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Discipline / Investigations

Considering an employee hotline, but worried about anonymous complaints

02/01/2008

Q. We don’t have a hotline for employees to call to complain about harassment, discrimination or retaliation. We have been considering one, but we are concerned about anonymous complaints. Should we set up one anyway? …

Tell supervisors: Absolutely no ethnic comments allowed

02/01/2008

What seems like a joke to members of the majority can be deeply hurtful to members of a minority. These days, that’s a particular issue in areas with a large concentration of people of Middle Eastern heritage—such as Michigan. As the “war on terror” shows no signs of abating, it makes sense to remind managers and supervisors to stay away from any comments on ethnicity …

Public employees may have right to run web site critical of employer

02/01/2008

The Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) has taken the position that, like the federal National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), it can order an employee to be reinstated if a public employer punished him for speaking publicly about workplace issues …

Can we impose a disciplinary day off against an exempt employee?

02/01/2008

Q. One of our department managers consistently violates our safety policies. We have written him up before, but that does not seem to get through to him. Our safety consultant has suggested that we give the manager a day off without pay to “send a message.” I am concerned that we may have a problem under wage-and-hour laws—that an employer cannot deduct wages from an “exempt” employee. This manager works long hours, and we do not want to face a claim that we made him a nonexempt employee because of a one-day disciplinary suspension. Your thoughts? …

Now is the time to develop a comprehensive whistle-Blower policy

02/01/2008

Although Florida’s state whistle-blower law applies only to state government and state contractors, don’t believe you are above the law just because you are a private employer. Rather than ignore a complaint—and risk expensive litigation—you need to establish policies to investigate whistle-blower complaints …

Tennis coach’s firing serves up lesson in employee discipline

02/01/2008

Progressive discipline is a system in which penalties increase upon repeat occurrences. But don’t pick and choose which employees you run through progressive discipline. It’s critical to apply those procedures to all employees or none, as this new case shows …

Minor discipline without pay or benefits loss isn’t retaliation

02/01/2008

Punishing someone who has filed EEOC or other discrimination claims is illegal. But that shouldn’t stop you from enforcing reasonable rules. Courts won’t ordinarily view as retaliation minor disciplinary actions that don’t cost employees any pay or benefits …

Paid suspensions help cool down disputes

02/01/2008

When things get heated in the workplace, call a timeout. You need time to investigate what’s going on, and employees may need time to cool down. Paid administrative leave is often the best way to do that. Continue to pay the employee (and provide benefits) so he won’t be able to point to the suspension as an adverse employment action …

Can you discipline employees for committing adultery?

02/01/2008

It didn’t take fancy detective work for one employer to crack this case. A running shower, a sleeping man and a squad car parked out front was all one employer needed to invoke a unique policy.

Unequal treatment during investigation can trigger lawsuit

02/01/2008

When conducting internal investigations into alleged wrongdoings, make sure you don’t treat employees who belong to a protected class (e.g., age, sex, race or disability) differently than others who may have misbehaved. As the following case shows, discharging one person based on an emotional reaction during an interview and keeping another who kept his cool under questioning may lead to a discrimination lawsuit …