HR Hotline: Do We Have to Explain Employee Termination Decisions in Writing?

Q: When terminating an employee, is it enough to provide a pink slip and a verbal explanation of our decision, or must we also describe in writing why the employee is being terminated?

A: A 2013 change to the state personnel files law (Conn. General Statutes Sec. 31-128b) requires that an employer immediately provide an employee with a copy of any documented notice of the employee’s termination of employment. That notice must include a statement explaining that the employee can submit written comments disagreeing with anything in the termination notice, which will be retained as part of the employee’s personnel file.
Keep in mind, however, that while this law specifically requires giving the employee a copy of any documented notice of termination, it does not require creation of any new documentation, nor does it require that all documentation related to an employee termination be provided to the employee.
Arguably, the unemployment notice (Conn. Labor Dept. Form UC-61) would suffice as a documented notice of termination, to which you would have to add a note about the employee’s right to submit for inclusion in his or her personnel file a written statement containing any disagreement the employee has with the notice.