For better or worse, the American workplace is different than it was, and perhaps also different from how we want it to be. HR managers have to bridge the gap, says attorney Christopher Leh.
People want the workforce to be a family, where managers and employees can talk about anything and everything. But the fact of matter is that there are some topics—like caregiving—that are best avoided, lest they lead to lawsuits, says Christopher Leh, a partner with Boulder, Colorado, office of law firm Holland and Hart LLP. Leh’s remarks came during a recent BLR audio conference.
Avoiding FRD Claims
The first level of prevention, says Leh, is to evaluate your own policies to be sure there is no distinction on the basis of race, sex, age, pregnancy, or other protected classes. In addition, he suggests:
- When evaluating employees, focus on objective qualifications and performance on job, not personal or family factors.
- Train employees on what comments are appropriate.
- Train supervisors to recognize problems, and then how and when to seek advice from HR.
- Develop an effective complaint mechanism.
- Instill in all employees the duty of reporting concerns about possible disparate treatment.
- Investigate all complaints and take appropriate action.
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When Caregiving Gets Out of Control
What can an employer do when caregiving responsibilities are really interfering with productivity, such as an employee missing every other day, for weeks at a time?
Go back to first principles, says Leh. You control what the job requirements are. Tell the worker, “I need you here xx hours each week, between these times of day, and I need you to achieve these goals each week.” As long as you focus on that, and not the caregiving, you will be all right, says Leh.
As you’ve been reading about FRD, you’ve likely been thinking about legally ticklish situations in your own company, and whether your policies and training programs are still appropriate in these changing times.
We asked our editors what HR managers should be doing to make sure they keep personnel matters both legal and current. Their Rx: regular auditing with a good program of HR checklists.
Why Use Checklists?
Why checklists? Because they’re completely impersonal, they force the auditing manager to jump through all the necessary hoops, one by one. They also ensure consistency in how operations are conducted. And that’s vital in HR, where it’s all too easy to land in court if you discriminate in how you treat one employee over another.
The program the editors recommend is BLR’s HR Audit Checklists.
Just as an example of how it compels thoroughness, it contains not one, but three checklists relating to recordkeeping and digital information management. One lists 34 types of data, and also covers confidentiality, emergency planning, efficiency, compliance with laws, and safety. You’d likely never think of all those possible trouble areas without a checklist; but with it, just scan down the list, and you instantly see where you might get tripped up.
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In fact, housed in the HR Audit Checklists binder are dozens of extensive lists organized into reproducible packets, for easy distribution to line managers and supervisors. There’s a separate packet for each of the following areas:
- HR Administration (including communications, handbook content, and recordkeeping)
- Health and Safety (including OSHA responsibilities)
- Benefits and Leave (including health cost containment, COBRA, FMLA, workers’ compensation, and several areas of leave)
- Compensation (payroll and the Fair Labor Standards Act)
- Staffing and Training (incorporating Equal Employment Opportunity in recruiting and hiring, including immigration issues)
- Performance and Termination (appraisals, discipline, and termination)
HR Audit Checklists is available for a no-cost, no-risk evaluation in your office for up to 30 days. Click here and we’ll be happy to arrange it.