How Difficult Is It to Fire an Employee from a Corporation or LLC?

If you are a small business owner, even if you are operating the company as an LLC or another corporation type, you realise the importance of hiring quality employees who will increase business profits. If you have a problem employee who just doesn’t fit in with your business model, how difficult is it to let him or her go? Here are three things you need to know.

California Is an At Will State

In California, employees are hired at will. In other words, their job can also be terminated at will for any reason as long as it is considered fair and honest. So firing an employee is actually fairly straightforward. It all comes down to having a valid reason.

What Is Considered Fair and Honest Cause for Termination?

If your employee is often late to work, performs in a subpar manner, steals, misses work days without valid cause, or any other number of reasons, termination is no problem. There are a few situations where firing an employee is not considered fair. Here are a few examples:

  • Sexism – You can’t let a male employee show up late to work 3 times a week and fire a female employee for being late just as often. That shows favouritism to the male employee.
  • Ageism – The same would hold true if a younger employee and older employee both had the same flaw, but you only fired the older one.
  • Whistleblowers – You can’t fire someone for reporting a safety or health violation or for reporting a fellow worker for harassment.

Do You Need to Provide any Forms for Employees You Fire?

There are a few state and federal requirements when it comes to termination employees. For example, you may be required to provide an unemployment benefits pamphlet to the discharged individual. These requirements are listed on the Society for Human Resource Management website.

At Pokala Law APC, we are happy to provide small business owners with legal advice that can help you to avoid issues with business formation, intellectual property, and other subjects that may arise. To learn more, call 1-844-695-1487.

 

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