Notice of Termination

A notice of termination is a notification from a company (i.e. employer) to a software developer (employee/contractor) informing them about the end of the employment contract. In other words, this is an official document that notifies a specialist that they will no longer work for this company. A notice of termination might also be referred to as a termination notice, pink slip, or termination letter.  

There is a difference between working on a B2B contract and the employment contract. Working via the employment contract is more strict and safer. The employee is obliged to work some period of time after a notice of termination, usually mutually agreed. The length of the notice period for contracts depends on the period of employment by the employer concerned. When the employee is on a B2B contract, it mainly depends on the employee's agreement with the employer.  

All countries have different regulations when it comes to a notice of termination. In most cases it isn’t legally required, but it can prevent certain situations. For example, the employee states that he/she was dismissed for a wrongful reason /or they expected the contract to get extended.  

What should it include?  

1. General information: the name of the company, full employee’s name, and date of termination  
2. Reasons: downsizing, layoffs, poor performance, unethical behavior, etc. 
3. Final paycheck: amount of final compensation and its date 
4. Company property: guidelines concerning returning the company’s property like hardware, company car, accommodation, etc.  

What are the reasons for notice of termination?  

Here are the most common reasons for employee dismission: 

In case the company is experiencing financial challenges and/or is going through structural changes. For instance, some employees can be fired due to downsizing, outsourcing a certain workload, or relocation, etc.  

Other reasons for a termination notice can be insufficient results. It could be low-quality tasks execution, not meeting KPIs, or neglecting set deadlines.

3. Mutual agreement  

In this case both the employer and employee decide to end their professional relationship. The reasons for this can be retirement or the end of the employment contract. 

What are some examples of wrongful termination?  

If the reason for firing an employee is illegal or unjust, it’s called wrongful termination. These can be discrimination (against age, race, sex, religion, etc.), whistleblower retaliation, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) violations, harassment, and others.