Essay about Turnovers and Termination Procedures

Submitted By Gigi1983
Words: 2646
Pages: 11

Turnover and Termination Procedures Every employee's career comes to an end at one point or another. Relocation, other opportunities arising, death, downturn of the economy and many other factors are some situations that can happen to make an employee have to cease employment with a company. The following paper contains an overview of different types of terminations as well as some procedures to follow when handling this event.

Employee Turnover Although employee turnover is a common part of business operations, it is in the company's best interest to keep turnover at a low rate. There are many disadvantages to high company turnover, some of which include large costs to recruit and select new personnel as well as productivity loss due to having to spend time training these new employees and delegating duties to remaining employees while this task is accomplished. Companies that have large turnover rates may also spend money repairing their reputation within the community if massive layoffs occur. Some of the tools described within this segment can help reduce turnover and can ultimately strengthen the company and make them more productive (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart & Wright, 2011). A way to reduce the chances of employee turnover can begin with having strong hiring procedures in order to ensure the quality of the individuals hired to work at the business are a good fit for the company. Some employees choose to terminate their employment at the business they work at due to having disputes or misunderstandings with other employees within the company. Maintaining open lines of communication up and down the chain of command, along with having written grievance procedures are also good tools to help employees work through these disputes. Other employees can lose motivation after being on the job for a period of time without advancing or expanding their scope of duties and obligations. Providing continuous training can be a tool to help remediate this issue. In addition, performing periodic work satisfaction surveys can be a tool to help ensure the overall morale of the employees is healthy and productivity remains at a satisfactory level. Additionally, many employees seek other jobs in order to pursue better opportunities to take care of themselves in the future; therefore, offering a good benefits package including healthcare, disability, and retirement options will contribute to increasing employee retention (Bliss & Thornton, 2006).

Employment at Will There are many companies that hire workers without having a written contractual obligation to continue the employee – employer relationship. In these situations the employer can fire the employee even if they have not deviated from company policies as long as they are able to prove there weren't any discriminatory factors weighing in on their determination. Often times they are able to cease employment without giving the employee a reason for this decision and don't have to give the individual prior notification of the decision (Stiller & Visconti, 1994). Although most states operate under the employment at will doctrine, most states have also written certain exceptions to this policy. Under the public policy exception employers are deemed to have wrongfully terminated an employee if the termination goes against a well-established policy of the State. Another common exception occurs when the employee is fired even though there's an implied contract between the company and the individual. This contract doesn't need to be in written form, but can be implied through verbal expression, or by handing out an employee handbook or other assurances. The covenant of good faith and fair dealing is a less common exception to this doctrine and has been interpreted in many different ways, from stating that an employee can't be terminated with malicious intent, to stating that an employee can only be fired for cause (Muhl, 2001).

Discrimination It is