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Discipline / Investigations

Can we search employees’ work areas while investigating a string of thefts?

01/01/2008

Q. I work for an Internet company with about 50 other employees. Recently, there have been several complaints around the office about theft of personal property. The problem has become a distraction in the workplace and I was asked to investigate the incidents.

Our employee manual does not have any policies prohibiting theft of personal property, and there are no notices that warn employees that their work areas may be searched. What right does my company have to search a suspected employee’s work space and personal items to try to locate property not owned or related to my company? …

How to conduct third-Party investigation without tipping off alleged harasser

01/01/2008

Q. I have received a complaint from one of my employees alleging sexual harassment by a supervisor in my HR department. I want to bring in an independent investigator, but I’m concerned I’ll have to notify the subject of the investigation. I’ve heard that the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires me to notify employees before investigating these types of complaints through a third party. Obviously, this would make things uncomfortable for the employee who filed the complaint. Does the FCRA’s notice requirement apply to a sexual harassment investigation? …

Show fairness by documenting all rule violations, discipline

01/01/2008

You must be prepared to show that you treated each and every employee equally when it comes to discipline. Otherwise, you may find yourself in the same situation as, in the following case, an employer that couldn’t recall how it had disciplined a white employee for violating an attendance rule, but fired a black employee for the same infraction …

Is it insubordination to call in sick after being turned down for leave?

01/01/2008

Q. During the busiest period of the year, a veteran employee asked for time off to attend her nephew’s graduation. After being turned down, she called in sick on graduation day. Is this considered insubordination? And how should we handle this situation? …

Judge says prison harassment could have been deadly

12/01/2007

A lesbian prison guard has been awarded $850,000 after an administrative judge found that she had endured a “relentless, daily regimen of mental and physical threats” by a co-worker at the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden …

Disciplining tardy, exempt employees

12/01/2007

Q. We have an exempt employee who is consistently late a few times a week, arriving anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours late. Can we discipline him for being consistently late? In addition, can we require him to work at set times—for example from 9 am to 5 pm? …

Unless there’s discipline, it’s not religious discrimination

12/01/2007

Employees whose employers turn down requests for time off to attend religious services can’t just run out and sue for religious discrimination. They have a case only if their employers discipline or discharge them for refusing to comply with the work requirements—for example, by skipping work to attend services …

Discipline tracking system beats discrimination claims

12/01/2007

Can your organization produce concrete evidence backing up every disciplinary decision it’s made? You need a tracking system that does just that. Here’s why …

Track all feedback to improve promotion process

12/01/2007

If your organization has lots of entry-level employees and a practice of promoting from within, you probably face a crowded field when trying to identify the best candidates for promotion. If that entry-level labor pool is also ethnically and racially diverse, you have to make sure your promotion process doesn’t favor one group over another. Here’s one way to pick the best of the best …

Follow the discipline rules in your handbook to defeat discrimination claims

12/01/2007

Your organization’s employee handbook exists for a reason. It serves as a simple and effective way to let employees know what the rules are and what you expect in the way of behavior. If you can show that employees received copies of the handbook and were expected to be familiar with its contents, you have a good shot at defeating any discriminatory discharge claims if you disciplined according to the rules set out in the handbook …