There’s Nothing Funny About a Corporate Lawsuit

Corporate compliance training matters.  When a lawsuit is waged against your company, no one is laughing. It is serious business and you stand to lose reputation, money, customers and employees.

You have a responsibility as an employer to keep abreast of rules and regulations that affect your hiring and firing practices so you can avoid employee-initiated litigation. No one wants to be in this kind of limelight. But it takes work and sustained effort to stay in corporate compliance.

Here are some corporate compliance training tips on what you and your managers need to do:

1. Understand how the federal Fair Labor Standards Act applies to you and your business. And you need to be conversant, too, with state laws that govern hour and wage laws. These should be followed strictly, to the letter, always.


2. Be familiar with the laws that prevent discrimination. All workers should be trained in how to treat others fairly regardless of race, sex, age, religion, disability, etc. The list is long but its intention is to respect others across the board.


3. Be consistent. Review your employee handbook (if you don’t have one, you should) to be familiar with its guidelines and then be sure they are applied consistently and without favoritism or discrimination. Employees who feel they have been singled out for unfair disciplinary action are quick to seek legal advice and support.


4. Be able to tell the story. If legal action is launched, you need to have a clear paper trail of what was going on. Make sure your managers document, document, document every step. Managers should be honest in their assessments of an employee’s performance and, if there is trouble, straightforward in their reporting. They should know, too, when to involve HR or raise the issue to the executive level.


5. Invest in corporate compliance training that has been proven effective. The best way to protect your business against unwarranted lawsuits is to ensure your workforce (especially your managers) know how and why to be respectful of others. The best facilitators of these programs are attorneys who are also skilled facilitators and know how to make a dry subject fun and “learn-able.”

Put a smile back on that sad clown’s face by ensuring you have done all you can to provide a safe, fair, respectful workplace for all.

Download Corporate Compliance Toolkit