According to the Bobs (in the movie Office Space) “it’s always better to fire people on a Friday. Studies have statistically shown that there’s less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week.”

Tuesday in mid-afternoon tis the best time to terminate someone to ensure there is enough time during the remainder of the week to work through the employees’ needs with the loss, workflow, communication to external clients and internal clients, and be available for the terminated employee to respond to questions through the remainder of the week.
Preferably, we manage the process to secure a resignation, but that’s not always the case.

There are differing schools of thought on this, all based around minimizing the risk of a dangerous employee reaction. Some say to do it on a Friday so the employee has the weekend to calm down. Others say not to do it on a Friday, because the employee will stew all weekend. Honestly, I don’t think the day of the week is important; what’s important is that the employee is treated compassionately and with dignity throughout the process.

Why does everyone assume that whenever anyone is fired they will either:
a) Go postal. Shoot all their workmates, and then take the server down (so don’t fire them early in the week)
b) Go home, drink their drink cabinet dry and then start in on the medicine cabinet (so don’t fire them on Friday)
Honestly, how many times has this really happened?
99.9% of people are responsible, grown up adults - being fired is a change that is hard to handle, but not something that is going to turn them into a psycho or suicidal - unless they already are.
I say, you have to know the person you are firing and how they will take the news, and how the rest of their team will take the news and then schedule accordingly, and above all treat them with respect and dignity.

As a career coach who works with employers and individuals the best practices I’ve seen are:

First and foremost treat the individual with dignity and respect. Chances are they will transition to another job sooner lessening the employer unemployment tax rate and it’s likely they will be a good employee or at the very least they may not have as bad of an attitude at their next job.

Secondly, a day during the week - preferrably Tues/Wed/Thurs so the individual has an opportunity to file for their unemployment compensation and/or training and insurance options. When it’s done on a Friday, they are left helpless because state agencies and other resources are closed on weekends.

Thirdly, before dismissing an employee, ask if you’ve done your due diligence on the employee’s part i.e. traning, coaching, mentoring, etc.? What will the costs be to the employer i.e. replacement, recruiting, lost production, etc.

Finally, is the employee made aware of what they need to be a better employee or do the job better? Working with outplacement / coaching services may be able to provide neutral “self-improvement” so the individual doesn’t keep doing the same self-sabotaging behavior over and over.

We’re all in this together….helping others will benefit everyone in the long run. It seems to work for Johnson & Johnson and others!

The comment posted above by Bobbie concerning the day of the week to fire someone is a myth. As a security consultant who has done extensive research in the area of employee terminations — especially those that end in violence — the day of the week an employee is fired is simply not an issue. I do find it interesting, however, that this piece of misinformation consistently finds its way in news reports after a termination ends violently.