Safety and Security, Systems, and Intellectual Property

Give some thought to everyone’s safety and security when you terminate an employee. There are circumstances when a terminated employee may be a safety threat to employees and even the facility itself. If you have even the slightest concern, meet with your security and Human Resource departments to prepare for this potential danger. Your organization might need to decide to provide security guard services to protect your organization’s employees and facilities for a specific period of time, beginning with the termination itself and for some time afterward. You should also notify your local authorities that you have these concerns so that they are aware in advance of any potential problems.

Does the employee who will be terminated possess or have access to intellectual property (computer systems access, trade secrets, product information, databases, research, etc.) that could be used detrimentally against the organization? If so, be sure upon notification of termination that the employee no longer has access to this information. Make arrangements in advance for this access to be ended at the time that the termination is communicated to the employee. If computer system security is of concern, you should also arrange for cancellations of any remote access (for instance, the ability to access the organization’s computer system from home).