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

Discipline / Investigations

Defuse bias suits by tracking which staff you discipline

03/01/2007

It’s a good idea to track the age, race, religion, sex or other characteristics of employees you discipline. Being able to see, at a glance, a potentially discriminatory pattern can help you make a midcourse correction …

Throwing the book at a worker: A good lawsuit defense

03/01/2007

When faced with an employee who has committed numerous rule violations, do you pick the most serious one and act on that? If so, you may want to rethink that strategy …

Chaos unleashed: Animal shelter staff howls about top dog’s behavior

03/01/2007

Fighting, horseplay, unreported accidents: You might expect those kinds of antics at the local animal shelter, but not from the staff  …

Chief under restraining order for harassing firefighters

03/01/2007

Loganville, Ga., has found a unique way to deal with an allegedly roguish, abrasive manager …

Firing workers who take FMLA leave? Do it carefully

03/01/2007

The federal FMLA and New Jersey’s Family Leave Act (NJFLA) both make it illegal to discipline or terminate employees because they take leave to care for a sick parent or child. But that doesn’t mean employees who take such leave are “untouchable” from discipline …

Cut your liability: Suspend and transfer harassers

03/01/2007

Let’s say you promptly investigated a sexual harassment claim and conclude that an employee engaged in conduct that offended sensitive employees but wasn’t outrageous. What do you do? If your aim is to stem a brewing problem, it pays to do more than issue a verbal warning …

Blocking employee’s exit could be false imprisonment

03/01/2007

Do the supervisors in your organization know how to handle potentially volatile employment discussions? If they don’t use kid gloves, they could be sued personally by employees for state torts such as false imprisonment and battery …


Good records are key to winning retaliation lawsuits

03/01/2007

When it comes to discharging employees, it’s very important to document your decision-making process. Be prepared to show that you followed company disciplinary rules and applied them even-handedly …

Allow accusers to bypass supervisor to file complaints

03/01/2007

A sexual harassment policy is worthless unless it clues in those who really need to know what’s going on at the shop level. Don’t think you’re in the clear just because you have a policy and tell supervisors to stamp out harassment …

Workplace rules can be flexible … if enforced fairly

03/01/2007

When it comes to creating workplace rules, don’t think you have to spell out every last detail. It’s OK to leave some rules intentionally vague, so you’ll have some wiggle room. Just be sure to exercise your discretion fairly …