Discipline / Investigations

‘Impossible’ PIP sinks employer’s discharge appeal

07/07/2025

Performance-improvement plans should be challenging enough to let supervisors know the employee is up to performing their essential job functions at an acceptable level. Set reasonable, objective goals that can be achieved with sufficient effort in the time allotted in the PIP.

Discover work mistakes during FMLA? Here’s what to do

06/23/2025

Employees who take FMLA leave are protected from retaliation for doing so. That’s led to the mistaken belief among some employees that they can’t be disciplined or fired while on leave. That’s not the case.

Be better! Anti-harassment training, half-hearted investigations aren’t enough

05/02/2025

Why aren’t anti-harassment policies more effective at preventing harassment? The answer may lie in ineffective training and the failure of employers to follow their own policies.

Discipline consistently to avoid reverse-discrimination lawsuits

04/25/2025

There’s a simple way to avoid many kinds of reverse-discrimination lawsuits: Treat everyone alike. That means making sure supervisors apply work rules impartially and without exception unless there is an objective reason discipline should differ.

7 situations you should document every time

04/11/2025

Thorough and accurate HR documentation is what wins lawsuits.

Clear violation of your rules? Courts won’t second-guess disciplinary decision

03/28/2025

You have workplace rules for a reason, and you can require employees to follow them. If someone breaks your rules or violates your policies, feel free to discipline them. As long as you enforce your rules evenhandedly and impose discipline consistently, courts are unlikely to second-guess your decision to punish employees.

Document termination decision before telling worker

02/28/2025

Always document disciplinary decisions the moment you make them—and before you tell the employee. That way, you can successfully argue that you could not have retaliated against the employee because the decision was made before you knew about their request.

Disciplining for harassment? Ensure it’s even-handed

10/10/2024

When disciplining workers for harassing co-workers, make sure the punishment isn’t disproportionate and that you can show similarly situated workers were punished the same way.

Take employee misconduct complaints seriously, for their sake and yours

09/27/2024

Employers would love it if unacceptable behavior never happened in their workplace. Unfortunately, few work environments escape problems. Effective leaders realize their actions during such critical times play a huge role in employee relations going forward.

Investigate all complaints

09/19/2024

Ignoring a harassment complaint could result in a messy public lawsuit.