Terminating contract with employee is never an easy job for Human Resources Development, employer, or business owner. It is even harder if the reason behind termination is performance issues. Writing termination letter due to poor performance in professional and well-mannered tone might be the best way to tackle this matter.
How Do You Terminate an Employee Due to Poor Performance?
Before you’re sending the termination letter, it’s necessary to prepare all the relevant paperwork and documentation. It is the best practice to avoid unwanted issue.
When you have prepared them in advance, then it will be easier to explain during meeting why you need to let the employee go. You may present the outline of existing issue or warnings, such as customer complaints, error in task performance, and other needed data to support your decision.
How Do I Write a Termination Letter for Poor Performance?
Here are some tips to write employee termination notice due to bad performance:
- Draft the letter first thoroughly
- Presents only the cases that can be backed by proof and evidence
- Leave out suspicion-based allegations
- Use clear and honest wordings and language while still remains professional
- State the official termination date and explanation of final paycheck
Can I Be Sacked for Poor Performance without Warning?
In general, there is no strict rule that states the obligation to give a specific number of written warnings to employee before they are being terminated due to poor performance. For instance, there’s no regulation that says the employee must be given at least three written warnings. However, it’s still a common practice for employer to give chance to the employee to serve better performance.
How Do You Write a Reference to Terminate An Employee?
Here is what you should include inside the termination letter due to poor performance:
- The name, position, department, and ID number of the employee
- The name of person who’s managing the termination
- The compensation or benefits that eligible for the employee
- The signed legal agreements if any
Sample of Termination Letter for Poor Employee Performance
Read this example of dismissal letter for employee due to bad job performance:
Mr. Williams,
With deep regret we must notify you that the company has decided to terminate your employment in the event of your poor performance. The committee has dismissal rule for employees who perform poorly for at least seven months in consecutive and your name appeared.
During these seven months of assessment time, we have evaluated your performance which regrettably doesn’t show improvement. The data shows that the team you lead has failed to meet with two quarter target results. As the company strives for optimum accomplishment over our target, then we have no option, except to terminate your service.
We’d like to express our gratitude for your serving time here for the least three years. Thank you for your work and we wish you luck on your next chapter of endeavor.
Sincerely,
Melanie Roberts
If you’d like, it’s better to hand the termination letter due to poor performance to an attorney first so it can be reviewed. All in all, using letter as a form of notification of releasing employee from their duty is generally considered as the best method.
