Any way to have an employee fired from a federal job without the firstline supervisor doing it?
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Anonymous
| It’s my understanding that a supervisor has to sign and deliver the removal memo. Is there any way that someone other then the supervisor can do it? I’m the supervisor in this case and while the individual is a poor performer, I don’t want to be the individual responsible. I’d rather provide all the documents and have someone else send the memo. |
Anonymous
| Isn't that kind of your job? |
Anonymous
| Don't you have to rate then put on a PIP then document? Or is it a conduct issue? Go to your HR folks and talk to them. |
Anonymous
| This is definitely your job. Are you concerned about your safety? If so I would speak with someone about how to plan to protect yourself and get backup. That is scary and you need real support. But you can't just not do it because it's unpleasant. |
Anonymous
Uh...why are you a supervisor then? In any case, whether you sign the memo or not, you're going to be a called as a witness in any action by the employee to contest the firing, since it was your observations of poor performance that will be at issue. |
Anonymous
| Your boss could direct you to do it, and likely has to approve it either way, but you sign the performance related paperwork. |
Anonymous
| No, it is not feasible to remove yourself from this action other than not following through with it (bad idea) or resigning, finding another job, etc. |
Anonymous
| Yes, if they do a felony. |
Anonymous
You really need to talk to your labor/employment folks to make sure you are doing the paperwork correctly. If this employee is serving a trial or probationary period, you can fire without cause but you need to document it right. If they are a tenured employee and you are firing for performance, you have to first document poor performance and then put them on a PIP. If you are firing for misconduct you have to give notice etc. You can't just sign a piece of paper and say "see ya." Go talk to labor counsel and figure out your options. (The good news for you, maybe, is that if you do a chapter 75 removal you won't be the deciding official, just the proposing official. In case that answers your question and makes you feel better ...) |
Anonymous
That's part of being a supervisor! If you don't want to do it then step down! |
Anonymous
| Oh man I’d make sure you are doing it correctly by the rules. |
Anonymous
| What if the performance spans over two supervisors? Can the previous one deliver the memo or does the current one have to? |
Anonymous
No, you are the one firing and it's YOUR job to do so. The whole thing sounds fishy if you ask me. |
Anonymous
It's a longer story than what appears on DCUM, obviously. Ultimately, this individual has been one that has worked under the first line supervisor for less than a year but ultimately it would be the first line supervisor who would be sued and/or retaliated against if they did indeed transmit the removal memo. Perhaps the first line supervisor doesn't want to assume all the risk of proposing the removal of the employee and is having second thoughts given all of the risk for someone whose performance was poor before being under this new supervisor. Perhaps also this wasn't fully explained to the new supervisor, so this individual feels slightly taken advantage of in this situation. |
Anonymous
OP sounds like a new manager to me who think it's (s)he job to fix the broken system. Op, you have to be the one firing but, at the same time, it is up to you to decide whether you want to go thru with this. It is your call. You can't fix the system. It is what it is. You just need to figure out a way to make the most out of it. |