• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Discipline / Investigations

Your anti-harassment obligations are 24/7/365

05/17/2023
An employer has the same obligations whether the harassment takes place in the workplace during working hours, in the break room, at the bar during happy hour, via text message or social media, in a grocery store aisle or in outer space.

Refusal to sign discipline memo? What to do

05/12/2023
Every HR professional knows the importance of disciplinary documentation. But what happens if an employee refuses to sign a disciplinary memo?

Check for possible retaliation before approving discipline

04/17/2023
Before approving a termination, always review the case details. Be on the lookout for signs that the action might be motivated by a supervisor’s attempt to retaliate against the employee.

Document every step in investigation

03/16/2023
Employees who get fired are very likely to file lawsuits. Their lawyers will surely scrutinize your investigation for any evidence that you took shortcuts or were biased in some way against their client. It’s up to HR to prepare for that possibility by showing that the investigation was based on valid business reasons and that you applied the process even-handedly.

OK to discipline worker who filed complaint

01/24/2023
Make sure your organization’s supervisors understand that it’s perfectly legal to impose legitimate discipline on an employee who has filed a harassment or discrimination complaint.

Keep it Legal: The case for detailed disciplinary notes

01/06/2023
Do you keep detailed disciplinary notes and pass them on to HR? Here’s why, as a manager, you should. If you have to fire a worker and he sues, alleging discrimination because another worker broke the same rule and wasn’t fired, those notes will come in handy. Detailed narratives let you explain why you allowed one worker to get away with a warning or short suspension while you fired another worker who broke the same rule.

The case for behavioral rules

10/20/2022
If you don’t have behavioral rules to guide employees or don’t enforce the current ones, you are missing an opportunity to discipline workers appropriately when they cross behavioral lines.

Keep It Legal: Internal investigations—get them right or pay the price

10/14/2022
“Investigations are becoming a new and independent source of risk,” attorney Christopher Ward with Foley & Lardner told Business Management Daily during their HR Specialist Summit. “And it’s not simply whether you did an investigation, but whether you did it right. A good investigation usually means a good process.”

Employees are ignoring the rules! How to deal with it

08/27/2022
Generally there are two types of rule-breakers: those who unwittingly break them (a quick reminder will set them straight); and those who knowingly break them (a tougher job for you). Here are some guidelines to deal with the latter.

Investigate all harassment complaints ASAP

07/21/2022
Act fast as soon as you learn an employee has complained about harassment. If you don’t, you may lose the only defense your organization has.