How to Let Go of a Filipino VA: Legal, Ethical & Practical Guide

The Hiring Step No One Prepares You For

Every guide about hiring a Filipino VA covers posting the job, screening candidates, and onboarding. Almost none cover how to end the engagement when it doesn't work out. Which is a problem, because eventually — even with a strong screening process — some hires will not work out.

This guide covers the practical, legal, and ethical framework for ending a contractor relationship with a Filipino VA. It's written for employers engaging contractors (not formal employees). If you have an EOR arrangement through VirtualStaff.ph, Deel, or a similar service, termination rules are different — consult your EOR.

Step 1: Decide If Termination Is Actually the Right Call

Before firing, ask yourself:

Have I given direct, specific feedback? If the VA has never been told their performance is a problem, they can't have fixed it. Verbal hints and silent frustration aren't feedback.
Have I given them a 30-day improvement window? Written, specific expectations with a clear deadline. If performance doesn't improve, you have a stronger basis for termination and less guilt.
Have I checked my own process? Missing SOPs, unclear priorities, and moving goalposts are employer problems, not VA problems. Fix those before concluding the hire is bad.

If you've done these and the hire still isn't working, termination is the right call. Don't delay — prolonging a bad fit is worse for both sides than a clean exit.

Step 2: Review Your Contractor Agreement

Open the written agreement you signed. Look for:

Notice period. Standard is 2 weeks for contractors. Some agreements have longer notice; some have immediate termination clauses for cause.
Payment of outstanding work. You owe the VA for hours already worked. Calculate honestly — don't withhold as leverage.
IP and access termination. Does the agreement specify what happens to passwords, documents, and work product after separation? It should.
Non-disclosure. Standard NDA survives termination. Good reminder for both sides.

If you don't have a written agreement, your options are more limited and your exposure is higher. See our contractor legal guide for what a proper agreement should look like.

Step 3: Have the Conversation — Directly, Respectfully, Privately

The termination conversation is brief. Schedule a 15-minute Zoom call. Don't do it over Slack or email — this is a moment where tone and humanity matter.

Script (adapt to your situation)

"I appreciate you joining this call. I've made the decision to end our working arrangement. I wanted to tell you directly rather than over message.
The specific reason is [X]. We talked about this at our last review and I don't see a path forward. I want to be clear that this is my decision and final.
On practical matters: your last working day will be [date]. I'll pay out all hours through that date plus [optional: a 2-week severance as goodwill]. You don't need to work the notice period — you can wrap up what you're doing today.
I'll revoke platform access on [date]. Please export any personal files or drafts you may have saved before then.
I know this is hard to hear. I'm happy to provide a written reference for future employers that reflects what you did well here. Do you have any questions?"

Keep it short, factual, and final. Don't negotiate. Don't over-apologize. Don't leave room for reversal discussions. The goal is clarity.

Step 4: Handle Final Payment Cleanly

Pay what you owe within 5–7 days. Specifically:

All hours worked through the final day, including any hours worked during the notice period.
Any performance bonuses that were earned (per-lead commission, per-ticket resolution bonuses, etc.) before the termination.
Final invoice. Ask the VA to send a final invoice. It creates a clean paper trail.

About 13th month pay: for contractors (not employees), 13th month isn't legally required. That said, if you've had the VA for most of the year, paying a prorated 13th month as a goodwill gesture is standard among ethical employers. Rough calc: (monthly rate × months worked) ÷ 12.

Severance: optional. Common practice for contractor terminations:

< 6 months of engagement: no severance expected
6–12 months: 2 weeks of severance is a goodwill gesture
1+ years: 2–4 weeks of severance is the norm among ethical employers
Performance-based termination: less severance; mutual or downsizing termination: more severance

Step 5: Revoke Access Systematically

Within 24 hours of the final working day:

Revoke all platform access. CRM, email, Slack, Shopify, Gorgias, HubSpot — every tool they had access to. Remove them from 1Password or Bitwarden team.
Change any shared passwords that were written down or reused.
Transfer their work product. Move their Google Drive files to your ownership. Reassign ownership of shared Notion pages or Airtable records.
Audit what they had access to. Write down every tool access to create a checklist. This becomes your offboarding SOP for future separations.
Reroute emails. Any client emails sent to them should auto-forward to someone else or bounce with an explanation.
Update internal team. Brief internal staff on the change so there are no awkward "where's [VA]?" moments with clients.

Step 6: Document for the Next Hire

Before replacing the VA, write down:

What worked about this hire. What skills, habits, or working styles were strong?
What didn't work. Was it skill mismatch? Communication? Work ethic? Be specific.
What I missed in screening. Which red flags, if any, were present but you didn't catch?
What I should do differently next time. Different interview questions, longer test task, stronger SOPs, clearer expectations?

This retrospective is the most valuable output of a failed hire. See our red flags guide for patterns to watch for next time, and our interview questions guide for sharper screening.

Step 7: Be a Good Reference

If the VA did anything well, write a short written reference. Specific — "X handled Gorgias support ticket volume well and maintained our response-time SLA" is more useful than vague praise. If there's nothing positive to say, decline politely.

Filipino remote workers operate in a tightly networked community. Treating people well on the way out protects your reputation for future hires.

What NOT to Do

Don't ghost. Going silent on the VA is the worst outcome for both sides. It damages your reputation in the Filipino VA community, which is tightly networked.
Don't withhold final pay as leverage. Whatever the dispute, pay what's owed. Withholding pay is both unethical and can be used against you in a wage claim.
Don't fire over Slack or email. A 15-minute video call shows respect. Written termination without a conversation is cowardly and leaves too much ambiguity.
Don't reveal termination details to other team members. "[Name] is no longer with us, effective today" is enough. Personal details aren't anyone else's business.
Don't immediately post a replacement job listing. Wait a week to decompress and do your retrospective. A reactive re-hire often reproduces the same mismatch.
Don't badmouth the VA on public platforms. Whatever you say will be screenshotted and shared.

What If the VA Resigns First?

The inverse situation happens too. When a Filipino VA resigns:

Don't take it personally. VAs leave for better rates, career growth, or personal reasons. It's not betrayal.
Ask what would have kept them. Honest answers will make your next hire stickier.
Respect the notice period. If they offer 2 weeks, use them for knowledge transfer. Don't cut them off early to "protect" — the goodwill costs nothing.
Pay a fair final check promptly. Same rules as termination.
Keep the door open. Filipino remote workers frequently return to a former employer they liked. Don't burn bridges.

Starting Over

Once the separation is complete and documented, reset and rehire cleanly. Use the retrospective insights to sharpen your next hiring process. Post your next role on WorkFil for free and apply tighter screening.

The most successful employers of Filipino VAs have typically had 1–2 failed hires in their history. What differs is what they learned from those hires.