A clear 60-day Performance Improvement Plan with SMART goals, weekly check-ins, and explicit success criteria. The right way to address underperformance before any separation decision.
Termination based on rating alone is risky. A documented PIP with measurable goals and reasonable timelines is the gold-standard preamble to any performance-based separation in at-will US states. It demonstrates good-faith effort, satisfies handbook commitments, and creates a paper trail that reduces wrongful-termination and discrimination exposure.
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PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN (PIP)
Employee Name: ____________________________________
Employee ID: ____________________________________
Job Title: ____________________________________
Manager: ____________________________________
PIP Start Date: ____________________
PIP End Date: ____________________ (typically 30, 60, or 90 days)
1. PURPOSE
This Performance Improvement Plan ("PIP") documents performance concerns and the specific improvements required for [EMPLOYEE NAME] to remain in the [JOB TITLE] role at [COMPANY NAME]. This PIP is intended as a constructive process; it is not a disciplinary action and does not change your at-will employment status.
2. PERFORMANCE CONCERNS
The following performance concerns have been identified:
Concern 1: ____________________________________
Evidence: ____________________________________
Concern 2: ____________________________________
Evidence: ____________________________________
Concern 3: ____________________________________
Evidence: ____________________________________
3. IMPROVEMENT GOALS (SMART)
Goal 1 (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound):
____________________________________
Success metric: ____________________
Deadline: ____________________
Goal 2:
____________________________________
Success metric: ____________________
Deadline: ____________________
Goal 3:
____________________________________
Success metric: ____________________
Deadline: ____________________
4. SUPPORT AND RESOURCES
The Company will provide the following support:
- Weekly 1:1 check-ins with [MANAGER NAME]
- [Specific training, mentorship, or tools]
- [Other resource]
5. CHECK-IN SCHEDULE
- Week 2: Initial progress review
- Week 4: Mid-PIP review
- Week 6 / 8: Final review
- Each check-in will be documented in writing and signed by both parties
6. OUTCOMES
At the end of the PIP, one of the following outcomes will apply:
(a) Successful completion: All goals are met. The PIP is closed and you remain in your role.
(b) Partial progress: Significant improvement has occurred but not all goals are met. The PIP may be extended once for a defined period.
(c) Unsatisfactory: Goals have not been met. Employment may be terminated effective [DATE].
7. AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT
This PIP does not modify your at-will employment status. The Company retains the right to end the employment relationship at any time during or after the PIP, with or without notice. The PIP is offered as a good-faith opportunity to improve and is not a guarantee of continued employment.
8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I have read this PIP and understand its expectations and consequences. My signature does not constitute admission of the concerns described.
Employee signature: ____________________ Date: ____________
Manager signature: ____________________ Date: ____________
HR signature: ____________________ Date: ____________Not legally required in at-will states. But strongly recommended — it is the single best mitigation against wrongful-termination, discrimination, and unemployment-insurance challenges in performance-based separations.
30 to 90 days is the standard range. 60 days is the most common — long enough to show meaningful change, short enough to maintain urgency.
Yes — for serious misconduct, performance regression, or insubordination. But terminating early on the original performance grounds undermines the PIP's good-faith framing. Consult HR before doing so.
Always. A verbal PIP is effectively no PIP. The written document is the evidence trail that supports the eventual outcome — success or termination.
A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is the formal documented improvement plan for underperforming employees, with specific gaps identified, measurable improvement expectations, support resources, defined timeline, and consequences if expectations aren't met. PIPs serve dual purposes: genuinely supporting employee improvement and creating documentation that supports termination decisions if improvement doesn't occur. For US employers, PIPs are not legally required but are the single most effective mitigation against wrongful-termination, discrimination, and unemployment-insurance challenges in performance-based separations. Courts routinely strike down terminations based solely on a single performance review; PIPs documenting sustained underperformance with opportunity to improve fare materially better. Employees who succeed on PIPs continue at the company; those who fail provide the documented basis for termination.
