(Undoubtedly, when the company already has policies and methods about dismissals, these supersede the list below.) How are misbehavior and separating connected? If you're suspicious of worker theft, make sure you have a punishment plan in place before you take action. Feel free to call the Personnel Manager at 555-1212 if there are any further questions. All of this will be viewed by a court if a litigation even gets that far. The legal procedure to separate an employee has to include the correct procedures. Behaviors like this only add to the boss's right to dismiss the worker. (You do need a witness for a termination meeting, but this is too much for a discipline meeting.) If the bad behavior continues, the employee forces you to the next discipline step, the written warning.

Defining Proper Use of Insubordination Forms. Give the date by which the jobholder must sign the separation document and inform the worker you encourage him to have a legal counselor review it. If you devote all your time to it, you probably can complete it in a day. Armed with your documentation and your worker separation later, you must then sit down with the worker and outline the rationale for the firing. A fair inquest means you get the jobholder's side of the story, talk to other eyewitnesses and gather physical evidence (if any) in a proper way. If the jobholder fails to increase as the result of progressive discipline, you will have built a sufficient case to fire the worker without risk of facing a suit.