I used to run (manage) a theatre when I was in high school. The whole place was suddenly shut down one night by fax. To make it worse, I wasn’t working that night. I just showed up and my key didn’t work anymore.
I would say call them. Start out with a joke:
Knock, Knock.
Who’s there?
Not you. You’re fired!
<dnr>
I think I could manage to prove I contacted them to let them know I was ill those days.
If there is any way you can go to their place of employment, do so, so you can give the bad news in person. It’s the very least you can do (and by “you” I mean your employer, not you personally.)
We had someone from our corporate office in Virginia fly down to SC to fire my boss. They did it when I was out running an errand. But they had the decency to come down and tell him to his face.
Be professional, wish them luck. There’s really no good way to do this. The best you can do is do it quickly.
jsgoddess, let me add my voice to those saying to do it by phone. Layoffs are cold and dehumanizing to begin with (“it’s nothing personal, you were just a cog that didn’t fit in anymore”) and at least the phone provides a little human contact. It also gives them a chance to feel like they can respond if they want to, even though it won’t do them any good, to someone who represents the company that’s doing this to them and to ask questions that might not be answered in an email or letter.
Let me also say, as someone who has been laid off, that you deserve credit, not scorn, for being willing to take this on despite the fact that it’s not your job and it’s obviously very difficult for you to do because you feel that it will make it a little easier for your soon to be former coworkers. When I was laid off, I would have much preferred that the news had come from my shift supervisor, even though he wasn’t technically my boss, because I knew and liked him and would have felt like sympathy from him was sincere. Just make sure that they know that you volunteered to tell them and why so that they don’t assume that you were forced into it because their current boss doesn’t have the guts to do it.
About a week before, remind them that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day…
Seriously, having been a manager and having to fire people, I’ll just second what some people have said.
Do it on the phone – as much of the personal touch as possible. Once where I worked fired people by having messengers deliver the termination letter to peoples’ houses at 6am. That went over real bad.
Friday was always the day unless there were serous circumstances. Basically it was done so most of the other employees would be gone for the day when the person was escorted back to their desk to pack things up (and they were escorted constantly). One time I had to fire someone during the day (for cause) and we told everyone in that particular room to leave for 15 minutes. Friday also gives the people time to cool off before the next work day, in case they have any thoughts of violence or damage. Finally, from a computer security standpoint, it gives the IT department plenty of time to disable logons, dial up access, set up e-mail forwarding, etc. From a systems perspective there usually isn’t a lot going on Friday nights.
Good luck. I hated being a manager and have been working my way down the corporate chain since 1997.
Every place where terminations occur, the firings were well-coordinated with IT. In fact, IT is usually the first to know (outside of management) who will be fired because they have to do the prep work to disable all access to corporate computers. Here’s the typical scenario:
– Person comes in to work.
– Person tries to log in. Hey, password doesn’t work. Clumsy me.
– Person tries again. Still doesn’t work.
– Manager comes by (or calls) to invite said person for a meeting in manager’s office.
– Person walks into office. Sees HR manager.
– The axe falls.
– Person walks back to desk. Finds empty boxes.
– Person packs up and leaves for good, sometimes escorted out by security.
Cheers! 
js, you deserve muchos kudos for what you’re doing.
nivlac, that is just about the tackiest scenario I’ve ever heard of in my life. Just the cold, calculating, unfeeling… efficiency of it… Yeesh.
I, and 60 other co-workers were laid off, for purely budgetary reasons, on a Monday, in person, in a group meeting, with letters, job search aids, and generous severance packages (6 weeks pay, unused vacation pay, 1/2 of unused sick leave pay. etc.) I was notified about mine 30 days earlier as management had heard of another similar job opening in another town and suggested I apply for it. I did and started work in the other job/town, more than 100 miles away, the day after the layoff. Staying in job #1 for the month qualified me for their very generous severance package. I retired from job #2 10 years later (and moved back to town #1.) Oh, management got laid off a couple of years after the first purge.
