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Employee Relations

How’s your onboarding process? Survey to find out

01/25/2019
Don’t just hope that your onboarding efforts are working. Wait 30 days after each hiring and then survey the employee on his or her experience on that first day.

Break the FMLA shield: Document when you began considering discipline

01/23/2019
An employee may think taking FMLA leave will prevent serious discipline such as being terminated. That strategy won’t work if you can show the disciplinary process had already begun before she asked for FMLA leave.

Don’t let disability stop legitimate discipline

01/23/2019
It’s reasonable to worry that disciplining an employee who is disabled might trigger a lawsuit. Don’t let those kinds of concerns dissuade you from otherwise legitimate discipline. Courts general allow employers great leeway to punish employees who seem to genuinely deserve it.

Prepare to show you impose discipline equally

01/22/2019
Would you be able to persuade a judge that every employee you have recently disciplined was treated the same as every other employee you have previously punished for the same infraction? It’s essential.

Beware close timing between discipline and employee’s request to take FMLA leave

01/22/2019
If you intend to discipline someone who is on or is about to go on FMLA leave, be sure everything about the disciplinary process looks legitimate and fair.

Prepare to show you would have disciplined even if employee wasn’t a whistleblower

01/22/2019
Sometimes, an employee may decide to take revenge if she perceives she has been unfairly disciplined. If she does so by becoming a whistleblower, she may believe that protects her from eventual termination. That’s not true if the employer can persuade a court it would have disciplined or fired her whether she reported alleged wrongdoing or not.

Employers rethinking performance appraisals

01/20/2019
The performance review is getting a makeover, suggests new research from staffing firm OfficeTeam.

Count errors to make a solid case for discipline

01/16/2019
If it’s possible, quantify any mistakes employees make. For example, if you can count specific errors, track the number.

When it comes to discipline, details matter

01/16/2019
Smart employers are ready to counter charges of discrimination with details about the underlying reasons for discipline.

Take care when disciplining whistleblowers

01/10/2019
An employer must show it would have taken the same action against an employee even if he had not blown the whistle.