Can we fire employee on probation for theft? 10-08-2008

I am the HR Manager for a privately held manufacturing company with about 300 employees. Recently, I became aware that one of my current employees was convicted of a felony and was sentenced to six (6) years probation. The conviction involved theft. Can I terminate this employee because of this conviction?

Rita Risser Replies:

You should talk to a local attorney to get a definitive answer. Did you just find out about an old conviction? If the employee lied on his/her application, you can probably terminate for the falsification. If it is a recent conviction, generally, it is legal to terminate for felony convictions, especially one, such as this, that could be replicated in the workplace. However, it is important for you to be consistent. Are all employees who are convicted of felonies terminated? If not, you have a potential discrimination case on your hands. From a values perspective, you may want to first investigate whether they have rehabilitated themselves. If there have been no incidents of theft, and the employee is a good performer, perhaps you would prefer to keep him/her employed. You might want to review or audit the employee's recent work, just to be sure.

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