Example: California prohibits much of the same conduct. In addition, California employers violate state law if they fire an employee for testifying as a witness, or for disclosing the amount of his or her wages to another party.

Don't get personal. No matter how much you may (on a private level) dislike a particular race or group of individuals, do not let those feelings cloud your business judgment. For example, if you fire someone for the sole reason that they are Jewish, homosexual, or female, you can face a serious lawsuit for employment discrimination and wrongful discharge.

Create a paper trail of the employee's performance reviews. Keep copies of all negative reports or warnings you have issued to the employee. It is much easier to protect yourself later if you can show that on more than one occasion you issued the employee a written warning that his or her job performance or attitude was sub-par.

Note: If you have written policies regarding poor performance reviews or policies concerning employee discipline procedures for insubordination or improper conduct, make sure that you have followed them to the letter before you try to fire an employee for those reasons.

Keep information confidential. Determine who is on a need-to-know basis and tell only those individuals that an employee is going to be fired. Ask that those individuals keep the information confidential. No one deserves to hear through the grapevine that his or her days at your business are numbered.

Consider all legal requirements you must comply with and do not fail to fulfill them. For example, if the employee is due compensation or commissions, have those figures calculated before you meet with him or her to discuss the termination. Know in advance what is owed to the employee. Have all documents (such as severance offers, which require a written acknowledgment) at the ready.

Arrange for any necessary parties to be present at the meeting. If you want to have the employee's supervisor available to back up your position as to why an employee should be fired, consider having that supervisor present for all (or a portion of) the meeting. If you need to have your human resource employee available to explain rights that the employee has to continuation of health insurance coverage, or other similar matters, have that person at the ready. It would be extremely disruptive to the firing process, and can prolong it unnecessarily, if in the middle of the meeting you must pause to bring a supervisor to your office.