The Employer's Legal Advisor

224 Pages·2007·0.67 MB·English

by  Thomas M. Hanna

T H E
E M P L O Y E R ’ S
L E G A L A D V I S O R
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T H E
E M P L O Y E R ’ S
L E G A L A D V I S O R
• Handling Problem Employees Effectively
• Knowing When and How to
Work with an Attorney
• Staying Out of Court—or
Winning Your Case if You Get There
Thomas M. Hanna
AmericanManagementAssociation
NewYork•Atlanta•Brussels•Chicago•MexicoCity•SanFrancisco
Shanghai•Tokyo•Toronto•Washington,D.C.
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Hanna,ThomasM.
Theemployer’slegaladvisor:handlingproblememployeeseffectively,knowing
whenandhowtoworkwithanattorney,stayingoutofcourt—orwinningyourcase
ifyougetthere/ThomasM.Hanna.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-8144-0918-3
ISBN-10:0-8144-0918-0
1. Laborlawsandlegislation—UnitedStates—Popularworks. I. Title.
KF3455.Z9H365 2007
344.7301—dc22 2006032543
(cid:2)2007ThomasM.Hanna.
Allrightsreserved.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
TheCostsofLitigation 2
TheEmployer’sNeedtoAct 3
Chapter One. Employment Law at Work 8
TheBurdenontheEmployer 9
IfItCanBeFiled,ItWillBeFiled 12
DiscriminationCases 13
DefendingYour Company 15
Chapter Two. Good Intentions Are Only a Start 19
AShocktotheClient 19
ShieldingYourselffromChargesof Discrimination 21
ConstructiveDischargeandOther Claims 22
Chapter Three. Eliminating Problems Before They Arise 27
PromptCorrectionofEmployees 27
v
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vi Contents
EmployeeReviewsoftheCompany 28
FollowingThroughonComplaints 31
It’sNotOnlyWhatYouSayButHowYouSayIt 34
Chapter Four. Communications Strategies to Help You
Avoid Legal Woes 38
MaintainingaPresencewithYour Employees 38
PublishingaSexualHarassmentPolicy 42
InterpretingEmployeeBehavior 43
Chapter Five. Investigating Problems and Preserving
Evidence 47
Investigations 48
PreservingtheFacts 49
GettingItinTheirOwnWords 52
ConfrontingtheEmployeewiththeFacts 56
DealingwithDifficultWitnesses 59
TheCaseoftheJerkofaManager 60
KnowingtheEmployee’sExcuse 61
Chapter Six. Knowing Why Things Happen Strengthens
Your Case 65
DiggingDeepforWhy 65
CheckingtheRecord 68
Chapter Seven. Trusting but Verifying 73
LookingforLies 73
ThePoweroftheLie 75
Chapter Eight. Advantages and Pitfalls of Electronic
Devices 78
TelephonesandTapeRecorders 78
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Contents vii
VideocamerasandVideotaping 81
E-MailandElectronicTransmissions 83
HandlingMisuse ofCompanyElectronicsThrough
Monitoring 86
Chapter Nine. Making Your Decision 90
TakingtheFirstSteps 91
‘‘Stale’’Offenses 93
ZeroTolerance 94
OtherFactorstoConsider 96
Chapter Ten. Implementing Your Decision 101
DirectEvidence(ortheLackThereof) 102
BeingHonestwithEmployees 103
Chapter Eleven. Paperwork and Reality 111
EmployeeEvaluations 111
AvoidingHasteinCompletingPaperwork 114
WritingtheDisciplinaryReport 115
Chapter Twelve. Unemployment Compensation Claims 118
ProvidingtheNecessaryInformation 118
HearsayTestimony 120
TestifyingattheHearing 121
Chapter Thirteen. Problem Employees 125
AlcoholandDrugUse 125
TheAttendanceProblem 126
CriminalBehavior 128
TheDangerousEmployee 130
TheInsubordinateEmployee 132
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viii Contents
TheTroublemaker 132
TheThief 134
Chapter Fourteen. Employees with Special Issues 136
TheAccident-ProneandWorkersCompensationClaimants 136
TheDisabledEmployee 140
Chapter Fifteen. Things You Should Know 145
AvoidingDo-It-YourselfEmploymentLaw 145
HiringanAttorney 147
DecidingWhethertoFightorSettle 148
Workingwithan Attorney 151
HowtoBeaGoodWitness 152
Final Thoughts 162
Summary of Key Employment Laws 165
Glossary of Terms 169
Appendix A. Quick Reference Guide 177
Appendix B. Sample Consent Form for Electronic
Monitoring 181
Appendix C. Sample Rules of Conduct 185
Appendix D. Sample Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy 189
Appendix E. Sample No-Fault Attendance Policy 195
AppendixF. SampleHarassmentand SexualHarassment
Policy 201
Index 205
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Acknowledgments
I would like to express my thanks to my partners in practice, Patricia
McFall and Kevin Lorenz, for their assistance. Pat deserves many
thanks for her editing advice and assistance and Kevin for his sugges-
tions for Chapter Twelve. Not to be omitted are thanks to my secre-
tary, Susan Berck, for her work on the manuscript. My thanks as well
go to Adrienne Hickey, Mike Sivilli, and Louis Greenstein for their
hardworkandsuggestionsonmakingthebookreadableandinforma-
tive.Iwouldalsoliketothankmylatepartners,V.LeeMcMahonand
Alan Berger, for bringing me into the practice and for their help and
practicaladviceovertheyears,andElmerDavisandHughFrankMa-
lone, for whom I worked at the National Labor Relations Board so
many years ago and who gave a very young lawyer the kind of leader-
ship he needed. Last but not least, I want to thank Liz for forty-five–
plusyearsofsupportandencouragementinallendeavors.
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