Human Resource Blog

Terminated Employee allowed on property

Is it legal to prohibit ALL terminated employees form being on property as a patron, regardless of their offense(s)?

Yes, and many employers have this policy. As an employer, you determine who is and is not allowed on the property. For example, in larger cities many hotels, bars and restaurants do not allow ex-employees on the property for any reason, not even as customers. This can be a very smart decision. A high percentage of workplace violence is committed by ex-employees who return to the property. Even if the ex-employees are not violent, they post a threat of theft or conflict with current employees. In addition, workers may be tempted to waste time chatting with former coworkers, instead of working.

In smaller towns, this policy is more problematic. There are fewer potential customers for any business, and you may not want to eliminate any of them. A better solution might be to ban only ex-employees who are angry or considered a threat.

 However, in urban areas, we strongly recommend this policy for any business.

Like any other action, this could be illegal discrimination if the decision is made based on race, color, religion, age, sex, etc.