How to Avoid Employee Lawsuits? Tips for Small Businesses




“Employers being sued” is the bottom of the stories at the time. Workplace disputes are rising dramatically around the globe. There is no single region which we can ignore while studying about the employee lawsuits and legal compliance. However, there are managers that never had the bitter chance of experiencing such cases. Their employees never brought the lawsuits against them.

Are they too wonderful to be dragged before the court? Or they have a kind of magic power, which keeps all of their employees happy? No, they are not pleasantly wonderful neither does they crack jokes all the time to keep their employees chuckle.  They just know how to avoid situations that encourage employee lawsuits. You need to put a lot of efforts to make your employees to sweep you up to the court.

That’s right; you really work hard, by

  • Calling them names who might attach them to a specific perception of being categorized
  • Speaking unfavorably everywhere and hurting their self-respect
  • Criticizing them for no reason if they go for Family and Medical leave

And I can go on with so many other examples. So, it’s always better to be proactive than to be reprimanded and fined in the court. Unlike working hard for getting sued, you need not to work hard for keeping yourself safe at employee lawsuits.

Think As An Employee!
You are an employer but to make things easier for both of the parties you need to think like an employee for a while. How would you like your employer to be? Fair? Yes, being fair is being a good manager. Take an easy walk around the block. You know that you have done your best, and your mind is relaxed. If you really want to be fair and keep good terms with your employees you must be clearheaded.

  • Goals you assign to your employees should be very easy to see and understand. Your employees should be clear about what you are expecting out of them.
  • They are clear about everything they do and the consequences they might have to bear. There should be written policy of all the known risks that might occur and the consequences for those risks.
  • Never make promises to the employees, about which you are not sure to go on with. Like, do not assure them for a bonus which you might not manage to pay for.
  • Do not withhold any influential information that is important to be disclosed at any point.

Be Rational!
When you observe people, be neutral. Your preset beliefs and thoughts can lead to adverse opinion without good justification. If you know a person who has failed a major project, doesn’t mean he would, or he could fail in all other major projects. Based on that failure you cannot decide him to be incompatible for other major projects.

  • Make consistent decisions. If you did not suspend one employee, for some reason, you should never bar another employee for that same reason.
  • Be practical and sensible. Find positive aspects in employees’ behavior rather than pointing out their weaknesses and tending to discredit them.
  • Give equal importance to everyone. Avoid favoritism and stereotyping. Avoid all the subtle types of discrimination.

Think Before You Hire!
When you interview people for a certain position, you surely focus on the behavioral competencies along with the technical skills. Here is the right time to make the right decision.

  • There is higher probability of filing employee lawsuits by the employees who have already had an experience of dragging employer in the court.
  • Hiring people is not always about hiring the best skilled persons. A person with strong hold on his knowledge is might be rejected because your gut feeling did not pass him. When you feel something wrong, there is something wrong. Trust your instinctive feeling.

It’s never possible to avoid all the troubles that can lead to employee suits. However, if your efforts can help you to avoid even a single case, then it really is worth it.

About the author:
Angela is an employee relations advisor. Writing is her part time hobby majorly covering topics like performance management system, employee productivity and retention, employee engagement and recognition, 360 feedbacks and much more.
My website is at: http://www.workforcegrowth.com


  

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