In an uncertain situation when a new recruit cannot perform well despite training, patience and investment in their performance, employers generally have 3 options:

1. Terminate the employee and pay the price of their severance price tag, which can be expensive in Canada given the current legal test, which assesses what is fair having regard to the employee’s age, tenure and service;

2. Terminate the employee and take the position that their under-performance was cause for dismissal, which is extremely risky since the courts generally do not accept that alleged under-performance is legal cause to terminate employees without pay;

3. Work with the employee in the hope that they improve – which can work in some cases but may fail many others.  The problem with this approach is that it takes time, effort and further training and the employee still may not improve.

The Metro recently published an article written by employment lawyer Daniel Lublin on this matter regarding the options that employers can take to deal with employee under-performance and incompetence.  For more tips on those options, you can read full article here.