Should I Bother Putting An Employee On A Performance Improvement Plan?

One of the vexing issues that employers face in dealing with poor performers in the non-union context is whether it is more cost effective to terminate the employee's employment without cause or to put the employee on a performance improvement plan ("PIP"), with the goal of establishing termination for just cause when the employee fails to meet the performance standards set out in the PIP. Of course, if just cause is established, then no severance is payable (except perhaps in Ontario...note to Ontario – please fix your Employment Standards Act). And note, for unionized employees, employers rarely have the option of terminating employment on a without cause basis – warnings and progressive discipline are almost always required for poorly performing unionized employees.