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Script 22 · from the Firm & Fair Playbook

How to let an employee go due to lack of work

Get advice, and choose by criteria you wrote down before looking at names. Then, early and in private:

“Gail, I have hard news, and I’m going to say it straight. With the policy changes moving online, I need two service reps instead of three.”

“Your position is the one being cut. You’re paid through Friday, and that’s when the job ends. Today is your last day in the office.”

Then hand over the letter, the final pay and the state’s unemployment information.

Firm & Fair · Checked October 2026

The situation

Since the carriers moved most policy changes online, the phones at your insurance agency have dropped by a third. You have three customer service reps and work for two, and the calls that are left need a licensed agent. Sunday night, before you let yourself think about names, you wrote down how you’d choose: first the license the remaining work requires, then the written reviews. It came out Gail, the only one of the three without the license.

Before you talk

  • Make sure the job is really gone. If you’d hire someone into the same seat within a few months, it isn’t a layoff, and it will look like a cover story.
  • Keep the criteria exactly as you wrote them before names, dated. Don’t touch them after you see where they landed.
  • Run the Check below, and get advice. A layoff counts, and choosing who goes is one of the times to stop and get advice anyway. If she’s 40 or older, or your criteria land mostly on people 40 and over, say so when you call. If your business insurance includes an HR or legal helpline, that’s the number to try first.
  • If you want to offer severance in exchange for a signed release, get advice before you offer it, and have an attorney write it. With 20 or more employees, federal age law adds its own rules for a release from anyone 40 or over.
  • If she’s on your benefits plan, ask your broker when her coverage ends and what continuation options she has, and write the answer down for her.
  • Look up your state’s rules: when final pay is due (in some states, the day the job ends), whether unused vacation gets paid out, and which unemployment or separation notice you have to hand over. The Playbook points you to the official pages for yours. Have the check and the paperwork ready, and the termination letter for a position eliminated.
  • Monday, early, in your office, ten minutes. If you have an office manager you trust, have them sit in and take notes. Have her logins turned off while you’re talking, not before, and don’t walk her out like she did something wrong. She didn’t.

The first words

You“Gail, I have hard news, and I’m going to say it straight. With the policy changes moving online, I need two service reps instead of three.”

“Your position is the one being cut. You’re paid through Friday, and that’s when the job ends. Today is your last day in the office.”

What they’ll say, and what you say

They“Why me? I’ve been here longer than Brooke.”

You“I wrote down how I’d decide before I looked at names. The calls that are left need the license, and you don’t have it. I’m not going to talk about anyone else’s file.”

They“Is this about my work?”

You“No. Your reviews are in your file, and you can see them anytime. If the calls hadn’t moved online, we wouldn’t be sitting here.”

They“What about unemployment?”

You“You should apply. This is a layoff. Here’s the state’s information, with the website and phone number. If they contact me, I’ll tell them your position was eliminated.”

The Playbook’s full script also covers her last check and vacation days, a reference, and a call if things pick up, and what to do if it turns: if she cries, if she asks whether it’s because of her age, if she says she’s calling a lawyer. The last two are her right to raise: don’t argue, and see the complaint protocol and when they say “lawyer”.

Never say

  • “We need some fresh energy on the phones.”Why: “Fresh” and “energy” read as age words, whatever you meant. One sentence like that can undo every careful step you took. The reason is the license and the call volume. Say only that.
  • “As soon as things pick up, you’re my first call.”Why: It’s a rehire promise you may not keep. And if you fill the same job in three months, the whole “position eliminated” story falls apart.

Write it down the same day

  • Today, before you go home: the dated criteria you wrote before names, the business reason in numbers (call volume down a third since spring), how the criteria applied to each rep, and the Check, including who you got advice from and when.
  • Then the meeting: date, time, who was there, what was said. Record what you handed over and when: the letter, the final check, the state’s unemployment information, the details of her coverage. Check off her keys and laptop.
  • If the work comes back and you need the job again within the year, get advice before you fill it with someone else.
  • Telling the rest of the office has its own script: what to tell your team.

Before any write-up or firing: the Check

Trouble often starts with something reasonable done at the wrong moment: a write-up the week after a complaint, a firing right after a request for time off. The Playbook has you run the Check first.

Before you act, has any of this happened?

  1. They complained about something at work recently.
  2. They asked for time off, or for a change in how or when they work.
  3. They told you about something personal that may need time off or a change at work.
  4. There’s a workers’ comp claim.
  5. They were a witness in someone else’s complaint.
  6. They’ve talked with coworkers about pay or working conditions.
  7. The timing could look like payback.
  8. It’s a layoff, and you’re choosing someone 40 or older.
  9. Someone could believe the real reason is a different one.

Any yes: stop, and get advice before the next step.

A tip from the Playbook: many business insurance policies include an HR or legal helpline. Find out whether yours does now, before you need it.

The Firm & Fair Playbook

The Firm & Fair Playbook

This is part of Script 22 in the Firm & Fair Playbook. The full script has every beat, what to do if it turns, what never to say, and what to write down the same day.

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Questions owners ask

What’s the difference between a layoff and firing someone?

In a layoff, the job goes, not the person: the reason is the work. Make sure the job is really gone. If you’d hire someone into the same seat within a few months, it isn’t a layoff, and it will look like a cover story. Letting someone go for performance is a different talk, with its own script.

Do I have to give notice before a layoff?

The federal WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more employees, so it rarely applies at your size. Some states have their own versions with lower thresholds. Cutting several jobs at once? Get advice. Your state may also require an unemployment or separation notice when the job ends, so look yours up before the meeting.

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Not legal advice. Practical wording and process guidance for business owners, written for workplaces in the United States. For a specific situation, talk to an employment attorney licensed in your state.