We're Scared. Read This!
As you all know (we hope), we assist employers in making sure they are implementing significant policies to avoid discrimination and wrongful discharge claims.
Failing to properly draft, implement, disseminate and administer these key policies can lead to discrimination and wrongful discharge awards in the millions (gulp!) of dollars.
We're nervous enough to be trying to help all our clients be very clear with their policies. If we contact you about your handbook, it's because we have a good reason to: employees are a very protected group of folks, and a good handbook is the best protection for employers. It doesn't just protect you from a lawsuit, it should help you communicate with employees on a daily basis in a way that prevents confusion.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and plaintiff's attorney are aggressively focusing on employer handbooks and policies in pursuing claims of discrimination and wrongful discharge. Human resources professionals and managers, like us, and like YOU, are being deposed and quizzed on the following:
1. What the policies and procedures really mean: were you clear? Are your staff confused?
2. How are they distributed to employees: can you PROVE that your employees GOT the policy and understood it? Know where to find answers?
3. Whether employees know how to make an internal complaint and if the policies are applied consistently across your staff.
Call us if this if something that makes your hair stand on end.