According to ERISA (another federal law on retirement benefits), you can't fire a worker to stop her from getting a retirement benefit. First, your other employees may believe you're discriminating against them when you come down on them and do not come down on the difficult individual. Also you must have recorded evidence to support those reasons. Here is a worker separation memorandum sample. An employee termination letter should contain certain elements. If you're dismissing an employee, the contents of your termination notification are important. Here your employee has repeatedly failed to increase her or his behavior and you have recorded this case thoroughly. As well, the finance department should procedure any paperwork for employee refunds. * Lastly, don't stand around arguing with the jobholder. Legal counselors and judges call this Employment-At-Will or the At-Will Doctrine. And, by allowing the insubordinate individual to get away with her or his behavior, you're setting a precedent that tells your other workers it is OK to behave in a problematic way. It is my expectation you never again engage in gossip, and, if you do, you may be subject to separation.

What causes this sudden need to steal from the firm? For example, you may want to fire a worker because you find out he's a homosexual or because his wife had an abortion. Separated workers can get unemployment compensation.