Discipline / Investigations

The 3 things NOT to say in your sexual-harassment policy

04/01/2005

Issue: The words you leave out of your sexual-harassment policy are as important as those you put in.
Risk: Imprecise, or too precise, wording can paint you into a corner …

How your management style can stop workplace violence

04/01/2005

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When handing out discipline, make punishment fit the crime

03/01/2005

Managers may want to “get tough” on employees who have given them trouble in the past. But, as the following case shows, employees can sue for retaliation if they can prove …

Remind managers to prevent ‘off-the-clock’ work

03/01/2005

Telecom giant Cingular settled a Labor Department audit last month by paying $5.1 million in back wages to more than 25,000 customer-service reps and agreeing to create a new time-reporting review …

Employee can’t ‘play nice’ with others? He may be ‘disabled’

03/01/2005

Issue: Which mental impairments are considered “disabilities” covered by the ADA?
Risk: An employee’s troubles interacting with co-workers may, by itself, allow the employee to claim disability status.
Action: …

Don’t extend disciplinary periods due to FMLA or military absences

02/01/2005

When employees are covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or military-leave laws, you’re not allowed to count their legally protected absences in any negative way.
Pay special …

Poke holes in your absence policy before a court does

02/01/2005

Issue: How consistently do you treat employee absences?
Risk: Many organizations’ attendance policies, inadvertently or not, include legally risky doublespeak.
Action: Examine your policy, looking for contradictions and inconsistencies …

Don’t retaliate against employee who is arrested; await case result

01/01/2005

When dealing with employees who’ve had brushes with the law, remember that a big difference exists between “arrests” and “convictions.”
It’s clear that you can fire employees convicted of crimes. …

Preventing harassment: not a ‘one and done’ deal

01/01/2005

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Inability to ‘get along with others’ may qualify employees as disabled

12/01/2004

Perk up your lawsuit radar if you (or one of your organization’s managers) plan to discipline an employee who has emotional problems and difficulty relating to other people. As the following …