7 Key Steps Hr Must Take Before Terminating An Employee In 2025

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Oct 29, 2025, 7:28 AM

7 key steps hr must take before terminating an employee in 2025

Highlights Business owners face a delicate balance: seeking ways of attracting and retaining top talent while staying on a budget. Highlights Keeping up with the winding regulations of employee benefits compliance can be challenging for business owners. From missed deadlines Highlights A chemical spill in the lab causes a worker to experience dizziness and nausea. The area is immediately evacuated, Terminating an employee is never an easy decision, but it is sometimes necessary to maintain workplace efficiency, uphold company values, and ensure legal compliance.

A well-structured termination process minimizes risks, preserves morale, and maintains professionalism. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to handling employee termination in a fair and legally compliant manner. Understanding the valid reasons for employee termination is crucial to ensuring fairness and legal protection. Employers should document performance issues, policy violations, and other infractions to justify their decisions and mitigate potential legal disputes. HR's role in termination is to ensure that dismissal is handled fairly, legally, and ethically. They will also often prepare managers for the termination meeting and support the departing employee.

HR consultant responsibilities: Evaluate the reasons for layoff to ensure that they are consistent with employment program or bargaining contract requirements. Assist department with planning and managing complex layoffs. Determine rehire list and/or bumping options for classified non-union and contract covered staff. Under California law, employers must provide notice to employees before termination. For employees who have been employed for less than one year, the notice period is at least 90 days. For employees who have been employed for more than one year, the notice period is at least 60 days.

Under at-will employment, HR can terminate employees without needing proof or a reason. This means they may end employment at any time. This may vary depending on a specific company and its organizational structure and culture, but generally the following parties should be present when an employee is terminated: The employee's direct supervisor or manager. A third-party witness (for example, the manager's manager or a human resources (HR) professional) Employee terminations are an often icky (but let's face it: inevitable) part of the HR role. Whether due to performance issues, restructuring, or other reasons, these decisions are challenging for both the departing employee and the HR professional managing the process.

When it comes to navigating these delicate conversations, it's critical to prioritize respect and privacy to uphold the dignity of the departing employee, while also safeguarding your company's reputation. In this guide, we'll explore how to pressure test the decision to terminate an employee, and provide a step-by-step checklist you can refer back to any time you need it. When exploring whether or not you should part ways with an employee, both you and the employee's manager/supervisor must work together to ensure fairness and the best interests of all parties involved. So if you're thinking about terminating an employee but haven't made the decision just yet, consider the following: Employee termination is a challenging (and sometimes exhausting) aspect of HR that requires careful planning, communication, and empathy. While termination can be a necessary step in addressing certain issues, it's important to conduct the process with respect, fairness, and professionalism.

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Terminating an employee is never easy. It’s a sensitive process that employers must handle with empathy and adhering to strict legal guidelines. One misstep can have negative legal ramifications, damage your company’s reputation, and create a hostile work environment. This blog post aims to demystify the termination process, providing you with essential “do’s” and “don’ts” to ensure you stay compliant and minimize potential risks. There are two types of employee terminations: Voluntary terminations are by far the easiest to deal with.

Employees initiate the process and resign. Simple as that. These types of terminations can be invaluable, as exit interviews allow the company representatives to have a candid conversation and gather information to improve the organization. Involuntary terminations, on the other hand, are more delicate and must be handled discreetly for two reasons:

7 Key Steps Hr Must Take Before Terminating An Employee In 2025

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