Discipline / Investigations

Don’t overlook oral warnings in progressive discipline process

08/19/2013

Progressive discipline often focuses on the end of the process—the written warnings that, if unheeded, can lead to firing. But the oral warnings that come at the beginning are just as important.

There’s a reason for all those disciplinary rules!

07/31/2013

You should be able to easily pull up every employee’s disciplinary history and show that the employee received a copy, acknowledged an oral warning or was counseled. Consider what happened in the following case when recordkeeping lapsed.

Discuss firing only with those who need to know

07/30/2013

As a general rule, you should only discuss a worker’s termination with those who really need to know about it. That’s especially true in sensitive cases involving alleged fraud, theft or falsifications. You don’t want to lose a defamation case because a manager decided to make an example of a fired employee.

When it comes to discipline, details matter

07/30/2013

Here’s an important reminder for HR professionals and managers who must investigate employee misconduct and decide on appropriate discipline. Don’t forget to provide a detailed account of what happened, whom you interviewed and how you arrived at an appropriate punishment. Make sure similar misconduct results in similar consequences.

Court points way toward tracking employees with GPS

07/24/2013

A recent New York Court of Appeals case offers guidance to employers that want to slap GPS devices on employees’ cars to monitor their activities.

Law firm employee convicted of true copycat crime

07/23/2013

A New York City man is headed to prison after being convicted of selling his employer’s copier toner on the black market.

Employee won’t cooperate with investigation? That’s legitimate grounds for discharge

07/17/2013

You can reasonably expect employees to cooperate with internal investigations so you can get all the facts and make well-informed decisions. You can and should discipline workers who won’t assist.

Zip it! Keep all investigations confidential

07/17/2013

Employees who participate in internal investigations into discrimination charges are protected from retaliation. That’s why it’s good policy to keep investigations confidential. Don’t divulge the names of cooperating employees to anyone who doesn’t need to know.

When firing, consider all the circumstances–but prepare for lawsuit

07/05/2013

Fired employees who file lawsuits alleging they were singled out for discipline because of some form of discrimination usually follow a basic legal strategy. They try to find a former co-worker outside their protected class who was punished less severely for similar conduct. Your best defense against those lawsuits is to make sure you carefully document all discipline.

Worry about disciplinary inequities from one supervisor, not every boss

06/27/2013

Yes, all employees are supposed to be treated equally when they break the same rule. But when courts compare discipline, they don’t do so across the entire organization. They focus on one supervisor at a time. Company-wide variations are normal and not absolute proof of discrimination.