In yesterday’s Advisor, we featured three of Hunter Lott’s tips from his book Please Sue Me. Today, we look at two more and at a work-saving policy writing tool.
Lott, who shared his tips during a SHRM conference, is a partner at HCap International, a human capital training and consulting organization in Lawrence, Kansas. His book is described as “the guide to safe hiring and firing practices for the frontline manager with a short attention span.”
Please Sue Me #4–Document
HR managers have been screaming document, document, document—and we were right!
When you look at the numbers, Lott says, the cases that get thrown out are the cases that are well-documented, and where people were given a reasonable chance to save their jobs. Courts don’t like these cases and lawyers probably won’t even take them.
But don’t let supervisors get carried away. “I’ve got 1,300 notes on Brad.” If that’s the case, you should have fired him 1,275 notes ago, says Lott, adding that we don’t fire bad people quickly enough.
Be sure that the written notice has the flavor of “Here’s a chance to save your job,” he says.
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If employees won’t sign written warnings or other documents, try this, says Lott. Turn the paper over, write “I refuse to sign this form” and ask them to initial it. They’ll do it. This will often work as long as you don’t laugh, he says. If it doesn’t work, get a witness.
Please Sue Me #5–Think Like an Outsider
Since HR managers can’t be everywhere, they have to instill in the board and the boss some common sense. The best way to do that is to teach them to think the way an outsider thinks.
Teach the concept of “60 Minutes,” says Lott. Every time you are contemplating an employee action, ask yourself–would you want to go on the television show “60 Minutes” and defend your action?
This works better than rules and definitions, Lott says. Take harassment, for example. One manager says “You look very nice today,” and Susie says, “Thank you.” Another manager, with a quite different tone, says the same words, “You look very nice today,” and Susie says, “You’re creepy, I sue.”
Managers have a tough time getting their arms around this. They ask HR where the line is between acceptable and unacceptable behavior, and HR says it’s a gray area. Trying to give hard-and-fast rules is difficult. But, with the “60 Minutes” technique, managers and supervisors are likely to catch themselves before they do something stupid.
What can you do to keep your managers from saying “Please sue me?” A good place to start is with your policies.
The easy way to keep up with policy writing needs
Hiring and firing, documentation, harassment, changes to FMLA, military leave–the list of new policy requirements seems endless. But you can’t backburner policy changes–they’re your only hope for consistent management that avoids lawsuits.
You need policies now, policies that are carefully crafted, legally reviewed, and regularly updated. But it’s no light task to write and update the dozens of policies that any organization needs.
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