The ABCs of Legal Compliance

There’s no avoiding the truth…ours has become a litigious society. As a corporate leader, it is your responsibility to see that your managers are fully aware of how to treat their employees fairly so that your company can either stay out of court entirely or be protected if a suit is pressed against you.

In very simple terms, here are three ways to avoid legal problems with anti-discrimination or retaliation:

1. Document, document, document. The only legal way to substantiate poor job performance is to keep regular, dated records. Hold meetings with your employee; share your concerns over their lack of performance and how it affects business; and write up a summary of the discussion. Should you reach a point where you need to fire this employee, you will have back-up proof of your attempts to support him.
   
   
2. Consistency. Treat all employees the same. Don’t just meet with your “problem children;” hold regular touch-base meetings with all your direct reports. This is the way to avoid accusations of discriminatory treatment and also will keep you better informed about team concerns and productivity.
   
   
3. Pick up that phone. Don’t hesitate to call in the legal experts. It is their job to advise you on correct legal action. The sooner they are aware of potential problems, the better they will be able to handle them out of court.