In yesterday’s Advisor, we enjoyed Attorney Donna M. Ballman’s take on some of the dumbest moves HR managers make. In today’s issue, Ballman, who usually represents employees, shares more HR bloopers. We’ll also take a look at an audit program that will keep Ballman and similar attorneys out of your workplace.
“There are some badly run companies whose employees I see over and over again,” says Ballman. But if someone comes from a good employer, she says, she’ll look at the situation carefully before getting involved in litigation.
“After looking at such a case, I may advise a client to try to negotiate a settlement, rather than sue. If I do this, take it as a gift,” she says.
“By the way,” she says, “if you have a ton of discrimination claims, look at yourselves and ask, ‘What are we doing wrong?’”
Ballman is the lead partner in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida law firm Donna M. Ballman, PA. Her suggestions for dealing with problem employees came at a recent audio conference sponsored by BLR®.
Dumb Reasons for Terminations
“First of all, the dumbest thing you can do is to give a false reason, or worse, multiple false reasons for your actions,” Ballman says. And not much better is giving a dumb reason. “Let me tell you about some of the dumbest reasons I’ve heard for terminating someone,” Ballman says.
- At an unemployment hearing, an unrepresented HR manager admitted that the employee (a “really lovely lady” in her 50s) was let go because the company was “looking for a younger image.”
- Another was fired for too many absences just after returning from FMLA leave.
- Another was let go for making false accusations right after making a protected complaint.
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- In another case, “My client was fired for ‘poor sales’ just after winning ‘salesperson of the year.’”
- “It’s music to my ears when someone says, ‘We don’t have to give a reason for terminating’ to someone who just made a protected complaint.
- “I also love it when there’s a new policy, and the very first person written up under the new policy is a member of a protected class.”
Unfortunately, managers keep pulling dumb stunts like those Ballman lists. What’s your best defense? An HR audit is really the only way to dig down and see what’s happening. But for most HR managers, it’s hard to get started auditing—where do you begin?
To get your audits going, BLR’s editors recommend a unique product called HR Audit Checklists. Why are checklists so great? Because they’re completely impersonal, and they force you to jump through all the necessary hoops, one by one. They also ensure consistency in how operations are conducted. 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.
HR Audit Checklists compels thoroughness. For example, it contains checklists both on Preventing Sexual Harassment and on Handling Sexual Harassment Complaints. You’d likely never think of all the possible trouble areas without a checklist, but with it, just scan down the list and instantly see where you might get tripped up.
Find problems before the feds do. HR Audit Checklists ensures that you have a chance to fix problems before government agents or employees’ attorneys get a chance. Try the program at no cost or risk.
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:
- Staffing and training (incorporating Equal Employment Opportunity in recruiting and hiring, including immigration issues)
- 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)
- Performance and termination (appraisals, discipline, and termination)
HR Audit Checklists is available to HR Daily Advisor readers for a no-cost, no-risk evaluation in your office for up to 30 days. Visit HR Audit Checklists and we’ll be happy to arrange it.
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