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Employee Relations

Does an employee have a right to ‘correct’ a discipline report that’s going into her file?

07/10/2012

Q. We recently disciplined an employee for repeated insubordination because of her attitude toward her supervisor. We wrote her up and placed a warning report in her file. Now she is protesting the accuracy of the report and demanding the chance to “correct” it. Can we force her to sign our disciplinary report as-is?

Can volunteerism be part of job review criteria?

07/10/2012
Q. Our evaluation process includes commitment to the community. We give all employees “points” for volunteering. The points become part of their numerical rating and could affect their rating (satisfactory or unsatisfactory) and raise potential. We don’t pay for volunteering time. Are we violating the law?

Keep detailed, contemporaneous records to show you are vigilant and consistent about discipline

07/08/2012
Lots of discipline takes place out of sight of most employees. Employees may be reprimanded or otherwise punished for inappropriate behavior without co-workers ever finding out. Sometimes, even the employee who raised the original problem—for example, harassment or an inappropriate joke—may not know the outcome.

Turning underachievers into overachievers: How to spark the turnaround

07/03/2012
Every manager has employees who perform below standard. They’re not terrible employees, but they’re not achieving the quality or quantity of work they’re capable of. Try these tips for letting underachieving employees know what’s expected and get them moving in the right direction.

Customizing feedback: The 9 different personality types

07/03/2012

Ever notice how you can say the same exact thing to two different people, and they each take the comment completely differently? The best managers know how to give feedback to different employees. Here are nine personality types and how to handle them:

Police called in response to workplace harassment? You must still act to stop future incidents

07/02/2012

If a co-worker, supervisor or cus­­tomer sexually assaults an em­ployee and the police are called in, the employer must still take reasonable steps to stop the harassment and prevent another assault. It’s not enough to rely on the police to take care of the problem.

Wexford comptroller had a good gig … while it lasted

07/02/2012
Patricia Smith, the former comptroller for the Baierl Acura dealership in Wexford, lived lavishly for 6½ years. Now Smith is trading in haute couture for prison coveralls after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $10 million from her employer between late 2004 and July 2011.

OK to discipline, even after harassment claim

07/01/2012

When employees face progressive discipline and think they might be fired, they sometimes suddenly start complaining about alleged sexual harassment. The underlying reason may be legitimate—or it may just be a ploy to stop discipline. It doesn’t mean all discipline has to be put on hold.

Union boss embezzled union funds for gambling

07/01/2012
Ernest Milewski, the Wilkes-Barre union official who earlier this year pleaded guilty to embezzling union funds and the assets of a health care benefit program, used his sentencing hearing to come clean on the reason why he stole the money—to pay for an out-of-control gambling habit.

After firing, counter frivolous lawsuits with solid documentation of poor performance

07/01/2012
Fired employees have nothing to lose by suing a former employer. And employers have no way of know-ing what frivolous claim a former employee may file. That’s one good reason to make sure you document poor performance.