Breaking up is hard to do, especially when you’re a business owner with a difficult or underperforming employee. Making the decision to fire an employee is tough but unfortunately, it’s sometimes necessary. We’ve assembled some best practices to help you handle this uncomfortable situation as smoothly as possible.

Have You Done Your Homework?

Occasionally a situation will arise that requires termination on the spot: threats of violence and theft of company property are two examples. But in most situations, the decision to terminate an employee evolves over time.

You’ll save yourself a lot of aggravation if you already have two policies in place. First is a set of work rules that govern all employees. You don’t have to write a lengthy employee handbook; create a simple list of rules and distribute it to employees when they are hired. You might include arrival time for shifts, avoiding personal calls or distractions while working, general dress code, observing health and safety protocols, or other rules that make sense for your individual business.

Second, every employer, whether small or large, should establish a regular process for employee evaluations. Use these meetings to provide feedback about performance, note achievements and progress, discuss future goals, and mark areas for improvement. In addition to these formal evaluations, good managers also have informal check-ins with their employees to monitor performance and to help with difficulties. You can also solicit feedback from others who work with the employee to make sure you’re getting an accurate overall picture.

Scheduling regular performance reviews is a huge help when an employee’s performance starts to falter. You’re more likely to learn about a problem early on, before it snowballs into a much larger issue.

It also means you have a ready-made mechanism for discussing work performance with every employee so no one feels singled out.

Once you become aware of a performance issue, document it in the employee’s confidential file, then implement a plan to improve performance. Lay out your expectations for the job, give examples of how expectations aren’t being met, and then set specific target goals for the employee. For example, if an employee is chronically late, you can clarify when you expect them to arrive for their shift, create a chart for marking down each workday’s arrival, and track improvements over time. Give the employee plenty of time to progress in response to the feedback. If their performance does not improve, follow up with them directly. Some employers use a warning system (say, three warnings before termination) to monitor progress.

Create A Paper Trail

While you don’t have to generate gobs of paperwork, you should be documenting performance reviews in writing. You can find templates online or make your own document. Include the date, name of the employee and the reviewer; the period being reviewed; and an easy-to-understand rating system (perhaps a scale that runs from 1 (Poor) to 5 (Outstanding)). You can make it as simple as a checklist, providing a rating for each item on the list, or use a narrative form with a few headings and space for you to jot down a few sentences. It’s a good idea to have the employee sign and date the review to indicate that they received it; that way they can’t later claim they were unaware that any problems existed.

If you need to create an improvement plan for an employee, you’ll also want to put that in writing and get it signed by the employee. If you must give the employee a warning or some kind of reprimand about a specific incident, put that in writing as well. Use your instincts: if a situation feels tricky, have a manager or third party present as a witness during these meetings.

Make A Plan

If you’ve determined that you must terminate an employee for the good of your business, plan before you act. Lay out the chronology of performance issues or incidents for yourself as well as your written reviews and other communications to the employee about the problem. Having this written record can help reduce the likelihood that the employee will claim that the termination is pretextual. It can be helpful to run your decision by a trusted third party for their feedback (of course, if your business is big enough to have an HR person or department, you should work closely with them from the first sign of a problem.)

Next, schedule a face-to-face meeting with the employee to break the news. (Firing someone via text, phone or email is not a good idea.) Consider when the best time for such a meeting may be: the beginning of the week so that the employee can immediately start their job search? on Friday to avoid disruption to other employees? Probably best to avoid any significant dates that you are aware of – firing someone on their birthday, for example, seems gratuitously cruel.

Make a list of pragmatic tasks that will need to be addressed, as this is going to be a difficult and probably emotional situation. Do you need the employee to return a laptop or phone, keys, an ID card? Are you willing to give the employee a reference? Clarify next steps regarding pay, unused vacation time, benefits (including COBRA if applicable), and email access. And you’ll want to review any projects that the employee is working on. What deadlines are coming up? What projects or tasks haven’t been completed? Who will take over their duties and is any information required for the transition? Do specific shifts need to be filled?

Face To Face

Because this has the potential to be an unpleasant and difficult conversation, get right to the point rather than fiddling around with small talk. “Janice, I have some bad news for you” is a forthright way to start.

Explain the reason(s) for the termination in clear terms in a few sentences. Mention the previous warnings or discussions about the issue. Clearly tell the person “Your employment has been terminated,” past tense – not future tense. You don’t want to give the employee false hope that this isn’t a final decision.

Some other reminders:

• Try to maintain a professional demeanor and composure, even if it’s emotionally difficult for you.
• Avoid cliches such as “It’s all for the best” or “I understand how hard this is.” This is a big deal to the other person and likely represents major upheaval in their life.
• Listen to what the former employee has to say. They may cycle through anger, denial, sadness, bargaining because this is a loss to them.
• Arrange for the employee to pack up their personal items or have items sent to them.

Once you’ve terminated the employee, they’ll need to leave the workspace. Depending on the circumstances, they may wish to say goodbye to other staff members; use your judgment as to whether this is appropriate. Don’t forget to change passwords and deactivate the former employee’s access to any databases or other company information.

You’ll need to tell other team members as soon as possible about the employee’s departure. Again, face-to-face is best. Expect that remaining employees may find this stressful. While it’s best not to discuss the specific reasons for the firing, be prepared for work-related questions: will you be hiring a replacement and if so, when? Who will cover the former employee’s duties or shifts? Lay out any improvements to the workflow or processes that you’re implementing to avoid a repeat situation.

Firing someone is awkward and unpleasant, even when it’s necessary for your business. By implementing regular performance reviews, giving employees a chance to improve performance, and documenting the process, you’ll make the task at least a little easier.