Letting Team Members Go, Campfire Charcuterie & OnlyFans
Last week, we talked about how to know when it's time to end a relationship with a contractor or employee. This week: what you actually do about it.
Most of the principles from our client goodbye piece apply here too — if you haven't read it, it's worth a few minutes (we said modestly). A couple of additional ones specific to this relationship type:
The golden rule applies. Before you decide how much notice to give, how much context to share, or how to structure the ending, ask yourself: what would I want if I were on the receiving end of this conversation?
Documentation matters. For employees especially, keep a paper trail — of feedback given, of expectations communicated, of the conversation itself. This protects both of you.
When it's circumstantial, say so — clearly and specifically. If someone is losing work because of your cash flow, not their performance, they deserve to know that. It affects how they think about themselves, how they talk about the work, and how they represent the relationship moving forward.
📋 Step 1: Get clear on your footing
Pull your contractor agreement or offer letter before you say a word.
Check your terms
What does your agreement require in terms of notice, and in what form?
For employees, review your offer letter and any HR policies for notice periods, severance, and grounds for termination.
If you're ending for cause, make sure you have documentation to support it — prior feedback, written warnings, records of conversations. In most U.S. states, employment is at-will, meaning you can terminate without cause. But documentation protects you if the ending is ever disputed.
If you're laying off rather than firing for cause, that distinction matters — for how you communicate it, how it affects unemployment eligibility, and how the person experiences and talks about it afterward.
A note on legal obligations
Requirements vary by state and locality — final paycheck timing, required notice periods, COBRA notification, and more. Check your local and state ordinances before you have the conversation, and if you have any doubt, consider a consultation with an employment attorney. It's a small investment that can prevent a significant cost down the road.
If you're facing layoffs and looking to avoid them, check what your state's Department of Labor offers before the conversation becomes unavoidable. In New York, for example, the Shared Work Program allows employers to reduce hours across a team rather than eliminating positions entirely, while employees collect partial unemployment to offset the difference. Other states have similar programs — it's worth knowing what's available before you lose a good person to a temporary revenue slowdown.
💬 Step 2: Have the conversation
Same guidance as with clients: when you can, have a real conversation before anything goes in writing. Then follow up in writing to document what was said.
What to say
When it's you: Be direct about the reason — the budget changed, the client reduced scope, the work dried up — and be specific. "This isn't about your work" means more when you tell them what it is about. If you'd work with them again when circumstances change, say so. If you'll serve as a reference, offer it. If you can connect them to others who might need their skills, do it. These aren't just nice gestures — they're how you maintain a relationship worth maintaining.
When it's them: Be clear and specific about what wasn't working. Speak to patterns, not individual incidents - this avoids debate and legal liability. Keep it professional, keep it factual, and resist the urge to soften it into meaninglessness. If you’ve been offering and documenting feedback, this can and should be a natural continuation of previous conversations. It should never be a complete surprise.
On notice
In addition to whatever your contract or offer letter requires, think about what the role and the relationship warrant. A week's notice on a long-term engagement — with a contractor or an employee — is jarring. Erring toward generosity, especially when the ending is circumstantial, is both more humane and better for your reputation. Think about tenure, think about what you'd want, and use your contractual obligations as a floor rather than a ceiling.
🎁 Step 3: Feedback is a gift — give it here too
Everything we said about feedback in Part 2 applies here, but there are a few nuances worth naming:
If you're ending for performance reasons, the feedback conversation should already have happened — multiple times, with documentation. The ending conversation should never be the first honest conversation you've had. If it is, that's worth sitting with before your next hire or contract.
Honest feedback about what wasn't working is genuinely useful to contractors and employees alike — it helps them understand what clients and employers need, refine how they present themselves, and recognize engagements that aren't a fit for them either. Most people would rather know.
If you're ending for circumstantial reasons, the feedback looks different: is there anything they should know about how to position this experience, how to talk about why it ended, or what you'll say when someone calls you as a reference? Give them that information. It costs you nothing and helps them as they seek new opportunities.
📅 Step 4: Manage the transition
Think carefully about what a responsible offboarding looks like given the role and the reason.
If you want transition documents, organized files, or process handoffs from a contractor, that work needs to come out of remaining contract value — not on top of it. They don't owe you free work any more than you owe your clients free work when a contract ends. If a clean transition matters to you, build it into the scope and timeline explicitly.
