him. The biggest issue I have is that the superintendent forgot to document the termination - he didn't write up a term form, have a witness, etc. In essence I have nothing documenting the termination, the employee didn't have an opportunity to sign anything.
I told this to my company's owner, and he wants me to have the ex-employee sign a termination form when he comes in to pick up his last check this week.
Can this be done?
Thanks!
Comments
I am not that familiar with <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Texas law, but as a practical matter, I would have the employee sign the paperwork at the time he signs for his last paycheck. I had a similar situation, but in my case the employee just quit coming to work. After a few days I sent a registered letter to his home informing him of company policy regarding job abandonment and requested the return of our equipment. That was all the documentation I have to show his termination. He received his check my mail and surprisingly I received our equipment a few days latter. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
I would take this opportunity to remind the superintendent that documentation is very important in these situations for this very reason.
I would have the superintendent document the termination and final reasons for it anyway. There is nothing in Texas law that requires a signature on the documentation. Oftentimes when we terminate for "no call no show", we don't have access to the ex-ee for a signature. However you might send a formal termination letter to the employee if you want the documentation that it happened.
Plus it does sound like you have the other warnings/documentation to back up the termination.
Documentation can never hurt even after the fact.
I generally do not have employees sign anything when their employment is terminated. They have no interest in signing anything and I don't really have any way to compel a non-employee to sign anything. I would not engage in pretending it wasn't a termination to get a signature, either: the reputation damage would be tremendous. What I generaly do is have a witness co-sign a document with a brief explanation of the cause for termination and a description of the meeting in which the termination notification was given.
I am disturbed by the house visit and much more so by the fact that it was un-witnessed. That's a real no-no because it sets the supervisor (and the Company) up for serious problems. There are considerable insurance and legal exposures should the interaction go sour and there are just two opposing stories to try to make sense of what actually happened.