I’m about to fire an employee … but we just hired her husband by Alison Green on December 5, 2023 A reader writes: One of my staff is about to be fired for grossly inadequate performance. I’m confident that we’re on safe legal ground with the firing, and her performance issues have been documented and addressed with no improvement. However, the complication is that we have just hired her husband to work within the same […] Read the full article →
I was fired for what I think are trivial reasons by Alison Green on November 2, 2023 A reader writes: A while ago I lost a position after just a few weeks of working there. I got really good feedback on my interview, and even got great feedback during the first days for going above and beyond what was expected of new teammembers. After a while my grandboss asked me how I […] Read the full article →
why won’t my company fire my notoriously terrible manager? by Alison Green on August 28, 2023 A reader writes: I was part of a mass exodus from my former employer, and most of us left because we didn’t want to continue working with our director, “Ken.” I can spare you the details, but Ken is completely awful. I saw wonderful coworkers who were otherwise completely pleasant and professional be reduced to […] Read the full article →
is a performance improvement plan always going to end with the person being fired? by Alison Green on May 22, 2023 A reader writes: Can you talk about the right way to use performance improvement plans (PIPs)? I’ve heard other managers talk about them as if they’re just paperwork because by the time you’re using one, firing the person is mostly a foregone conclusion. I’m uncomfortable with that and it seems unfair to the employee. Shouldn’t […] Read the full article →
should we put off firing an employee for several months so he doesn’t violate probation? by Alison Green on May 4, 2023 A reader writes: I work at a small, fully remote start up, and I am HR — but wasn’t hired for that, and am learning HR as I go. I generally take care of day-to-day HR responsibilities but am not responsible for higher level personnel decisions. A manager high in the company, Tiffany, has been […] Read the full article →
why are employees blindsided when I fire them after warning them that I might? by Alison Green on March 7, 2023 A reader writes: I’ve twice now been put in the tough situation of needing to fire someone after they failed their PIP now, but I don’t know how to make it less surprising and traumatizing for the person on the other side. Both calls ended with me consoling them as they cry for an hour […] Read the full article →
why do so many managers do firings and layoffs at the end of the day? by Alison Green on July 7, 2022 A reader writes: Why do so many managers do firings and layoffs at the end of the day? I had a work friend who got let go. I don’t personally think they should have been, but I acknowledge I don’t have all the details. That said, the way they did it seemed crappy. My company […] Read the full article →
my coworkers were fired … am I next? by Alison Green on May 17, 2022 A reader writes: For the last three months, I’ve worked at a small company doing a job I love. But there’s been some weirdness lately that makes me worry about my job. Here’s what’s going on: multiple people have been fired in a three-month period. They were all “not good fits” for various reasons that […] Read the full article →
can you give an employee time to find a new job before they’re fired? by Alison Green on October 6, 2021 A reader writes: I am going to need to fire someone for low performance even though she’s trying hard. I have already laid out a performance plan and those goals have not been met. It is 100% clear that the employee does not have what it takes for the role. I would like to give […] Read the full article →
I was fired for taking initiative (and undermining my manager) by Alison Green on September 20, 2021 I’m on vacation today. This was originally published in 2016. A reader writes: Last summer, I decided to re-enter the workforce after five years of raising my kids. I applied to a bunch of jobs that I thought I could do, and got an interview at this one very small company (~20 employees). The people I interviewed with […] Read the full article →