For employees, consider what institutional knowledge lives in their head and needs to be documented before they're gone. Two weeks of overlap may be enough for some roles. For someone senior who holds client relationships or critical processes, more runway is worth it.
When it's you: Use the transition period generously — create time and opportunity for them to interview for new roles, make introductions where appropriate to connections in your network, and while you should expect them to meet deadlines and complete tasks, don’t expect them to go above and beyond.
When it's them: Meet your obligations. Treat them with professionalism and respect. Be clear about your expectations, but keep them low - this is not the time to expect an underperforming employee to suddenly turn into an A-player. And while they may not warrant as much consideration as someone you have to lay off due to external circumstances, you still want them (in most cases) to land on their feet, so make room for them to take interviews as well.
📦 Step 5: Deliver what's theirs
Final pay, on time and in full — check your state's requirements on final paycheck timing for employees
Any work product they're entitled to retain under your agreement
A reference letter or LinkedIn recommendation if you can give one honestly — especially when the ending is circumstantial or they’d be a genuinely good fit in a different role
🔐 Step 6: Get back what's yours
Unlike client offboarding, where you're often waiting on someone else to remove your access, here the action is mostly yours to take — and timing matters.
When it's them, and it's a difficult ending: Revoke access the same day as the conversation — social accounts, internal systems, project management tools, shared drives, ad platforms, anything with payment information attached. The short-term messiness of an abrupt offboarding is worth it compared to the risk of leaving a disgruntled former team member in your systems.
When it's circumstantial or a fit issue: Time the access revocation to their last day. They'll need access to complete any transition work — just make sure you have a clear offboarding checklist so nothing gets missed when the time comes.
For all endings: Change any shared passwords, revoke admin access, and retrieve any equipment — laptops, phones, hard drives, anything issued by your business. For employees, a formal offboarding checklist executed every single time is worth building now, not after something goes wrong.
👥 Step 7: Notify other stakeholders
Tell the person first, always. Then notify anyone else whose work is affected — clients, internal team members, collaborators.
Calibrate how much detail you share about the reason carefully. As a general rule, less is more — but what you say should be honest and consistent across the board.
When it's circumstantial: You can practice radical transparency here if the situation warrants it. "She's just too good — her billing rate increased and our current scope together can't support it, but we're excited to work with her on bigger projects in the future" is the kind of honesty that builds trust with clients and good will with talented contractors. Otherwise, "we had to reduce the team due to changes in our workload" is complete and accurate.
When it's performance or fit: Keep it vague externally. "It wasn't the right fit" is usually enough. The exception is if a client has flagged concerns or you sense dissatisfaction they haven't voiced — in that case, a brief acknowledgment can rebuild confidence: "You may have noticed the work wasn't quite at the level we expect — we're bringing on [senior resources / niche expertise / whatever is true] and here's what's next." You're validating what they observed without litigating the details.
When there's a safety or conduct issue: This is the whisper network moment from Part 2. If someone was genuinely harmful — to you personally, your team, your clients, or your business — you have both a right and arguably a responsibility to say so, carefully and factually, to the people who need to know. Just be sure that you stay on the correct side of the legal line for defamation and retaliation - remember that factual statements are not defamatory, but your opinion about those facts can be. If in doubt, leave it out (or check with an attorney).
🧭 A closing thought
Over these four weeks, we've covered how to know when it's time, how to say goodbye to clients, how to recognize when a contractor or employee relationship has run its course, and how to execute that ending with clarity and care.
The through-line in all of it: honest, direct communication isn't just the professional thing to do. It's the kind thing to do — for the person you're ending it with, for the people who come after them, and for yourself.
Endings done well aren't failures. They're what makes room for what's next.
Speaking of ends, we’re coming to one of our own. Join us for the *final* Signature Dinner on Tuesday, June 9th.
🪢 Laura & Lauren
Things We Loved This Week
LaurA’s Things
🔩 This fascinating (and surprisingly funny) podcast about screw threads (and how they literally shaped the world order).
🤯 I was today years old when I learned to do this.
🔥🧀 It’s campfire charcuterie season.
Lauren’s Things
💦 I wouldn’t say I enjoyed this podcast, but I do feel like I learned some stuff…and might be tempted by some OF revenue streams.
✊ My obsession with Bernardine Dohrn deepens.
🇬🇷 If you ever need a place to stay in Athens, may I highly recommend this spot. The bathtub is in the kitchen, but, like, in a charming way.
👯 I barely know what this is, but I have watched it 984 times and been delighted each and every one.
