Ethical Issues with Termination

At- leave alone utilization means that the employee or employer has the right to end the employment kin at any era with or without notice or cause. (FedEx duty AllBusiness, 1999-2009) Involuntary termination is a touchy subject for employers and it bath happen for numerous reasons specific cause, such as stealing, poor finishance, and layoffs due(p) to lack of work. Even though most companies remove an at- bequeath relationship with their employees, it is sedate arguably illegal to terminate an employee for no reason.When it comes to termination, managers are faced with on-line(prenominal) moral and ethical issues. In a lot of companies, in extension to professional relationships, managers develop ain relationships with their employees. In most cases, employees spend a majority of their workweek (40+ hours) with their work family. Co-workers learn about each separates families, extra-curricular activities, and someoneal problems. Even if managers try to sepa count themselves from their employees on a personalised level, it is defective to ignore new rail pictures being displayed on their desks or void a discussion about a recent weekend vacation.When true problems arise in a come with which requires involuntary termination, the manager faces a dilemma. They must fire an employee because it is best for the company and ignore the thoughts of how it will adjoin their family and personal life. Often times, employees take the involuntary termination harder because they feel betrayed by someone they considered their friend. When an employee is terminated, in more cases than not, they feel blind-sided most of them never saw it coming.It is essential that employers set and follow standard documentation procedures that will provide a timeline of disciplinary action and performance reviews that will serve as proof of legitimate termination if necessary. A dissatisfied employee may question the validity of their termination and in some cases st rain legal counsel to help them determine if there was just cause. The watercourse social issues in the United States may advance it more challenging for a manager to terminate an employee while at the same time it is more than necessary.The financial state of the country iscausing barteres to struggle which results in less profits less profits mean that a companys productions will be lowered so they cannot afford and do not shoot the same number of employees. In this case, an employee may not pay attached any cause for termination but managers must choose which employee they are willing to lose. They may choose the last hired, the highest paid, or the employee that is least valucapable.Knowing that the rate of unemployment is at an all time high and the possibility of finding other employment may take longer than usual, the manager faces a tough a decision when theorizeing of how their decision will negatively each person they must terminate. Severance packages may be offer ed in swap for a full release of all claims that may be filed against the company for wrongful termination. Tough economical times may cause disgruntle employees to take whatever measures necessary to generate income for their family. I have been a victim of wrongful termination.In 2002,I started working as an assistant to the Office Managerof a small financial company. There were only twain other people above the Office Manager and that was a person in sales position and then the President of the company. I chop-chop caught on and was given more responsibilities as well as a pretty healthy make up in pay. Working in a small office allows for unconventional relationships between managers and employees we divided the same participations, shared a similar sense of humor which resulted in a body of work friendship between all of us.Lunch trips and shopping breaks turned into personal Christmas company invitations and summer beach house vacations. We were all very(prenominal) c lose and business was increasing so more employees were hired to work under me. My executive program and I became almost interchangeable. If she was not there, I took over and performed her duties, although she could not perform mine. I sensed animosity building and tension rising, but boilers suit I knew I was there as her assistant and was careful to never overstep my boundaries.Business slowed and our sales structure changed, so cuts were being made. The sales person was let go and I think she felt that one of us would be next even though she had been there longer I know she felt threatened that I could perform her job as well as mine. She started targeting me purposefully changing my changing after my school schedule had been approved, moving my desk unnecessarily, and creating an overall hostile work environment by addressing everyone in a room except for me.I knew what she was doing being a graphic symbol of the inside upper management, I had witnessed her do it to others b efore. Her strategy was to make employees quit in order to avoid the expense of paying unemployment wages. wiz week, she called me into an office to discuss my work performance and stated that she was giving me a warning. I knew that she was now trying to create a paper runway of disciplinary problems, even though nothing had changed in my performance.The following week she requested another meeting and said that she was writing me up for personal internet usage. Previously, it was acceptable for us to check our personal email, and she and I would collectively read news and gossip and exchange stories across the room. I refused to attribute the disciplinary notice because I had not been informed of any insurance policy changes, so that was then considered insubordination. I was asked to leave I immediately went to the part of Labor to file for unemployment due to wrongful termination.I explained to them that my termination was not legitimate. I waited for them to contact my em ployer and of course they provided a copy of the form that I refused to sign. The department of Labor declined my request for unemployment compensation, so I appealed their decision and wrote a very long letter explaining everything I knew about how my supervisor set up previous employees to keep them from receiving unemployment. I also requested a skirt interview in which both I and my supervisor would be devote with a Department of Labor representative.My supervisor declined the request I train because she knew she was wrong and did not want to be faced with questions regarding what I wrote. ix months later, I was contacted by the President of the company stating that they had tried to hire several(prenominal) people to take my place and he realized that he should have never allowed her to terminate me. He offered me a large salary increase and a promise that my employment status will never be in her hands. She still works with me, and we are friends again, but I have definit ely learned to keep office friendships to a minimum.Today we are able to laugh at the situation deep down I think she respects me for standing up for myself and she knows that I am a large(p) asset to the company. Termination is not something that anyone ever looks forward to, be it the employee or the employer. Unfortunately it has to be done, and employers must take steps to protect themselves from lawsuits and dissatisfy employees. Employees must learn that although there may be a relationship with their manager, the manager must first look out for the businesss best interest and it may ot always include them as an employee.References Butler, B. (2009). Right-to-Work and At-Will Employee. Todays work A Workplace Fairness Blog. Retrieved on December 7, 2009. Farr, . (2000,November). Terminations Require blow-by-blow Study, Planning. Small Business, (), 15. FedEx Office AllBusiness. (1999-2009). Decreasing the Legal Risks of Employee Termination.