Change of Status Letter
gccorp1
1 Post
My company has a letter that we write out for an employee we are terminating. I am unsure if it is legal to have the employee's SSN on the letter, yet this letter is being given directly to the employee by us. The generic form of the change of status letter goes as followed:
The letter states that this employee with SNN has had a change of status within our company. The employee is being discharged of their duty. The employee's last day was on this date. Questions regarding unemployment should be directed to your local EDD office.
Also, we are considering adding an additional line stating " The reason for termination is (either for discharge or employment-at-will)."
Is there any legal limitations and restrictions that should be considered with this letter?
I appreciate any feedback.
Comments
What is the purpose of this letter? Do you do this for employees that voluntarily leave? Sorry to say tis but I see this whole letter as a bad idea. The first thing that comes to mind is what if the wrong information is put on the letter (i.e. - the reason you terminated the person) and then the person sues you. This letter can and will be used against you in court. I just don't see a need for a letter like this. If the person goes to get another job they can give the company name and phone number to verify that he/she was previously employed.
If you need the information for the file then you could have this letter printed and placed in the personnel file for future reference, not give it to the employee. If you are terminating the employee then hopefully you have some sort of other documentation in the file as to why the employee was terminated.
Depends on what state you are in. Some states have tighter restrictions on the usage of employee's SSN, whether you can use all, part or any.
As far as the reason for termination, again it depends on state law. There are a few that do require a service letter with termination reason. If you are not required by law, I would restrict that information to the termination being voluntary or involuntary.
I generally avoid putting anything in writing and releasing it into the hands of an employee or former employee unless compelled to do so by law or unless it clearly promotes the Company's interest.
If you are compelled by law, there are probably good samples laying around for you to look at or an attorney would be able to pull one out of his back pocket for you. I would bet that they generally say as little as possible.
If you are not compelled by law, then why do you do this?