Fire an employee without 1 month notice... (how much, unemployment benefits, vacation)

[my_opinion]

I just heard that an employee was fired and left at same day in my husband's company. Is this generally legal? Most companies asked their employee to give a month notice before leaving, well some of them don't do the same when they need to fire people. Is it fair?

[sayulita]

Being fired and leaving the same day is standard procedure almost everywhere. In fact they usually escort you out of the building immediately after the firing. Depending on the company and the reason for firing, that employee may very well have received severance pay equaling 2 weeks or more. Nothing at all unusual about this. And whether it's fair or not is irrelevant.

[Dom1964]

A months notice for leaving a company is not common in my experience... two weeks was always considered the standard, but one week has become more common the last few years.

I couldnt imagine telling someone they are fired and then keeping them on for another month. Telling someone they are fired and walking them out the door that same day is the way it usually works. There are of course laws regarding firing someone and giving them a final paycheck. Laws vary by state, this link has info on Oregon labor law.

Technical Assistance for Employers Frequently Asked Questions/Fact Sheets

[jjpop]

Perfectly legal, and in some cases necessary if the fired employee might create a problem.

As an employee it's considered good form to provide 2 weeks notice when resigning, but certainly not mandatory. Providing 2 weeks notice makes it more likely to get a good recommendation from the employer.

Is it fair? Depends on the situation. If an employee stole something from my business and I could prove it, I'd fire 'em on the spot. If I was an employee and my employer did me wrong I might walk out without notice, but then I wouldn't expect to get a positive recommendation (and probably wouldn't care).

[Daisy32673]

Oregon is an at will state so you can be fined on the spot with zero notice.

[my_opinion]

Thanks guys, I learned something here. Have a nice evening!

[Bluesmama]

I have never heard of any "notice" to getting fired. Perhaps in some situations there could be a "shape up or else"-type of agreement. But to give someone notice that they'll be fired is almost absurd. A disgruntled employee can do much damage to a business when he knows he's on the way out. (This is why fired employees are escorted out immediately.)

[Minervah]

I have never seen a fired employee given notice. In fact when the last place I worked for fired someone they had to leave immediately and were escorted out by security guards. Their personal stuff was then packed up and mailed to their home. The only exception I can think of is possibly if the employee is a union member and something is in their contract stating the employer must give reason and/or notice.

There is no "law" that dictates how much notice an empolyee must give when giving quiting but traditionally it's expect of them to give two weeks notice. It looks better when they apply for a new job.

[aroseinrain]

When you fire someone, you do it with their final check in your hand including all vacation pay they may be owed. You, under no circumstances, leave them alone for a moment. Escort them out of the building (preferable out a back door if there may be customers at the front door).

In almost every instance they have been warned at least 3 times that if *whatever* doesn't improve then they will be fired. It's almost never a shock to them that this is happening. They'll usually be mad and want to make life hard for you or take something with them as "payback" for being fired, that's why you can't tell someone they'll be fired in a months time.

[HonuMan]

Originally Posted by Daisy32673

Oregon is an at will state so you can be fined on the spot with zero notice.

The flip side of that is that an employee can quit with zero notice, although it's considered bad form, and you wouldn't expect anyone to give you a good recommendation.

There is a difference between being fired and let go. Being fired generally means you did something wrong, and you're not eligible to collect unemployment benefits. Being let go or laid off generally means that there was no more work for you to do, or your position was eliminated, but that it wasn't your fault. I've never been fired, but I've been part of group layoffs several times. In every case but one, those of us who were laid off had to leave the premises immediately after collecting our belongings, but we got severence pay and were able to collect unemployment benefits.