Termination of employment
Termination may be voluntary on the employee's part (resignation), or it may be at the hands of the employer, often in the form of dismissal (firing) or a layoff.
Firing carries a stigma in many cultures and may hinder the jobseeker's chances of finding new employment, particularly if they have been terminated from a previous job.
A layoff is usually not strictly related to personal performance but instead due to economic cycles or the company's need to restructure itself, the firm itself going out of business, or a change in the function of the employer (for example, a certain type of product or service is no longer offered by the company, and therefore jobs related to that product or service are no longer needed).
In an economy based on at-will employment, such as that of the United States, a large proportion of workers may be laid off at some time in their life, and often for reasons unrelated to performance or ethics.
In some cases, a laid-off employee may eventually be offered their old position again by their respective company, though by this time, they may have found a new job.
Such plans have been carried out by the United States Federal Government under President Bill Clinton during the 1990s,[6] and by the Ford Motor Company in 2005.
Key policy issues associated with terminating employees for economic-related reasons across 190 countries from WorldBank Doing Business Data [8] in the 2013-2017 period.
166 [11] emphasizes employers’ obligation to retrain or reassign their workforce before terminating a redundant worker, and this provision is specified in labor law of many high income countries like Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden; in case law of Netherlands; under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Australia); not obligation but employers in the United Kingdom does have to consider suitable alternative employment; in many developing countries and emerging market economies (ex.
166,[11] employers who select employees being terminated must comply with the criteria and order of priority specifically established in national laws or collective agreements.
[10] in Botswana, Gambia, Kenya, Malta, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, and Sierra Leone, employees with less seniority will be terminated first.
166,[11] an employee should be provided some days off to seek a new job during their notice period but still benefit from paid leave of absence.
[10] Unfair termination of employment refers to the dismissal of an employee without a valid legal reason, usually not applicable in cases of redundancy, incompetence, or misconduct.
[13] Each country has its legal framework and regulations concerning employment relationships, which may include provisions about dismissal and termination.
"[15] These international standards provide overarching principles and recommendations for labor rights and practices but do not constitute binding laws for individual countries.
[15] In Tanzania, around 700 ex-mineworkers from the Bulyanhulu underground gold mining site won an unfair dismissal case in July 2010.
Pink slip refers to the American practice, by a human resources department, of including a discharge notice in an employee's pay envelope to notify the worker of their involuntary termination of employment or layoff.
According to an article in The New York Times, the editors of the Random House Dictionary have dated the term to at least as early as 1910.
In some cases, when an employee departs on good terms, such as pursuing a specific career goal, going to graduate school or pregnancy, they might be given special priority by the employer when seeking to rehire.
[30] Reemployment could be a good option because boomerangs tend to have longer tenure and lower absenteeism rates than other recruitment sources.
[31] Breaugh (2008) added that rehiring former employees, categorized as "targeted recruitment", usually produces candidates with a higher likelihood of receiving and accepting job offers, better job performance, and longer organizational retention compared to candidates from "untargeted recruitment".
[33] A notable example of a successful "rehire following termination" is Steve Jobs, a co-founded Apple Computers Inc.
He initially left the company after being removed as CEO, spending eleven years building successful ventures outside of Apple.
His comeback is considered one of the top ten most successful corporate turnarounds, leading to the introduction of innovative products and profitability.
[37] 4.4 Any deductions or forfeiture related to financial loss or damage that employer had to suffer due to employee’s failure to fulfill their duty.
Deductions or forfeiture from employee’s final pay require written consent or a specific clause in the employment agreement.
[37] [39] The primary purpose of severance pay is to provide financial support to employees during the transition period following their termination.
In this case, severance pay is understood as an exchange for the employee giving up the right to take legal actions against the employer.
It is provided to family or beneficiaries of employee who passed away while employed to help them overcome the difficult time of losing the breadwinner.