In your case, I’d suggest the FedEx letter.
And now for some levity: Male boss has to downsize one of two employees, Susie or Jack. So he tells Susie, “Susie, I’m going to have to lay you or Jack off.” So Susie says, “I don’t have to take that kind of talk. I quit.”
Talk about mixed emotions. Damn, Ive been fired… Alright! Boobies!!
What about “So, who’s coming to the staff picnic next month? Not so fast, Johnson…”
So you’re actually going out of your way to volunteer for an unpleasant task to make it easier on these folks. You get a halo for that in my book.
Call 'em. Explain the big picture. Assure them that they they are the unfortunate victims, and it’s not their fault & they’ll get good references. Follow up with a letter.
:smack: My most important point got lost somewhere between my chair & keyboard (can’t even blame the hamsters … ) :
The fact that you’re doing this out of kindness and concern for those affected will come across with vastly more sincerity in a phone call than in a letter or email.
First of all, my sympathies at having to fire people. It is the hardest part of management, emotionally. Don’t neglect to take care of yourself mentally – don’t pretend it’s not hard on YOU to have to do the firing. Talk to some folks who will be sympathetic listeners about it if you find it’s bothering you.
Now as to the firing itself, I’m going to go against the rest of the thread. As a person who has been fired once and laid off twice in my career, I can tell you, there is no good way to get fired/laid off. (Except laid off does sound a lot better and looks better on a resume, too.) Unless the people you are firing are in a field where jobs are real easy to find, or the economy in your area is red-hot and jobs generally are easy to find, the level of financial and emotional pain that a firing/layoff is likely to produce in their lives far outstrips any cosmetics you can put on it.
It does not matter what day you do it on, or what the medium is … the person is still getting fired/laid off. It’s like asking if you’d rather get shot with a Smith & Wesson or a Walther PPK – the whole getting shot thing just kinda overshadows how it’s done.
So I wouldn’t invest too much energy in worrying about how it’s done, just do it if that’s what you have to do. One thing though … I do think it would be a good idea to emphasize that you are having to fire/lay off several people … lets the person know it wasn’t some failing on their part. They’ll still wonder about that, but this gives them a good solid rationale for putting such doubts to rest.
Well, it’s done.
I did it via the telephone, told the truth, offered references, etc.
I’ve had to fire people before, but never without cause. I didn’t feel bad about those firings. It was for things like a guy who charged lap dances to his company credit card, after all.
I do have to say, though, that if I were to be fired, I’d rather it were in writing. I hate confrontation. I hate surprises. I hate having to keep myself composed. And I hated that the people I fired had to act like it was no big deal to my face while inside they had to be screaming.
I probably wouldn’t mind taking the initial hit in an email. As long as I could call them up with questions later.
Take your cue from the great David Brent and his ‘bad news/good news’ approach…
*“Well, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that Neil will be taking over both branches, and some of you will lose your jobs.
On a more positive note, the good news is I’ve been promoted, so … … every cloud … … …
You’re still thinking about the bad news aren’t you?”*
ACK!!!
I sincerely apologize! I thought I read the OP and following posts very carefully, apparently I missed a vital part of information. I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make you feel like shit. Now I feel like shit, if that helps you feel better. 
I have been lucky enough to survive a dozen layoffs, while my ex-coworkers got the bad news. But after every close call, I became more skittish.
One curious thing. Dayshift employees were told at the begining of the shift and paid for the day. Nightshift employees were told at the end of the shift. Always seemed a bit unfair.
Sorry you had to go through this. I’ve been following this thread and think you handled it with class.
Sounds like you’re a cool person to work with.
GT
Well, you did the best you could under the circumstances. It’s an extraordinarily difficult position to be in. Maybe someday we’ll all learn how to treat ourselves and each other better so this kind of thing won’t be necessary, or if necessary, so painful.