Hiring and Firing – StartX Legal Workshops for Startups

Wendy Brenner, Partner at Cooley led a StartX legal workshop on Hiring and Firing during the summer session. Wendy had great insights and tips for founders as they start recruiting and building out a team.  Here’s a few do’s and don’ts when hiring or firing:

• Before hiring, make sure you do some basic due diligence and get all agreements in place before bringing someone on board.  Explicitly mention the salary the employee will get to avoid any disputes or claims if the employee leaves.
• If you are bringing on someone as a contractor, make sure that the person meets the requirements to be classified as such.  Some factors that determine whether a person is a contractor or employee include, whether the person has the right to direct and control work, what is the skill level, what is the level of supervision, how is the payment for services structured etc.
• If an employee is not performing, document it, bring it to the employee’s notice and ask them to fix it.  If this continues to be a problem, be sure to articulate reasons when firing.
• If you are firing an employee, do it in private but have a witness present and make sure you pay all wages and get back all company property on that day.