When Bad Decisions Happen to Good Managers

(Click here for legal-but-stupid moves 1 through 3.)

4. Auto-Deducting for Lunch Breaks

“We’ve got a great new timekeeping system that automatically deducts for lunch breaks.” Auto-deduct is a common feature of many computerized wage and hour tracking systems, and it’s not illegal to install and use such a system. But it is illegal to fail to pay an employee for time worked.

What happens: Occasionally or often, employees will end up working through all or part of their lunch hours. For example, just being on duty to answer the phone is “work.” So now you’ve got an employee who is working and a system that is not paying the employee for that time. That’s illegal, and it’s going to cost you big-time.

If nothing else, make sure that supervisors can override the system to correct errors.

5. Letting Marginal or Violative Performance Go Unremarked

“I know he’s pushing the limits, but I think if I let it go for now, he’ll come around.” This is a common theory of managers who are reluctant to discipline. True, there’s no legal mandate to discipline, but there’s a legal problem when you don’t.

What happens: Every time managers ignore inappropriate behavior, they condone it. At some later point, the manager will eventually decide to take action and terminate the person.

Unfortunately, there won’t be anything in the file to back up the decision. The person will say, “Gee, I was doing that for months and no one said anything. So I don’t think that’s why they fired me. I think they fired me because I complained about wages [or talked about a union, or was a member of a protected class].”

And the employee is probably going to have a strong case. It’s hard to argue that something you let go for months is a firing offense.

The best defense to your managers winging it — with catastrophic results — is the use of consistent, strongly drafted policies. And we’ve got over 350 essential HR policies … for under $1 each

6. Asking Interviewees about Age, Race, Religion

“Why can’t I ask about race, age, and religion? I’m just making conversation, and it’s not illegal to ask those questions, right?” Technically, that’s correct — it’s not illegal to ask those questions. But it is stupid, because it is illegal to act on the answers.

What happens: You don’t hire the person, and he or she sues, saying that the rejection was based on race, age, or religious discrimination. And the jury is likely to agree. Why would you ask those questions if you didn’t care about the answers? And why would you care about the answers, except to discriminate?

Legal, but dumb. These kinds of actions are probably not happening in your workplace, right? Not a chance? How can you be sure?

The best strategy is to put policies in place that managers have to follow, and that are written in a way to eliminate any chance of accidental discrimination.

Why worry about writing them from scratch? We’ve already done more than 350 for you, covering every key HR area, in SmartPolicies on CD-ROM.

Check out, for example, the program’s EEO policy:

–It includes 29 paragraphs and nearly 2,000 words, and indicates compliance with nine different laws. It then goes on to spell out in detail how to achieve that compliance.

–The writers have thought through virtually every situation in which discrimination could occur and every indication of discrimination, including many that wouldn’t normally come to mind. One example: photos of employees in help-wanted or other ads showing company personnel. The policy requires diversity in these illustrations, lest a subtle signal be given to potential applicants that only one race or group is desired.

–It fully spells out who is responsible for ensuring EEO compliance, and what channels are available to handle complaints or disputes.

In short, it goes light-years beyond what you’d probably be able to create on a do-it-yourself basis, given everything else you’ve got on your plate. And it’s only one of over 350 such policies that cover virtually every aspect of human resource management. (You can view a complete list by clicking the “Download table of contents” link below.)

Whether you decide to use SmartPolicies (and you can inspect it at no cost for up to 30 days) or one of its counterparts on the market, look for the following features in any such program.

Try out SmartPolicies on CD-ROM free for 30 days — no cost and no risk.

–Time-Tested. You do not want a program of brand-spanking-new policies. Why? Errors and omissions show up over time, as the policy is tested in actual workplace situations. SmartPolicies is developed from BLR’s Encyclopedia of Prewritten Personnel Policies, which has been successfully used for decades and is updated quarterly.

–Complete. SmartPolicies has more than 350 prewritten documents, covering virtually every essential employment topic. Topics are alphabetically arranged within categories for easy access.

–Customizable. The CD format makes this possible. Just insert your company’s specifics and print out.

–Versioned. A prewritten program should offer different versions of its policies to fit your management style. BLR has “strict,” “standard,” and “progressive” policies. Choose the one that best matches your company’s mindset.

–Updated. SmartPolicies sends quarterly updates, addressing new policy concerns, on approval for as long as you stay with the program.

Because policies that exist in isolation tend to be ignored, a good reference will also tutor you on building a policy program, including how to build consensus, integrate policies with existing documents such as employee handbooks, and set up a review process to keep your policies viable and relevant. This tutorial is included in SmartPolicies.

As mentioned, you can examine SmartPolicies for up to 30 days at no cost or risk. Click the link below, and we’ll be happy to arrange it.

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Download table of contents

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