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Employee Relations

Good documentation wins cases–even sensitive ones

11/15/2010
Having complete records of why you disciplined an employee often gives a court the information it needs to decide whether you’ve discriminated—or even retaliated against someone who has leveled serious charges against you.

Take action to separate, investigate as soon as you hear sexual harassment allegations

11/15/2010

Juries are unpredictable, so smart employers do everything they can to avoid a jury trial. That’s especially important when an employee claims sexual harassment. It’s critical to investigate sexual harassment allegations as soon as they surface. Then act fast to separate the involved employees before more harm is done.

Set up systems to prevent employee sabotage

11/12/2010

Employees often have legitimate reasons for accusing their employers of retaliation. But sometimes, employees themselves retaliate against a company, either out of malice, or to head off being fired. That’s one reason it pays to try to anticipate employee misfeasance and guard against sabotage.

Conducting workplace investigations: A step-by-step guide

11/10/2010
Disputes between co-workers and between employees and their bosses are almost inevitable—which is why every HR professional must know how to gather the necessary facts to find out what’s going on. Take some time to think about and plan your inquiry even for simple, seemingly routine issues. If the situation is complicated or raises a red flag about possible legal claims, a well-planned investigation can be critically important.

Keep good records–they’re the key to winning lawsuits

11/08/2010
Remind supervisors: They can’t be careless about documenting poor performance, tardiness and other indications that an employee isn’t performing as well as expected. Good records provide the basis for valid discipline.

Establish clear performance expectations so courts can judge if employee was meeting them

11/01/2010

Courts often hesitate to second-guess employers when they fire employees for what seem like honest reasons. And employers that set out clear performance expectations and then show how the terminated employee fell short rarely lose a lawsuit. That’s because, absent smoking-gun evidence of discrimination, fired employees have to prove they were meeting their employer’s legitimate expectations.

4 phrases that can sabotage job reviews

11/01/2010

When supervisors talk with employees about job performance, they must beware using common phrases that can unintentionally communicate the wrong message, or come across as too negative … or even legally dangerous. Feel free to share this “Memo to Managers” article with everyone in your organization who conducts performance reviews. Bonus: They’ll also learn the two phrases virtually guaranteed to spark a lawsuit.

Scam against Cisco could mean 20 years for IT manager

11/01/2010
An IT manager at the Woodbury-based Postal Credit Union has pleaded guilty to scamming computer giant Cisco Systems out of $388,000 by swapping allegedly defective Cisco parts for good ones and then reselling the replacements on the open market.

Fire blatant rule-breakers–even ‘top producers’

11/01/2010

Some employees think that being the best employee in a division or company means not having to follow the rules. That isn’t true and can be downright damaging to morale. If you decide to fire the employee because of disruptive and uncooperative behavior, don’t worry that he’ll win a lawsuit just by virtue of productivity.

If absenteeism not disability-related, feel free to discipline

11/01/2010

You should hold disabled employees to the same behavioral standards as other employees, unless there is a good disability-related reason to deviate from the rules. For example, if you set strict time limits for lunches and authorized breaks, there is no reason to give disabled employees more time unless allowing more time is a legitimate reasonable accommodation.