Legally firing dental employees

How to be fair, legal, and ethical when dismissing an employee

Dianne Glasscoe Watterson, MBA, RDH

 

If you are a practice owner and employ auxiliary staff members, it is likely that you will need to terminate someone’s employment at some point. You should make sure you don’t run afoul of certain employment laws, and the termination conference should be conducted in a way that protects the dignity of the employee.

Termination considerations

Terminating someone’s employment is often a difficult decision that can bring on considerable angst for a practice owner. Employers often know within a month or less after hiring someone that the person is not right for the job. But the employer may take months or even years to do anything about the situation. However, if you believe that smooth business functioning is directly related to the quality of the staff as a group, the decision to remove a staff member that has become a negative force is not so difficult.

Here are some termination basics:

• Never, ever terminate a staff member when you’re angry. Wait until you cool off.
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• Write down your thoughts beforehand as a guide to what you want to say.
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• Do not engage in long explanations, but give a reason for the dismissal. When an employee is dismissed without an explanation, an unjust termination lawsuit is more likely.
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