Segal, a partner in the Philadelphia office of law firm Duane Morris, delivered his suggestions at as recent Society for Human Resource Management Annual Convention and Exhibition.
[Go here for appraisal mistakes 1 through 8]
9. Delaying implementation of discipline decision
Unfortunately, when you delay a discipline decision, you open a window for the employee to make preventive strike, Segal says. The employee senses that something’s going on and goes to his therapist and says, "My self esteem is bad." The therapist says, "I can’t help but I know a lawyer who can."
The employee comes in the next day: " I’m clinically depressed—ADA-style—because of religious discrimination—of the Title VII variety—but my son’s sick, so, let’s talk when I’m back from FMLA." Now if you take action, it looks like retaliation, says Segal.
When you make a decision like a termination decision or final warning, put it in writing. "Today we met and decided to issue a final warning to Steve. Because he is on vacation this week, we will notify him on his return."
10. Considering protected absences as part of excessive absenteeism
When your supervisors and managers fire for excessive absenteeism, they typically lump in days missed because of a legitimate reason, such as FMLA. If you are going to terminate for attendance, says Segal, do a day-by-day analysis of all the absences. Include a note that says, "We haven’t counted the FMLA absences, and we haven’t counted other absences that might be protected. Counting just those absences that are unequivocally unprotected, your absence is excessive."
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11. Denying employee opportunity to tell his or her side of the story before finalizing decision
"There’s no legal mandate to give employees a chance to explain," says Segal, "but it’s wise. First, it’s a basic fairness issue. But second, you might be wrong."
Segal recounts one particular incident: The CEO’s office was a mess. The cleaning woman was fired for not cleaning the executive suite. To later questioning, she responded as follows:
Did you clean the suite? No.
Did you know you would be fired if you didn’t clean it? Yes.
Was there a reason you didn’t clean it? Yes, the door was locked.
Whoops. It developed that an executive was having sex with his admin assistant. Moral: Ask for the employee’s side of the story.
Writing honest appraisals and getting both sides of the story—critical parts of running the evaluation side of the compensation equation. There’s no doubt, managing comp in today’s environment is challenging. It’s hard to get managers to pay attention, it’s hard to get good data, and it’s hard to get a significant pay budget.
The challenge is complicated further by factoring in other variables—where you’re located, what the law says, what your competitors are paying—not to mention internal equity issues. How do you figure it all out?
A Program to Avoid Compensation Miscues
Our editors recommend a classic BLR program, used by thousands of companies for more than 20 years: Employee Compensation in [Your State]. The [Your State] refers to the fact that a separate edition is published for each of 43 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia. So if you work in Illinois, Employee Compensation in Illinois is the reference you will receive.
Each edition of the Employee Compensation in [Your State] service contains these key elements:
–Recommended rate ranges localized for your state and region for hundreds of jobs, based on surveys and official data. You shouldn’t pay the same in Manhattan, Kansas, as you do on Manhattan Island in New York. This program makes sure you don’t.
What are your competitors offering workers these days? Check your state’s edition of BLR’s exclusive Employee Compensation in [Your State] program to find out. Try it at no cost or risk.
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–A full job descriptions program. Employee Compensation offers a complete tutorial for setting up a job descriptions program. Many ADA-compliant sample descriptions are provided, ready to copy and use.
–Employee compensation and benefits surveys. BLR’s exclusive survey data come from thousands of organizations just like yours. You get exempt compensation, nonexempt compensation, and pay budget and employee benefits survey results.
–Free newsletter and updates. The Employee Compensation newsletter helps keep you on top of new state and federal compensation and benefits laws. Six updates throughout the year keep your book current with all new compensation laws.
–Complete wage and salary administration guidance. Walks you through the entire compensation process with step-by-step instructions for analyzing and pricing jobs, writing job descriptions, employee compensation policies, and more.
Use the links below to see samples of the program and newsletter, as well as a full table of contents of what’s included.
The program is priced affordably for small companies as well as large, at about $1.50 a working day. That’s coffee money for just about every form of information most managers need to run a competitive and efficient comp/benefits program.
You can check out the entire program in your own office for up to 30 days, with no need to buy. (We even pay return postage.) Just click the link below, and we’ll be happy to set things up.
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, “I already have to brelay functioning idiots for sons and I don’t need a third of a kind.” So my mother’s classmate got to keep both toddlers. They must be in their 20s now, and I’ve no clue how their lives turned out.Those of you who are parents, what would you do in such a situation? Would you prefer to keep the kid you are raising now that, you just found out, isn’t yours, or would you want your biological child, assuming you can’t have both?
You saved me a lot of hassle just now.