Discipline / Investigations

Act fast to shut down bosses who insult, demean and harass their subordinates

05/10/2016

Are you hearing complaints that a particular manager is insulting subordinates to the point where it might be considered harassment? Don’t ignore the situation.

4 tips for responding to employee rants and raves

05/10/2016

Disciplinary and termination meetings are emotionally charged events that carry the potential for legal troubles.

When it comes to discipline, details matter–and so does consistency and fairness

05/03/2016

Employers that discipline workers consistently and fairly hardly ever get sued. On the rare occasions they do face a lawsuit, they don’t often lose.

Key to beating bias suits: Consistent discipline

05/03/2016

Make sure you equally and consistently punish all employees who break the same rules.

2 employees, 1 offense? Discipline equally

04/08/2016

When two employees are involved in the same misconduct, be sure to discipline both, otherwise you could have yourself a discrimination case.

Conduct careful investigation after public employees’ leak of damaging information

03/08/2016

Public employers have a special Constitutional responsibility that private-sector employers don’t have.

Designing a Progressive Discipline Policy

03/07/2016

White Paper published by The HR Specialist ______________________ The most reliable way to protect your organization from wrongful termination charges is to establish and enforce a system of progressive discipline. Having such a structure in place, and making it clear to all supervisors that they are expected to abide by it, is your best defense […]

Beware boss backlash after complaint–you’re probably looking at retaliation

02/22/2016

It usually happens like this: An employee comes to HR complaining that her boss said something inappropriate—maybe it was a sexually explicit joke, racial slur or offensive comment about someone’s religion. Then the supervisor gets angry at the employee for complaining and retaliates.

Writing the ‘written warning’

02/18/2016

A “written warning” is usually a key step in the process of progressive discipline. It’s purpose, of course, is to effect a change in behavior. But how do you write one?

Unequal discipline for same offense? Be prepared to explain exactly why

02/10/2016

When more than one employee is implicated in a rule violation, make sure all employees are disciplined equally. That’s especially true if they have the same supervisors and similar disciplinary histories.