Keep a friendly tone and act like you're the sacked worker's advocate with the business. It is critical to workplace esprit de corps that you manage this problem suitably. A company has requirements and needs to fulfill. I hope you now see that dismissing a problem worker while not "fun" is the only recourse you have when you want to improve results and morale. It is a crucial part of the layoff method. Ask her how much time she desires. Any dismissal notification should obviously state the exact reason for dismissal. *Complete the notice by offering either references for future jobs, or just the hope they find a job situation that suits them. If you make this a compulsory transfer, the employee could quit, claim constructive discharge and still sue you for illegal dismissal. Also, it is important the worker was laid off for no fault of their own, so if the worker was fired on the account of a disciplinary reason it may keep them from receiving unemployment. Just stick with the documented facts, cover only job performance (not, off-duty conduct) and disclose anything negative which the potential employer "desires to know.".

But the sad truth is that not knowing how to layoff personnel suitably can hurt your career. If the behavior remains poor, then it's time for formal escalating discipline that will likely lead to the problem individual's lay off. I call this the indispensable worker syndrome. (We cover references in detail in Chapter 13.)