Discipline / Investigations

Baseless claims won’t trigger anti-retaliation protection

05/01/2004

While it may be tempting, avoid firing employees in reaction to their in-house complaints or lawsuits, even if you think the charges are without merit. Reason: A jury will likely see …

Don’t dock employees for time worked

05/01/2004

Q. We give employees the choice of using two 10-minute breaks each day or combining them into one 20-minute lunch break. The employees are required to punch out and in for these breaks. Now, we have a policy that docks employees 15 minutes if they’re four or more minutes late returning from a break. Is this legal? —J.B., Texas

Alcoholics may be protected by ADA, but don’t tolerate at-work drinking

04/01/2004

You may be surprised to discover that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may protect workers who are alcoholics, even if they currently drink. To earn ADA protection, an alcoholic’s addiction …

Attendance policy: Control absenteeism without breaking the law

04/01/2004

THE LAW. Regular attendance is obviously a key job function for most of your employees. But despite your freedom to set and enforce attendance rules, you also face key legal …

Wear kid gloves with accommodation requests; they are ‘protected activity’

03/01/2004

Alert managers that they can’t demote, fire or retaliate in any way against employees simply because they ask you to accommodate their physical ailments. That advice holds true even if employees …

Retaliation: Don’t retaliate against witnesses

03/01/2004

After a workplace investigation, check with all parties involved (including witnesses) to make sure they haven’t been retaliated against. The case: During an investigation into misconduct, employee Donny Abbott told supervisors …

Be consistent when you discipline and terminate

03/01/2004

Q. We fired one of our truck drivers after giving him a written warning about continued lateness in completing weekly logs. Should we have taken any other action prior to his termination? —R.W., California

7 tips for documenting employee discipline

03/01/2004

You need to be careful when writing up employees for disciplinary reasons. To protect yourself and the organization, follow these guidelines when documenting employee discipline.

Protect employee/witnesses from retaliation

02/01/2004

After a workplace investigation, check with all parties involved (including witnesses) to make sure they haven’t been retaliated against. While it’s illegal to retaliate against employees for filing a lawsuit, you …

Use software to block employee music downloads

02/01/2004

Just one hip-hopping employee downloading tunes can sap your computer resources, expose you to legal problems and kill productivity. Advice: Make sure your computer-use policy prohibits music downloads and outlines punishments. …