Firing an Employee Without Warning Can Affect Unemployment Insurance
Firing an Employee Without Warning Can Affect Unemployment Insurance
Firing An Employee
Firing an employee is one of the most difficult tasks for employers. Even if you’ve already been through it before, there are so many steps to remember – especially when you also have to consider how unemployment insurance (UI) can be impacted.
The reason why it’s important to issue a warning before firing an employee is so your business will not face problems during the unemployment insurance hearing. Firing someone without a formal warning can affect your company’s success with an unemployment claim.
When employees are hired, they must be treated according to the guidelines described in the employee manual. Issues with employees or their performance should be handled by management through well-documented disciplinary actions.
Firing should not be an impulsive act. It should be progressive – starting with a written warning (with or without a probationary period), then with a suspension and ending with termination. It’s important that the written warnings demonstrate that the employee either broke the company’s rules or that the employee’s behavior was inappropriate (misconduct) or illegal. We’d like to note that it is not required that you issue a warning before firing an employee, but it simply strengthens your case should an unemployment appeal arise.
Of course there are certain egregious cases where a warning may not be necessary, such as theft or violence in the workplace.
The way you fire someone could affect how smoothly the Unemployment Insurance process goes. It is possible that the employee could be granted unemployment benefits if a prior warning was not issued in most cases. The many levels of unemployment insurance can take time to manage, and businesses often lose claims because they lack the manpower to keep up with the paperwork and hearings.
Because the UI process is so complex, it’s wise to hire specialists who can help you make important decisions and help monitor or contest claims if necessary. Industrial U.I. also offers a management training program at no additional cost to teach employers how the UI process works.
