As you know from Chapter 4, you give your standard dismissal package for a low-risk dismissal. In this article, I give you a 5-step procedure for getting rid of a difficult employee when you don't have the authority to fire. Her legal adviser tells you the "real" reason you fired her is because the company expected her to sleep with the CEO or the VP of manufacturing to keep her job. Just simply state the facts and the reasons the worker's actions were unacceptable, and you're well within your rights. However, you'll know some workers will sue regardless of the dismissal reason. For gross misconduct rules, these are universal standards based on human decency. Know when to ask for help dealing with insubordinate employees. However, if the worker normally does a decent job, and the disobedient disposition is a recent affair, then the human resource employees may decide to help the jobholder. Here's your response, "I would be happy for you to talk to my boss, but only after this dismissal meeting is over. Gross misconduct in itself is the refusal by a jobholder to follow a valid instruction from an person in the jobholder's chain of command. After you have tried everything to correct an employee's performance, you should consider firing this individual. If the jobholder is looking for a fight, expect the following.

In other words, have I ever counseled the jobholder, given a warning memorandum, provided enough training? If you dismiss an employee for this particular misbehavior you had better have documentation. * The employee must be aware of the consequences of not performing the action.