Legal Question in Employment Law in Ohio
Can I fire a part-time employee?
I co-own a small ad agency that has been operating for just over a year. We hired a woman to come on board as a part-time employee (we didnt have the budget to pay her more at the time). Our goal was to make her an integral part of our fast-growing company. When she interviewed we discussed her eventually becoming full-time and how important her position would be in growing our company. A week later she told us she was 3 months pregnant and that she would only be able to work part-time after the baby was born. Obviously, this has put a wrench in our plans to grow, as we can only afford one employee at this time. She has been with us for about 5 months and my partner and I are both frustrated with her performance and lack of enthusiasm. She takes hours to do menial tasks and we know that we cannot move our company forward with her on board, especially in the part-time capacity. Not to mention that she will be gone for maternity leave for 2 months - where we will be high & dry. My question is - will there be any issues with us letting her go? We do not pay her insurance and she works 25 hours for us per week. Do we need to give her a reason? Is there a way to go about this properly?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Can I fire a part-time employee?
Yes, but you must handle the situation delicately. Your strategy now must be to presume she will file a pregnancy discrimination claim. Your goal is to accomplish this in a way that will defeat such a claim legally before it can get started. First, Title VII only applies to employers that have a certain number of employees. If your company is as small as you describe, Title VII may not even apply. Next issue is state law claims. In Ohio, you can't discriminate against a pregnany employee, but also, are not required to give her special treatment. Document everything re her deficient performance and put her on notice of it. When you do let her go, it is best not to rehire someone for the position who was not pregnant. Instead, eliminate the position (which was PT) altogether. Maybe for a while, use a temp agency. Or hire someone full-time. Change the title of the position, the duties, who the new employee reports to, etc. Do everything reasonably possible to make the new position seem completely different from the one this employee is in now. Not sure if FMLA claims would apply. Need more info. for this. I've handled several pregnancy discrimination cases, and also worked with employers on making changes that will thwart this type of claim in the future. You can't ever stop a disgruntled employee from making a charge, but you can lay the foundation now to beat it. I have some other ideas, but need more facts. Please contact me anytime if you would like to discuss further.
Vaseem
Re: Can I fire a part-time employee?
Yes, but you must handle the situation delicately. Your strategy now must be to presume she will file a pregnancy discrimination claim. Your goal is to accomplish this in a way that will defeat such a claim legally before it can get started. First, Title VII only applies to employers that have a certain number of employees. If your company is as small as you describe, Title VII may not even apply. Next issue is state law claims. In Ohio, you can't discriminate against a pregnany employee, but also, are not required to give her special treatment. Document everything re her deficient performance and put her on notice of it. When you do let her go, it is best not to rehire someone for the position who was not pregnant. Instead, eliminate the position (which was PT) altogether. Maybe for a while, use a temp agency. Or hire someone full-time. Change the title of the position, the duties, who the new employee reports to, etc. Do everything reasonably possible to make the new position seem completely different from the one this employee is in now. Not sure if FMLA claims would apply. Need more info. for this. I've handled several pregnancy discrimination cases, and also worked with employers on making changes that will thwart this type of claim in the future. You can't ever stop a disgruntled employee from making a charge, but you can lay the foundation now to beat it. I have some other ideas, but need more facts. Please contact me anytime if you would like to discuss further.
Vaseem
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