Terminate a Student Employee
Student employees are not under “contract” with Winona State University, nor are the terms of student employment governed by a collective bargaining agreement.
If a student employee is not meeting job expectations, supervisors are strongly encouraged to start by coaching the student and developing a corrective action plan to improve their performance. If the problems continue unresolved, then you should follow the procedure for dismissal from employment.
Some reasons for corrective counseling, warning, or termination include, but are not limited to:
- Employee not showing up for scheduled shift with no prior notice
- Inability to perform the job to the supervisor’s standards
- Repeated tardiness
- Theft of office equipment or supplies
- Using university long distance code to make personal calls
- Discourteous attitude to fellow staff and public
- Falsification of their time sheet
- Improper use of WSU equipment (e.g., making personal copies using departmental copy card)
Corrective Counseling
Corrective counseling can include verbal coaching and written warnings, with the goal to change the behavior of an employee who has not performed assigned tasks or adhered to an expected code of conduct.
Verbal and written warnings are a necessary first step to remove the student employee when:
- there is no chance for their success
- the student employee’s presence can seriously damage or disrupt the operations of the department
Always document any corrective action you take by:
- summarizing what was said
- improvements suggested
- date of correction
You can use the sample Coaching and Corrective Action Form (PDF) to help facilitate and document the procedure of informing a student when work habits must be improved.
Termination Process
If the problem continues, it may be necessary to suspend or terminate the employee.
This is the recommended process:
- Deliver a verbal warning to the student as part of corrective counseling
- If no change, deliver a written warning to the student
- If no change, deliver a written termination to the student
- End date the terminated student’s work authorization in the student employment application