Employment Discrimination Lawyer

Tactics Employers May Use To Terminate Employees They Don’t Like

Although many employers probably seek to terminate acceptably-performing staff members they don’t like, proving this is usually impossible. Instead, employers are more likely to create a specific reason or offer none at all. 

Common Acceptable Reasons To Terminate an Employee

In most states, employment is at will, and your boss can terminate you without warning, as long as you are not a member of a protected class or a union. Although some employers look for grounds to terminate employees they don’t like, rational or mature employers will not engage in this practice. Instead, they will not allow their personal feelings to cloud their assessment of an employee’s performance and only consider termination for legitimate reasons, including:

• Poor work quality
• Insubordination
• Lateness
• Excessive absence
• Stealing
• Drug and alcohol use at work

How Some Employers Create Reasons When None Exist

Although employers do not owe employees reasons for their termination in states that uphold at-will employment, they may use various strategies to appease human resources managers that require a cause that eliminates legal liability. They may begin campaigns that set up employees to fail with the following tactics:

• Providing vague performance expectations: Employers and managers may give confusing answers to an employee’s questions about assignments and become angry when pressed for additional clarification. This tactic is an attempt to make the employee appear incompetent.
• Over-disciplining for perceived offenses: Write-ups or other exaggerated responses to behavior once considered acceptable is a way of thickening an employee’s HR file with evidence of questionable behavior.
• Withholding assistance: Some employers will intentionally refuse to assist an employee who comes to them for help, even when there is an expectation for them to do so. They document the employee’s inevitable failures as examples of poor performance.
• Doling out criticism publicly: Criticising an employee’s performance in front of colleagues ensures that there are witnesses who can back up the employee’s faults resulting in termination.
• Dramatic increases in workloads: An employer who starts dumping mountains of work on an employee’s desk while expecting completion within a limited period will point to the employee’s inability to complete assignments on time.  
• They limit resources: Most companies establish protocols for resource allocation to enable their staff to perform their jobs efficiently and correctly. When an employer starts restricting an employee’s access to supplies, equipment, or people, the quality of an employee’s work can suffer, leading to a valid reason for termination.

If you suspect that your employer is unfairly trying to terminate you, speak with an employment discrimination lawyer, such as one from Eric Siegel Law to discuss how you might prevent that from happening.