Your HR department is there for purposes such as this.  Maybe you should be asking about firing your HR department first if they can't handle this.



Dump it on them with the information you have.  Make them come up with a policy, then follow it.  Or make them figure out what to do with the guy.



If you want to be personally nice, offer him a lateral move that gets him doing what he can do.  He may refuse that and his pride will cause him to go somewhere else.



Either way.  Kick it over to HR.



 

Dad twisted wrenches for 40+ years, which took a hell of a toll on him.  The last couple of years that he worked, he was primarily teaching the younger mechanics things they didn't know.  He couldn't do the work but, the company didn't want to lose the knowledge locked up in his skull.

Damn. Obama tendencies are very strong with some of the posters in this thread. It's as if they think these companies are obligated to employ people no matter what.

the brilliance on this site amazes me

for a bunch of people that claim to be conservatives and supporters of capitalism, there sure is a whole lot of WTF going on in this thread...

This isn't about how society is treating the young or the old.  This is about one individual trying to deal with an employee who can't perform the job.  Asking the OP to take care of every employee who comes along and eventually becomes incapable of performing a task is not a reasonable position and one that would almost certainly result in the failure of that business.  If society wants to chip in and take care of this guy, they can do so.  You can even put your money where your mouth is and write the OP a check to help subsidize this guy since his customers won't.

Of course, we are ignoring the fact that this isn't about age to begin with.  The OP is wondering how to let an employee go who is unable to perform the job.  His only concern he stated regarding age is that the firing is misconstrued to be based on age rather than ability to perform the job.  This would be the exact same as being concerned about firing a black guy who performs poorly and worrying that it'll be misconstrued as him being fired based on his race.  Let us not lose perspective on the real issue at hand here.

And some folks on here seem to be unable to bust a nut unless something bad happens to others.

Until the guy turns 70, termination for any reason gets hairy, even in an at-will state. Best to let the HR deal.

Says the person who's probably never run a business.





 

Your post would be Prima facie evidence that the decision to terminate was based on the employees age.

It is lawful to terminate an employee who can't cut it. But when you tie his inability to work with his age you cross the line.

I investigated these cases for 5 years when I was fresh out of college.

If he can not do the job . You need to document it well and in wring with a history of performance reviews stating the areas he falls short of expectations. . I would look at attendance issues. A well  written trail of discipline and his failures to meet policy ,will save a ton of lawsuit dollars.  I am in Ga. and have had similar issues before . a good paper trail is your friend.

Dear Jesus, thank you for clients who ask legal questions on the internet.  You most humble legal servant, happycynic.  



 

Ha ha ha.... if everyone follwed this logic, there would be NO quotas for minorites or gender. Our colleges would be filled with THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST instead of people who "round out the demographic". Businesses would be able to concentrate on hiring and retaining the most qualified workers instead of having to worry about getting sued for non-compliance.

op request