Dismissing senior employees - the pitfalls to avoid - Part 1

Whilst the termination of any level of employee contains a degree of legal risk, the position in respect of senior employees can be especially perilous.

Firstly, the costs of getting it wrong are generally greater (because an award of damages is likely to be calculated – at least in part – by reference to their (high) level of salary).

Secondly, there may be added complications involving the potential of the exiting employee doing damage to the business (they are likely to be privy to confidential information, may have strong relationships with your clients and given their status, may be of greater interest to the media than a more junior employee).

In this two part article, we provide some practical guidance on the termination of senior executives.