Preventing Lawsuits—Getting Your Management Team On Board!

By Drenna D. Shive, PHR

Let’s face it; if you’ve worked in HR for any period of time, you probably know what needs to be done to prevent employment discrimination and lawsuits. But often times, your managers don’t know. They rely on you … or do they?

I have seen more times than not, managers at all levels make employment decisions on their own. HR finds out after the fact and is the last to know what decision was made and why.It’s important to instill in your managers a simple rule: HR needs to be involved in employment decisions (big or small) BEFORE they are made. Here are some key steps you can follow to help your managers remember the HR rule!

• Training. Train your managers on real case scenarios regarding bad or impromptu decision making. Maybe you have some real case scenarios that your company has been through that can be used. Many times when a decision comes back to haunt a company, the person(s) who made the decision isn’t even involved (at least initially) so they may not realize the impact they’ve caused, which leads to my next point.

• Get the managers involved. If there is a potential exposure to a lawsuit, get the manager(s) involved so they understand the impact of their decision. I don’t know about you, but I typically remember things I’ve done wrong if I have to deal with the fallout. Learning from mistakes is the takeaway.

• Take a breath. There may be times a manager feels he or she needs to make a split second decision depending on the situation at hand. Teach your supervisors to take a breath and always seek another opinion, especially from HR. I have seen very few situations that require a split second decision. Normally those that do involve gross misconduct to such a degree that maybe termination on the spot is warranted. Training on some of these scenarios can be a training topic in and of itself. Otherwise, most decisions can likely wait until advice from HR is sought.

• Document. Nobody likes to take time to write down what’s happening all the time. But, HR professionals know the power of documentation. Create easy and simple ways for managers to document situations. For instance, a quick e-mail to HR about what happened or an electronic tickler file to jot down what’s going on. (Create a simple spreadsheet with fill-in blanks that managers keep on their desktop to quickly type in a summary of what happened which can be sent to HR on a monthly basis, for example).

• Listen. Help your managers learn how to listen to their employees. In my opinion, this is the number one way to avoid complications down the road. Employees want their complaints to be heard and understood. Take the situation to HR to determine if anything needs to be acted on. Managers should never feel they are alone.

Create a Clear and Concise Policy

Employers that implement strong measures to prevent and address employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation will avoid some lawsuits. If there is a lawsuit, their policies, preventions, and practices can work in their favor. If the employer can demonstrate the following preventive actions, they may escape significant damages:

• Implement a policy that makes employment discrimination of any type unacceptable in your workplace. The policy should include:
• A description of employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
• A process for reporting any incidents of employment discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.
• Several methods for reporting incidents in case an employee’s supervisor is involved in the employment discrimination matter.
• How an employee complaint will be handled with an outline of steps to follow.
• Explanation about the disciplinary action that will be taken with offenders.
• The nature of retaliation and stress that is also considered a form of discrimination.
• An appeal process for employees who are dissatisfied with the outcome of their complaint.

• Ensure that managers understand the company’s policy and that prevention is their responsibility. A manager’s role is to create a work environment and culture in which employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation do not occur. Managers must;
• Recognize signs and symptoms that discrimination, harassment, or retaliation is occurring and know how to address these illegal actions.
• Thoroughly understand the company’s policy, procedures, and practices.
• Know how to recognize work situations that might escalate into employment discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.

• Establish cultural expectations. Creating a work environment that is free of employment discrimination, and all forms of harassment and retaliation, should be a part of:
• Employee job descriptions.
• The goals in performance development planning.
• Employee reviews and evaluations.

To avoid lawsuits, train your managers on all these issues, but especially on rule number one: Check with HR before you act.

About Today’s HR Daily Advisor Blogger:
Drenna D. Shive, PHR is a Corporate HR Manager at RHC Holding Corp.