The Right Way to Fire an F&B Employee

This is a highly sensitive topic that most employers struggle with. As an F&B owner, you have to make difficult decisions that benefit the company as a whole. Besides that, it is vital to manage the emotions of the employee being terminated as well as the other employees.  

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Terminating employee employment should be every F&B employer's last resort after multiple reminders and warnings. While it is never easy to deliver the bad news, here are some tips to manage the process. 

" How Do You Know When To Fire An Employee? "

The factors of dismissal can be categorized under 2 categories: 

Required to provide a notice period and Not required to provide a notice period 

Required to provide a notice period

1. Performance

Before taking action to fire the employee, provide constructive feedback, training, and monitor their performance. If performance is consistently below satisfaction of what is required, you can dismiss your staff. 

However, you must provide the employee with a termination notice period, which is based on what is stated in the contract agreement.

  In the event no notice period is stated in the agreement, you can use this as a reference:

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2. Excessive and Repeated Absence

Excessive
The number of leaves taken per month must not unnecessarily disrupt operations of the F&B.  Before taking steps to terminate employees, you can observe the employee for 3 months occurrence, before deciding whether to keep or discontinue the employee contract. 
(The duration indicated here are not determined or recommended by iCHEF but rather indicators based on speaking with some Employers)

Repeated Absence
If the employee does not turn up for 2 consecutive days without notice or approval, employers may terminate the employee employment 

Example: Jack is a sous chef in a small restaurant. Out of a 6-day work schedule, he reports to work 3 days and does not show up the remaining 3 days. Despite constant reminders from his manager, this behavior continues. As such, he is affecting the operational capacity of the restaurant and the morale of his colleagues.

3. Punctuality

If the employee is consistently late after multiple reminders and warnings, it should ring a red flag to the employer that this employee might not be suitable for the F&B industry.  

Currently there are many HR Solutions that help to automate attendance. So you can also synchronize between payroll based on attendance, so you know the performance of employees. 

Not Required to provide a notice period

For cases such as these, employees should be suspended until investigations are completed.

Termination due to misconduct
You have the right to terminate the contract without notice when the employee is found guilty of the following:
1. Theft 

2. Insubordination 

3. Bringing the company into disrepute 

4. Violation of food handling policies and procedures

5. Sexual harassment 

Example: Jack punched a customer when they got into an argument. Jack was given a chance to explain his actions but he was unable to provide any reasonable explanation. As such, he was dismissed for bringing the organization into disrepute.

2. Termination against foreign employees

There are extra steps to take when employees hired under S Pass or work permits who are facing termination.

Employers MUST cancel dismissed foreign employee’s work pass within 7 days of employment termination. 

1. Tax clearance (E,  S and Work Permit pass) 

Employers have to:

• Inform IRAS one month before dismissal of Foreign Employees

• Determine if they have to seek tax clearance

After IRAS performs a clearance certificate (all taxes paid), Employers can then release salary payment (OT pay, allowance, reimbursement) to the employee. 

To facilitate such payroll calculation, a Human Resource Management software may be used to automatically manage each employee’s details and payroll.  

2. Buy an airplane ticket to send the pass holder back to their country of residence 
Dismissed employee must depart within 14 days of pass cancellation

3. Preparing employees for dismissal

The firing of employees should never be done over the phone, text, and email – doing so would be unprofessional and allow for misinterpretations. It is also fair to your staff to have a chance to voice out what they are feeling. 

Follow the steps below to ensure that the dismissal is a proper one:  

1. Setting of employee expectations
   Ensure that your employee is aware of the agenda of the meeting beforehand so that it does not come as a shock to them.
   

2. Arranging of termination meeting
   Ensure that the meeting place is private and not done in front of other employees. It is important to respect the terminating employee 
   

3. Terminating the employee
   
   1. Do not beat around the bush. Instead, go straight to the point and use simple words that can be easily understood
   Example, “ Unfortunately, this will be your last day working with us,”
   

   2. Be transparent with the employee by stating the reasons why you are terminating their employment 

   For example, Jack, I am terminating your employment as:
   1. Your attendance is poor and we have mentioned this a few times, and despite this there have been no improvements. This consistently violates our company policies.
   2. We have had numerous conversations about your attitude and encouraged you to improve it but we haven’t seen you make an effort to change.
   Sadly, we have to terminate your employment with immediate effect.
   

4. Issue termination letter 
    It is mandatory to:

   1. Issue a termination letter to the employee 

   2. Provide a written letter, it cannot be verbal
      

5. Issue last paycheck
   Generally, employers issue the last paycheck on the day of dismissal.
   
   If that is not possible:
   You MUST issue the employee last paycheck within 3 days from the date of termination                        
   For example, Jack's contract was terminated on 14 August 2020. His employer has to pay him latest by 17 August 2020.

4. Managing the dismissed employee’s emotions

Treat laid-off employees with respect and dignity as it is bound for your employees to reconnect even after leaving your company. This helps to ensure a good relationship between the employer and the remaining employees in the company. 

Be compassionate towards laid-off employees. For example, if your employee was laid off due to incompetence, employers can introduce them to options to pick up new skills. 

5. Managing of other employees emotions

An abrupt dismissal of an employee may open doors for other employees to speculate on the reason. As such, it is important to communicate and send a clear message to the other employees. 

To avoid that from occurring, employers should:

1. Have a team meeting to address the issue 

2. Be careful with the words used so as to not defame the dismissed employee and explain the reason for the employee’s termination

3. Ensure that the dismissed employee’s job is being covered

4. Be receptive to employees’ questions and concerns

5. Reinforce the restaurant’s expectations and policies 

6. Praise employees who performed well

“HANDLE IT RIGHT”

Being honest with the laid-off employee is vital as leaving them with unanswered questions about their dismissal will result in you being suspicious on wanting to cover it up. This process will take a long time but you will have to handle it right to ensure no hard feelings are left on both parties.

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This article is written in collaboration with HRMLabs, a HR system for SMEs, that streamlines attendance-taking, shift-scheduling, leave management and more.

Caroline Yap is the editor and intern at iCHEF Singapore. She manages iCHEF Club, a growing community of F&B owners in Singapore – organising events, an online newsletter and the F&B Entrepreneur Bootcamp, the only regular workshop on opening a new restaurant in the country. In her spare time, she loves drawing, painting and creating new visuals. Her love for Korean food runs deep such that you can spot her at any famous Korean Restaurants in Singapore.