Sometimes these are written down and other times they are "just the way it's done." Whether written or unwritten, you should find out the business's policies for separations. Then you should clearly state these rules to all personnel. o A reference letter from you or from the employee's supervisor. This separation notice is an important legal document proving that you did not lay off the jobholder for illegal reasons. Use escalating discipline to inform the employee what is wrong and how to fix it. This is a method where you warn the jobholder about his poor performance and conduct, lay out clear expectations and give him time to increase. This letter doesn't supersede any favorable or unfavorable feedback you received while employed at ABC Company. Once the jobholder completes his testimony, you or your corroborators can testify again if you want to refute any testimony he has made. You communicated with the jobholder, explained behaviors that violated policy and outlined actions they needed to take to correct their behavior. Once again, this should state the productivity or behavior problem and how you expect the worker to fix it. Then the manager must resort to escalating discipline with the worker.

The worker is making you look bad to your employer, your customers and others. Often, problem employees realize that you are starting to build a case against them and they know that they will soon be on the chopping block if their productivity doesn't upgrade. This includes writing letters for workforce you laid off for cause and those who were jerks. When using an employee discipline form you not only tell the difficult worker that their behavior is unacceptable, but you also have written papers of the issues.