What Is The Role of HR During A Termination?

HR plays an integral role when it comes to terminating an employee. For many companies, termination is a last resort, and thankfully, this doesn’t tend to happen too often. But, when it does, it is absolutely necessary to have a member of the HR department present. 

After all, the HR department exists in order to provide a comfortable, professional, and empathetic environment for employees. It is therefore imperative that they’re present for such a momentous moment in an employee's job. 

But, what exactly do the HR department do during an employee's termination? What are their responsibilities in this particular situation? 

If you’ve found yourself wondering about these questions above, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we tell you everything you need to know about HR’s role during the termination of an employee. Simply keep reading below to find out more. 

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So What Exactly Does HR Do During A Termination? 

So, let’s just jump in to the titular question - what does HR do during the termination of an employee? Well, HR are essentially the driving force behind the termination, making sure that each employee is treated fairly throughout the process, as well as making sure that the appropriate guidelines are being followed. 

There are set guidelines that employers must follow when they terminate an employee, and without the HR department to guide them, they’re at risk of failing to take these steps. The result could be a call to court, if an employee thinks that their rights weren’t met. 

To avoid any improper handling of the process, HR will ensure that everything goes by the book. 

When somebody undertakes a career in HR, they will have had a significant amount of training when it comes to the laws surrounding the firing of an employee. This includes teachings in non discrimination. 

Because they know when an employee might have grounds for wrongful termination, they’ll be able to protect the company from any legal proceedings. 

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Does HR Conduct The Termination? 

In a sense, yes, because they will be able to advise their supervisor of whether or not their case for termination is appropriate or not. 

But, when it actually comes to terminating an employee, the HR member will not be the one to verbalize the termination itself. Either the manager, or a representative will be in charge of telling an employee that they’ve been terminated. HR will have guided them through the process beforehand, to make sure that all grounds are covered. 

After an employee has been terminated, the HR manager will then take over, and explain the legal reasons why the employee is being terminated. This means explaining in detail how they’ve violated the law, or simply the rules set forth by their contract. They’ve been well trained in this area, and will use very specific words when undertaking this step. 

HR are also trained in being polite and non confrontational in things of this nature, so no matter the cause of the termination, they will retain a calm and polite front. 

After they’ve explained their reasons in detail for serving an employee, they will then move on to technical matters of finance. They will need to tell the employee when their last paycheck will be given, as well as informing them about their health savings account. 

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Aiding In Prevention 

One of the most important parts that HR has to play is preventing termination in the first place. As we mentioned briefly above, termination should always be a last resort, as it’s quite an extreme action. 

HR naturally believes that prevention is the best step when it comes to good employer and employee relationships. HR will typically build up safeguarding policies, which help to protect employees from being terminated immediately. 

This means that it’s not as simple for employers to simply fire people on the spot. Instead, there will be several different stages, and subsequent warnings for employees along the way, which give them a chance to improve or rectify their mistakes. 

This way, employees will not simply be told that they are fired completely out of the blue, but instead, will have several warnings beforehand. 

In addition to this, HR should make sure to always conduct regular performance reviews. These help to give the employees direct feedback about their performance at work. This helps them to know whether or not they’re on the right track, or there’s something that they need to change. 

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Offering Coaching 

Another important role that HR plays when it comes to the termination of an employee, is offering coaching along the way to employers. Many employers will feel extremely nervous before terminating an employee, and may be completely unsure when it comes to vocalizing things. 

HR have been trained in these matters broadly, and can help to offer help and guidance to employers about how to conduct themselves. This might even include a script that the employer can read from. 

In addition, there are some cases when employees become hysterical at the news, which managers often don’t know how to deal with. Whereas HR, who have extensive training (and likely experience) in these matters, can help to de-escalate the situation at hand.

HR can also offer advice and guidance to the terminated employee after the fact, and answer any questions they may have about the proceedings. 

Final Thoughts 

To sum up, HR plays an integral role when it comes to terminating an employee. They’re responsible for being a neutral third party during the process, and also coaching the manager in the proceedings. 

Using our paystub generator software you are making sure that you are not neglecting such an important business process, while trying to improve other sides of the business.

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