Writing a termination letter can be a challenging undertaking. It’s never easy to let someone go, even if it’s for performance or HR reasons. It’s perhaps one of the most delicate situations of your job, since a former employee’s level of disgruntlement is often based on the termination process.If your company’s executives have been unhappy with this individual’s performance, or if he or she has caused interpersonal issues in the office, it can be difficult to express those reasons without offending the employee. You may even choose not to list reasons at all, which is a perfectly acceptable and legal choice.Skip the headache of crafting this document on your own and use our termination letter without cause templates. We’ll show you the most effective and professional way to convey this message. Take a look at our template below.
Termination Letter Without Cause Template
This is a letter written by Jim Malone. Jim has met with Daryl Mosby and informed him that the company is terminating his employment. For the purposes of this template, a reason for termination is not included. Jim has written this letter as a follow up from their termination meeting. Jim does a great job of summarizing that meeting and providing next steps for Daryl.
Dear Daryl Mosby,
This letter confirms our discussion today regarding the termination of your employment with AquaTech Solutions, effective immediately.
Since your employment with AquaTech Solutions has lasted less than a full year, you will receive a severance package including pay for the final days of your employment during this pay period, as well as any time accrued. Once you have signed the enclosed release of claims document, we will provide that package to you. You can have it sent to your home or you may pick it up in our office based on your preference.
You will later receive a separate letter detailing the benefits available to you upon termination. This will include eligibility information for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) extension of your current group health insurance coverage.
During our meeting, you turned in your office key, company USB drive, security card, and company-owned cell phone. We expect that you will promptly return any other company property in your possession.
We have your current address and phone number. If either of those should change, you should notify the company so that we can send you the proper W-2 documentation at the beginning of the next calendar year. Please let us know if you have any questions or if there’s anything we can do to assist you during this transition period.
Best regards,
Jim Malone
How to Write a Termination Letter Without Cause
The purpose of this letter is to provide a recently terminated former employee with a clear path forward. It should provide him or her with guidelines as to what the company expects, what he or she can expect to receive from the company as severance, and eligibility, if any, for continued benefits.
First, don’t try to let a terminated employee down easy. You’ve likely already conducted a termination meeting in which they learned of the termination and any reasons you chose to include. Get straight to the point so that you can get to the next phase of the letter.
Next, it’s important to officially state the termination of the employee’s employment with your company, and list the company’s full name. This may seem arbitrary, but it is the professional approach and can prevent problems down the road should the ex-employee attempt legal action.
After that, it’s time to address severance. There is no law obligating a company to provide any kind of severance package, so it’s entirely up to your company’s goodwill. Should your company choose to do so, make sure to list the details of that package, including the amount paid—or at least a given time period’s worth of pay—and any extensions of benefits or accrued PTO.
It is worth noting that the Fair Labor Standards Act requires that you give the terminated employee his or her earned wages through the completion date, so in almost every case you will at least be paying something at the time of termination. Next, all employers are by law required to offer COBRA, so it’s imperative that your termination letter includes this offer.
Conclude your letter by mentioning any company property you need returned and offering assistance through the transition period, as shown in our termination letter without cause template.
What to Avoid in Your Termination Letter Without Cause
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in your termination letter is omitting information for COBRA. Since it’s required by law for employers to offer COBRA upon termination, and you may consider your termination letter to be your company’s official document for the process, this could come back to bite you in court should the former employee choose to take legal action. As mentioned above, it is absolutely critical that your letter mention eligibility for COBRA.
Another big mistake would be, should your company elect to share reasons for termination, to describe those reasons in an insensitive or unprofessional way. A disgruntled ex-employee is one of the last things you could possibly want. Instead, keep all of your language in the letter official and professional.
Another sin of omission you should avoid when writing this letter is neglecting to inform the employee that should there be a change in address, he or she should notify your company. If this former employee doesn’t receive a W-2 form and it’s discovered you made no mention of it in the termination letter, he or she could sue your company.
How to Follow Up After Sending Your Termination Letter Without Cause
When it comes to following up with your termination letter, it should only occur upon the request of the former employee. A termination letter is a last communication between your company and the employee, and should remain as such in most cases. As mentioned above, it’s a good idea to offer assistance through the transition process near the end of your letter. Should the employee take you up on that offer, it is okay to follow up. In virtually all other cases, with the exception of a lawsuit, there should no longer be any official contact between the company and the employee.
Top 5 Termination Letter Without Cause Writing Takeaways
1. Explicitly state the name of your company in the opening sentences of the letter
It may seem redundant to write out the full name of your company in a termination letter, but it can serve as a legal document if necessary. Be sure to inform them of the termination of their employment from [name of your company].
2. Explain the details of their severance package, if any
If the employee’s contract included a severance package in the event of termination, be sure that your termination letter includes the details of said package in explicit detail. Provide the employee with the option to have it mailed or to pick it up in your office.
3. Offer coverage under COBRA
Law requires Employers to offer COBRA at the time of termination. Your termination letter serves as your company’s official parting document, and therefore must include that information.
4. Offer your company’s assistance with the transition
Losing a job is always difficult, and it’s a show of good faith that your company may offer any assistance they are able to provide during this status quo shift. It’s not necessarily required, but it will go a long way toward appeasing former employees.
5. Remind them to return any company property in their possession
Depending on your company, the former employee may have a company-owned laptop for out-of-office use that he or she will need to return. Since this is your last contact with the employee, a reminder to return it is good practice.
