Reference no: EM133031724

Topics: Summary: Classroom Application:

Questions: 

Employee Termination, Performance-Improvement Plans 

U.S. employers have shed millions of jobs through layoffs during the pandemic, but many employers are demonstrating restraint before firing workers for performance-related reasons. Employers may be hesitant to fire workers during the pandemic because they know it will thrust the workers into a fragile job market and may leave the individuals without health insurance during a global health crisis. The period of remote work is also making it difficult for managers to know the true root cause of employees' performance deficiencies. If the employee was a strong performer prior to the pandemic, the worker's performance might be suffering because of child-care challenges or because of burnout from days on end of working from home. Without a clear line of sight into the reasons for the employees' performance deficiencies, some employers may be less likely to put less-productive employees on performance-improvement plans. 

You can use this article to discuss the role of performance-improvement plans in managing workplace expectations.

• Why do some U.S. employers seem reluctant to fire workers during this period of remote work? 
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of being slow to fire underperforming employees? 
• What are performance-improvement plans and why do companies use them? 
• What best practices should companies use when creating performance-improvement plans? 
• What are the legal restrictions for firing workers in the United States?