How to Identify and Know When to Fire a Toxic Employee, According to an HR Expert The difference between a difficult team member and a toxic one is often clear — as is when it's time to let them go.

Nineteen percent of workers say their workplace is very or somewhat toxic, a new survey from the American Psychological Association found.

Leaders can help build a positive company culture, but sometimes it's easier said than done.

What does being "toxic" in a professional setting look like? And what differentiates a toxic employee from one who's merely difficult?

Entrepreneur spoke with Theresa Dear, chief people officer at Vivent Health, to learn more about what makes an employee toxic — and how to determine when it's time to fire them.

Related: Bill Gates Says Changing This Toxic Habit Helped Him Succeed

First off, a toxic employee is "incessantly dissatisfied," Dear says.

"They attempt to engage others in cultivating a culture of blame and division against other people, teams, departments or management," Dear explains. "They will tell other coworkers they are unhappy or dissatisfied rather than talk to their supervisor or seek other employment options."

Instead of focusing on their organization's mission, values or goals, toxic employees zero in on everything wrong and don't make an effort to understand another perspective, Dear says, adding that they "actually seem to derive contentment" from fueling arguments and distrust.

And a toxic employee's behavior is notably different from that of one who's simply difficult.

"Difficult employees can be impatient and challenging, but reasonable," Dear says. "With toxic employees, de-escalation skills may need to be engaged, which is not necessarily the case with difficult employees. Difficult employees may have concerns or challenges that are episodic and issue or policy or employee-based, whereas a toxic employee will predictively have concerns that are issue and policy and employee-based."

Toxic employees may also exhibit a "greater and longer emotional response" to an issue and will rarely apologize or express gratitude, according to Dear.

Although toxic employees can raise valid concerns, the problem often lies with how they express them. It's up to leaders to review and follow up on those concerns, Dear says, as doing so can help de-escalate situations and build trust.

"Conversations should take place with the toxic employee to ascertain what is at the root of the behavior (family issues, former supervisor, etc.), expectations and accountability and, finally, cultural fit," Dear adds, noting that leaders are responsible for upholding those accountability commitments.

But when is it enough — at what point should a toxic employee be fired?

Dear cites her own organization's approach by way of example.

"We have a strong commitment to and culture of DEIB, where we value, affirm and uplift one another," she explains. "To this end, we have a zero-tolerance policy that requires immediate termination for the use of racial slurs, epithets and pejorative terms against other groups. In this situation, when toxic employees decide they want to challenge this policy by using an offensive term against another community/group, termination of employment happens immediately."

Related: If You Do Any of These 3 Things, You Might Be a Toxic Co-Worker

Additionally, Dear says toxic employees can often be fired during the probationary period, as it's hard for them to hide their authentic selves, even for a short time.

"If there is a corrective action plan and the employee has not consistently improved, the employee can be terminated while they are on a written warning or performance improvement plan," Dear says. "Most importantly, if toxic behavior disrupts the business, offends others, diminishes the customer experience, raises false allegations and demoralizes morale — these are all reasons for termination."