Termination for Cause

Depending on the incident, termination may be sought by supervisors for employees who are inefficient, perform unacceptably, are incompetent, have misconducted his/herself, been negligent, insubordinate or is convicted of a felony or misdemeanor. Some cases may be approved for termination at the first step and others may require prior disciplinary steps in compliance with due process. ARP 10.10 – Staff Disciplinary Action/Involuntary Termination
In all cases, supervisors must have written approval from HRS to terminate an employee.

Procedure to request termination for Just Cause:

  1. Supervisor documents the incident including as much detail as possible.
    • If the situation is life-threatening or dangerous contact the NMSU Police department and/or the Emergency Medical Services (Dial 911 for both)
    • If the situation is not life-threatening but the employee is acting out and disrupting the workplace, contact Employee & Labor Relations for assistance in determining and obtaining approval for immediate removal of the employee from the workplace.
  2. Supervisor contacts Employee & Labor Relations at (575) 646-2449 or elr@nmsu.edu.
  3. An ELR representative will review the case and provide guidance on managing the situation.
  4. If termination is determined an appropriate action, the ELR representative will guide the supervisor in drafting and submitting the required request for approval memorandums for signature by the Assistant Vice President of Human Resource Services or designee.
  5. When the memorandums are complete, the ELR representative will schedule a meeting with the Assistant Vice President of Human Resource Services or designee to formally present the case and request signature of approval. The supervisor is not present for this meeting.
  6. When the request memos have been signed, the ELR representative will notify the supervisor and provide him/her with the necessary copies and original documents for issuance to the employee. A supervisor may request that the ELR representative be present during the termination notification to the employee.
The following is a list of actions which constitute just cause, examples are but not limited to:
  1. Falsification of documents.
  2. Threatening, assaulting, or abusive behavior towards a supervisor, student, employee, guest or customer of the university.
  3. Sexual harassment of an employee, student, guest or customer of the university on or off campus which may explicitly or implicitly affect an employee’s performance or unreasonably interferes with a person’s employment or academic endeavors.
  4. Jeopardizing the safety or health of an employee (including one's self), student, guest or customer of the university.
  5. Dishonesty or intentional fabrication of events.
  6. Negligent, incompetent, inefficient or unacceptable performance of duties.
  7. Willful disregard of reasonable directives or policies or a defiant attitude of noncompliance toward regulations, directives or policies applicable to an employee.
  8. Conduct that interferes with the efficient operation of the university.
  9. Inability or unwillingness to perform the duties required of a position.
  10. Possession or use of alcohol or illicit drugs, reporting to work under their influence, or being under their influence while on the job.
  11. Possession of drug paraphernalia or stolen property.
  12. Conviction or admission of a felony or certain misdemeanors.
  13. Careless, negligent, improper, unauthorized, or malicious use of, or theft of, property, equipment, or funds.
  14. Abuse of privileges.
  15. Failure to report for work or to timely report justifiable reason for absence to the department head or immediate supervisor.
  16. Repeated tardiness or poor attendance.
  17. Misconduct which adversely affects the interest or reputation of the university or its employees.
  18. Any repetition of offenses which resulted in a reprimand, warning, demotion, notification of unacceptable performance or suspension.
  19. Job abandonment.

Ineligible for Rehire

In some cases, former NMSU employees shall not be rehired by any NMSU entity. Read more about being ineligible for rehire.