The Apprentice, Undercover Boss, Hell’s Kitchen: All depict the highs and lows of work, including firing. Deciding whether to fire an employee involves a mix of ethical and legal considerations—and the stakes can be high.

HR Brew spoke with a variety of consultants about how HR leaders can protect their employers during the employee-termination process, while also doing right by the worker who’s losing their job.

Document everything. Documentation should start during the onboarding process, when HR shares the employee handbook, explained Denise Giraudo, a labor and employment lawyer with the law firm Sheppard Mullin. “The employee handbook is huge from an employer and employee aspect,” she said, because it provides employees with clear rules regarding the company’s policies and how HR will respond to infractions.

The experts that spoke with HR Brew agreed that it’s vital to document any issues with performance or behavior, as doing so can protect an employer during the termination process.

If an employee consistently fails to meet expectations, their manager and HR may decide to put them on a performance improvement plan (PIP). This is usually the last step an employer will take before firing a worker who isn’t performing well. Sarah Rodehorst, CEO of Onwards HR, a tech company that specializes in staff reduction, explained that a PIP should be a clear document between HR, the manager, and the employee with “clear standards of what they would want that employee to achieve…and in the instance that they aren’t [achieving those goals], then there is that documentation that is so important in order to move forward with that termination.” The PIP should be individualized, and all parties should agree to the timeline and goals outlined, suggested Rodehorst. Keep reading here.—KP

Do you work in HR or have information about your HR department we should know? Email [email protected] or DM @Kris10Parisi on Twitter. For completely confidential conversations, ask Kristen for her number on Signal.

On Wednesdays, we schedule our weekly 1:1 with HR Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Taylor Lahrman is the HR lead at healthcare technology company Olio. After graduating with a marketing degree in 2020, when job opportunities were scarce due to the pandemic, Lahrman decided to go back to school to do a master’s in HR. She landed at Olio in July 2021, and recently told HR Brew about what she has learnt in the first phase of her career.

How would you describe your specific job to someone who doesn’t work in HR? We’re a small company, less than 25 employees currently. So, you name it: payroll, benefits administration, employee engagement, talent acquisition, compliance, office management…I wear many hats! While this may seem overwhelming, it brings me the utmost joy each day to know I’m impacting our employees in a multitude of ways, whether it’s answering a simple question about reimbursements or designing a new process to make their lives easier. I ensure everyone has what they need to be comfortable, productive, and successful.

What have you learned in this first year of your career? To not be afraid to speak up. There have definitely been a couple times where I haven’t been comfortable with a certain decision or I haven’t felt like it was the right course of action…the worst thing that someone can tell you is “no.”

What’s the best change you’ve made at a place you’ve worked? The consolidation and organization of different shared drives, spreadsheets, office supplies, and processes, which originally required our employees to search and scour for what they needed. Since I began a little over a year ago, I’ve been able to create better problem-solving avenues to one-stop shops with all the necessary information someone could desire.

What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job? Keep reading here.

Want to be featured in an upcoming edition of Coworking? Click here to introduce yourself.

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: 50% of US companies are reducing their headcount, while 52% are instituting hiring freezes. (PwC)

Quote: “I don’t think government should be in the business of telling people in the workplace what they can and can’t be trained on.”—Y-Vonne Hutchinson, CEO of California-based consulting and strategy firm ReadySet, on the blocking of the Stop WOKE Act in Florida (WSJ)

Read: California’s two “largest race bias cases” in the last decade allege abuse of Black warehouse workers by their Latino colleagues. (LA Times)

Retirement revamp: Congress is considering a bill that could improve retirement security for thousands of Americans. Betterment at Work explains how the proposed legislation could affect you and your employees in this report.*

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On Imposters, we sit down with titans of industry, sports, and entertainment to discuss the personal challenges they’ve overcome to get where they are today. It’s honest and raw—and a reminder that we’re all just doing the best we can. Check out some recent popular episodes:

• How Brooks Running CEO Jim Weber fought off cancer and $40 million of debt
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This editorial content is supported by Lincoln Financial Group.