More likely, you want to lay (California At-Will Employment) off her

More likely, you want to lay off her because her performance is below average or because the company can no longer afford the higher wages and benefits associated with her seniority. Often, the managers have lawful rationale for the firing such as terrible productivity or repeated misconduct. You should refer to these in the firing letter. Small company managers and owners must be careful when sacking and laying off workforce, because their business's survival is at stake. The employer should explain what the jobholder did wrong and how to fix future behavior. When you lay off an employee for other reasons, you must use progressive discipline.

Please don't use 'downsizing' as an excuse for sacking bad employees, or creating a culture change in the organization by replacing old personnel with new ones. Separation of a jobholder can be a hardship for any business if the employer or entrepreneur doesn't conduct it appropriately. Unfortunately it is easy for a dismissed at will worker to bring a case against you claiming you had no real ground for layoff. The next liar is someone who tells "white lies." This isn't gross misconduct because the "white lies" are frequently not about important company matters. Undoubtedly in this case you would want to say something positive about the employee's past productivity in a more positive light. No wrongdoing or inconclusive substantiation - The jobholder goes back to work with counseling on how to stop the future appearance of wrongdoing. Remember to state specifically the terms of the nondisclosure or private ownership conditions, in case the company must file a law suit against the employee because they break the agreement. You will need to collect these from the worker at the termination meeting. When you develop strong standards for employee termination, it makes this process much easier. When you are writing the termination letter you need to, at a minimum, cover these topics.