Performance Improvement Plan

Giving poorly performing the best chance to improve saves jobs and cuts liability risks.

Poor performance is generally just cause for termination, provided that you give employees ample feedback, warning and a fair opportunity to improve. Implementing a so-called Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) can be an effective way to help poorly performing employees turn things around; and if things don’t work out, being able to show that you had a clear and specific PIP in place can help you beat back a wrongful dismissal case and show that you had just cause to terminate an employee for poor performance. Based on Best Practices and court cases involving termination for poor performance, there are 6 things a PIP should do. The template below, based on the hypothetical situation of a billing clerk who makes too many errors, includes all 6 of these elements and you can adapt it for your own use and situation.