Strong PIPs set expectations that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). Common patterns include (1) **Behavioural expectations** — specific observable behaviours required (e.g., 'Arrive on time for 100% of scheduled meetings during the PIP period'). (2) **Output expectations** — quantitative deliverables (e.g., 'Complete 8 customer-facing implementations per month'). (3) **Quality expectations** — error rates, customer satisfaction, code-review pass rates. (4) **Process compliance** — following defined procedures consistently. (5) **Skill-development milestones** — completing specific training, demonstrating new capabilities. (6) **Stakeholder feedback** — explicit feedback from manager, peers, customers. The expectations should be challenging enough to address the underlying performance gap but achievable for an employee genuinely committed to improvement. Vague PIPs ('improve attitude', 'be more professional') are difficult to enforce and easy to challenge as discriminatory.
30-90 days is the standard PIP range, with 60 days as the most common. The duration should be (1) Long enough for meaningful change — sustained behaviour change typically takes 4-8 weeks. (2) Short enough to maintain urgency — beyond 90 days, the sense of accountability dilutes. (3) Aligned with operational cycles — quarterly project completion, monthly performance reviews, weekly deliverables. Within the PIP period, structured milestones support assessment: typically a 30-day check-in, 60-day mid-point review, and final assessment at the end. Each milestone documents progress (or lack thereof) and gives the employee opportunity to course-correct before the final outcome decision.
PIPs are not punitive instruments — they are genuine improvement plans that the employer commits to support. Resource provision typically includes (1) **Increased manager 1:1 frequency** — weekly or bi-weekly during the PIP. (2) **Specific coaching and feedback** — targeted guidance on the performance gaps. (3) **Training resources** — courses, mentoring, books, conferences relevant to the gaps. (4) **Workload adjustment** — temporarily reducing extraneous work to focus on core responsibilities. (5) **Tool and access provision** — ensuring the employee has what they need to succeed. (6) **HR support** — formal sessions if the employee wants to discuss the PIP, support resources, or grievance processes. Documenting the support provided strengthens the PIP's defensibility against subsequent discrimination claims — the record shows the employer made genuine effort to support success.
PIPs end with one of three outcomes. (1) **Success** — the employee meets expectations, the PIP closes successfully, and the employee continues. Best practice is to monitor for sustained improvement post-PIP for an additional 30-90 days, with continued performance recovery providing confidence the change is genuine. (2) **Partial success requiring extension** — the employee shows improvement but hasn't fully met expectations; in some cases a PIP extension is appropriate, with documented reasons. (3) **Failure** — the employee doesn't meet expectations and is terminated. Termination decisions should reference the specific gaps that weren't closed, the support provided, and the structured milestones that documented the trajectory. Clean PIP-failure terminations face significantly lower wrongful-termination exposure than terminations without prior PIP.
PIPs themselves can become evidence in discrimination claims. (1) **Disparate treatment** — patterns where employees in protected classes receive PIPs while similarly-situated unprotected employees don't can support discrimination claims. (2) **Pretextual PIPs** — PIPs issued shortly after employee complaints, FMLA leave, or other protected activity create retaliation exposure. (3) **Inconsistent expectations** — PIPs setting expectations significantly different from what other employees in similar roles must meet. (4) **Disability-related performance** — PIPs addressing performance variations related to a disclosed disability without proper interactive-process documentation under the ADA. (5) **Pregnancy and parental-leave timing** — PIPs issued shortly after pregnancy disclosure or parental leave create exposure. The PIP should be defensible against each of these challenges through consistent application, fair expectations, and documented good-faith intent.
Customisation points include (1) **Specific performance gaps** — concrete examples with dates and observable evidence. (2) **Improvement expectations** — SMART goals tied to gaps. (3) **PIP duration** — typically 30-90 days, with 60 days most common. (4) **Milestone schedule** — 30-day check-in, 60-day mid-point, final assessment. (5) **Support provision** — coaching frequency, training resources, tool access. (6) **Distribution and approval** — manager, HR, possibly senior management. (7) **Right-to-respond** — opportunity for employee written explanation. (8) **Outcome consequences** — explicit statement that failure to meet expectations may result in termination. (9) **Bilingual issuance** for workforces with non-English-primary populations. (10) **State-specific considerations** — California strict requirements around personnel-file documentation; Massachusetts and others have specific procedural rules. (11) **Concurrent-investigation handling** — if the underlying performance issue overlaps with potential misconduct, separate disciplinary processes may apply. Employment counsel review before issuing any PIP is best practice.
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