To do this over email?

[WellErrrr]

I run a business and have recently employed the services of a self employed marketing assistant. She has been coming into the office one day a week and the plan was for this to be long term. However - she’s not great unfortunately and has actually made quite a few mistakes in a short space of time which have ended up costing us. She is a lovely person though and very enthusiastic, but it can’t continue sadly.

I have managed to spread her tasks amongst other team members and no longer want to use her services. I discussed this with another senior staff member who said I need to do this over the phone. However, personally I’d rather have a kind email than be put on the spot out of the blue on an unexpected phone call. I’m not planning to list her shortcomings on the email, just thank her for her work and we don’t need her any more etc.

YABU - call her
YANBU - a kind email is fine

Does she do any work for anyone else? Because if she’s just working for you then she’s not self employed.

I would hate this to be done in a phone call if I was the one being let go. Email first and a “call me and we can discuss further if necessary” is absolutely fine. Give her a chance to digest the news properly rather than ambushing her with a phone call out of the blue.

I think a lot depends on whether she's self-employed (freelance) or employed by you. Your post isn't clear. You owe a better, fuller conversation to an employee than you do to a freelancer - I say this and I am a freelancer of over 15 years. Part of the freelance life is that you come and go, but if you've employed this person, she needs to know why you're letting her go. The third option is if she is self-employed but has signed a fixed-term contract, in which case you may need to pay her off.

She works for multiple other people and is definitely self employed.

See this is how I feel! I’m really surprised that so many people would prefer to be called out of the blue to be let go.

If you have been repeatedly/persistently unhappy with her work, is it really going to be "out of the blue" though?

Neither - you do it to her face on the day she is in

Email for sure. I wouldn't want a phone call with this type of news.

As others have said, I’d call and follow up with a formal email to clarify.

If you’re not sure how to gently word your email, I hesitate to mention it, but could Chat GTP help? Just use it’s suggested structure to help you put something short sweet together?

I used it recently to formalise my thoughts & keep emotion out of it.

I rejected 90% their suggestion but found it very helpful.

An email is fine

I’d find it incredibly insulting if you couldn’t say it to my face

I would much rather get this information over email. She can call if she wants to discuss it further, but I'm sure she already knows she doesn't have the skills required and has made significant mistakes.

Don't make this into a bigger thing than it is. She's freelance; unless you have a contract with her that places conditions on notice to terminate services, just say that, as a business, you've reassessed your needs and no longer need freelance support.

Even if you call, you'll need to follow it up with an email (so that you have a paper trail), so prepare the (brief) email first, then call before sending it.

I'd be surprised if she isn't already aware that she wasn't meeting requirements, but if she asks, confirm that she doesn't have the skillset you understood she did, which have cost the business in time/resources/money.

You need to call, what if she doesn’t check her email or misses it? That would be worse

Yeah email first then she can absorb it and call her a few hours after if needed

I’d prefer an email if I was her. Wouldn’t like the awkwardness of a phone call. But would like a genuine invitation to call to discuss it in the email (even though I wouldn’t, she might want to)

I am a self employed marketer, and have been for 6 years.

as others have said, it’s a very different relationship to employee/boss. You are not firing her as some have suggested!

she provides a business service, your business no longer requires that service. It’s perfectly fine and usual to terminate this by email - your business is just one of her clients, not her entire employment. Generally self employed people don’t expect to stay with the same client long term, as they would then be at risk of being accidentally employed in the eyes of HMRC.

as someone who has sent and received such emails, I would say-

dear Mary,
thanks so much for your marketing support over the past X months, your help has been very valuable.

However, now that we have a good handle on our marketing requirements and more capacity within the team we no longer need external support, so we won’t need your services from 1 March onward.

Thanks again for your work, I hope our paths cross again in the future.

Exactly this. Of course you don’t want to call her. Delivering these sorts of messages is one of the miserable bits of these sorts of jobs. And of course no one wants to receive a call like this either. But the only thing worse than receiving a call like this is your employer not even treating you like enough of a human being even to have the basic human decency to call.

@WellErrrr a simple email. Thanks for your contribution. As of date your services are no longer needed. Wish you all the best.

Employee - phone call
Contractor - email

Email is fine, I think the key difference is that she’s not an employee. If she was employed a call or face to face would be better.

I absolutely think it would be fine to email and especially if it would be easier for you to cope with. It means that you can make a dreaft and then review it so easier to choose your words. I also think it might be easier for her to cope with. If she is shocked and upset, much easier and more dignified to be able to react privately rather than on a live phonecall.

If you think that you will struggle with the phonecall then an email is fine.

To be honest a call could be awkward for both of you.

If you've made the business decision to terminate her services then write a standard email you would to any other supplier when this occurs. Obviously thanking her for her work and hopefully offering a reference.

You can say if she wishes to discuss it further then please do. But she may not want to talk on the phone about it any more than you do.