HR platforms and employee termination: why software alone isn't enough

Ending an employee’s employment is something every business needs to do correctly. In Canada, there are clear legal obligations the employer needs to meet while also ensuring you protect your company’s information and equipment, and the wellbeing of all involved.

If you use HR software, it’s easy to keep track of your employment documents, make notes about employees’ work, run performance reviews, log written warnings, and send reminders for follow-up. This sets you up with a clear papertrail to refer to when deciding to terminate employment.

However, no matter how well configured your HR system is, nothing can replicate human expertise in making sure your judgement and reasoning are sound, and that the process you follow is lawful. Getting it wrong could open you up to wrongful dismissal claims or other employment disputes.

In short: software manages the paperwork, expert advice manages the risk.

What HR software actually does during a termination

HR software is designed to streamline employment procedures and give you more control. During termination and employee offboarding, good HR software will ensure you cover all the necessary steps, and make the process quicker by automating tasks and producing documentation.

A good HR platform will:

Maintain accurate records of employee performance and conduct, and any steps you’ve taken to help the employee address issues (e.g. progressive discipline steps, performance improvement plans, accommodations), crucial if the termination is challenged to establish clear reason for termination and that you have followed fair, transparent process throughout.
Store documentation for easy reference, e.g. the termination clause in the employment agreement to confirm requirements, notice period, and severance pay.
Generate accurate end-of-employment documents (e.g. termination letters) using customized templates.
Automate offboarding tasks (e.g. final day of work, company asset recovery, access shutdown) and track progress to ensure you don’t miss a critical step and you protect company information and property.
Record exit data (e.g. from exit interviews) and collate statistics (e.g. employee turnover) to give leadership better understanding of staff trends.

Where HR software alone falls short when it comes to employee termination

The decision to terminate a worker’s employment depends upon judgement. There are 2 main types of terminations, each with differing requirements:

With cause (or just cause) - reserved for cases of serious misconduct, e.g., theft, fraud, workplace violence, serious insubordination. There is a high threshold for establishing cause, and employers must conduct a fair and thorough process to establish it.
Without cause - employers don’t have to provide a reason for the dismissal but must provide reasonable notice (or pay in lieu of notice or a combination of both) in accordance with the employment agreement and applicable employment standards legislation.

While software can help you with the process and documentation that leads to termination, the decision-making and procedure also needs to meet legal thresholds, and there is no replacing human expertise in ensuring that reasoning is sound and you provide all the correct employee entitlements.

3 example termination scenarios where HR software alone may not be enough:

An employee is accused of misconduct. Is it enough to be considered serious misconduct or not?
If an employee has been on sick leave for an extended period, can you consider terminating their employment?
If an employee is really bad fit for the company, should you dismiss them and say you no longer have need for their role?

Getting the answer right in these sorts of situations can mean the difference between handling the situation appropriately and facing an wrongful dismissal claim or other civil action.

While employment law may seem to provide some leeway, to someone who provides professional guidance, there’s a right and wrong way to go about getting the result you want.

Unless the dismissal is with cause, you also need to ensure you provide the correct termination pay and other entitlements (in accordance with the employment standards in your jurisdiction). Without proper oversight, the termination might not hold up in court.

Bottom line: There is no single "right" way to terminate employment; the approach depends on the situation and software (even AI-powered) can’t make the best decision without qualified human input.

What MyHR "advisory support" actually looks like in practice

The process leading up to dismissal can be lengthy, and a misstep in your procedure or reasoning could give the employee grounds to challenge the decision.

MyHR’s experienced team of Canadian HR professionals helps businesses with termination procedures every day, and there’s not much we haven’t seen. From the moment a MyHR customer contacts us about a potential dismissal or employment relationship problem, our HR advisory team can assess the situation and provide expert advice about your best option(s) and the common pitfalls you should avoid.

For business owners, our HR advisors are an invaluable sounding board, sense-checking decisions, navigating claims, and providing tailored guidance - from meeting scripts to final documentation - all delivered through our powerful HR platform. We also ensure every employment agreement has a legally-enforceable termination clause that covers the notice period, severance pay, and other entitlements.

MyHR’s unique combination of HR software and real HR expertise protects your business and ensures you are supported every step of the way.

Should I seek HR software, HR advice, or both?

For any employer, good HR software makes all aspects of employment and people management easier. Instead of relying on manual systems or reactive processes, HR software sets you up with a platform that takes care of every employment relationship.

Building healthy working relationships (e.g. setting clear expectations, communicating openly and honestly, respecting boundaries) reduces the chances things will get so bad you have no choice but to fire an employee. But if a difficult situation arises (as they do) and the relationship becomes untenable, having a record of your efforts to support the employee or correct their behaviour only provides you with half the picture. To ensure your decision-making and the process you followed in during the termination is legally defensible, you need the guidance of HR professionals.

With the right combination of expert HR guidance and a smart HR platform, you can end the employment relationship cleanly and respectfully, so you and your team can get on with business.

What to check before you dismiss someone

Do you have proper cause for the termination? For a just cause dismissal to stand up in court, you must be able to prove the employment relationship was irreversibly damaged by the employee’s conduct. Getting this wrong could be costly.
Has your process been fair and reasonable? To put yourself on solid legal ground, you should raise concerns clearly with an employee, giving them a real chance to respond, and genuinely considering what they say before making a decision.
Have you given the correct notice, or paid it out? Notice periods are typically specified in the employment agreement (if not, you still must give reasonable notice). Serious misconduct is the main exception that allows dismissal without notice.
Is your documentation complete? You should ensure that disciplinary documents or records of performance or other issues are thorough, complete with facts, dates, conversations, and portray a clear timeline of events.
Is your process defensible if the employee challenges the dismissal? In most jurisdictions, employees have the right to raise a wrongful dismissal within 90 calendar days of the dismissal, so it’s best to design and manage your termination process as if it will be checked.
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Like many aspects of employment in Canada, it may seem there’s a certain degree of ambiguity when it comes to these checks. However, the law has clearly established that employers must comply with employment standards regulations in every termination process.

That’s where a system like MyHR with built-in advisory support protects your business. You can proceed with a dismissal with complete peace of mind, knowing your actions and reasoning are watertight.

Get it right and avoid the risk

If you find yourself at the point of dismissing an employee and you're not sure your procedure or judgment will hold up to legal scrutiny, talk to an HR professional. If you’re already using HR software, it might store the outcome and managerial steps leading up to it, but it can’t ensure the decision you made and the process you followed in terminating employment won’t come back to haunt you.