Employee lawsuits are on the increase. And there are several reasons why an employee may sue their employer. Some of the most common reasons are as follows:
- unpaid overtime,
- rest and meal periods were not provided
- unpaid commissions along with other violations of state and federal wage and hour laws.
- Lawsuits arising out of Wage and Hour laws continues to increase at a very fast pace
Unfortunately neither you nor your management team needs to have done something wrong to find yourselves on the wrong end of employee lawsuits. However, there are steps you can take to decrease the chance of an employee lawsuit and at the same time properly defend your business, with well-documented, compliant business practices.
For employers today it is crucial to comprehend the legal definition of sexual harassment as well as to take a proactive approach to keeping any form of harassment at bay, by developing a company policy with regard to sexual harassment claims and ensuring that all employees are aware of the policy.
At the federal level, there are at least 13 different protected classes that could be the basis of some type of discrimination lawsuit. Evading an employee grievance means covering yourself in every way.
Steps every employer can take to shield themselves from Employee lawsuits:
1. Keeping accurate records can really help in reducing the chance that you will experience an employee lawsuit. These should include employee performance reports (if any), copies of all contractual documentation, and copies of any sort of punitive measures taken against the employee.
2. When terminating an employee always be nice. Remember the employee has just entered into a very stressful state of affairs. An angry or emotionally upset employee is more likely to seek revenge than one who was treated with respect during the termination procedure.
3. A detailed job description that provides employees with a complete list of responsibilities, a chain of command, a list of best practices and acceptable behavior, and other information is vital to clearly define what’s expected of the employee each day. Remember in order for employees to be successful in their jobs, they must know first how the management team defines success and then the management team must convey that information to employees. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that employee lawsuits won’t occur.
4. Discriminatory discharge occurs when an employee is either fired or laid off because he or she falls into a legally protected category. Communicate clearly what is and is not the appropriate activity this can be done by establishing a company-wide policies and procedure manual that will educate everyone on what is acceptable and unacceptable workplace behavior.
5. Make sure your company has developed an adequate training program, that provides anti-harassment training to all employees, and take prompt and suitable action should an employee complain. States with highest risk of employee lawsuits – California (42% higher chance of being sued by an employee), District of Columbia (32% above the national average), Illinois (26% higher), Alabama (25% higher), Mississippi (19% higher) need to make sure they are doing all of the above because their risk factor for an employee lawsuit is even higher than most states.
6. As you document, your employee encounters you must be consistent and document all employee encounters. All applicants must go through the same process anything less than that could be considered discriminatory, notwithstanding your intentions. Whatever the reason, when things go bad, an employee could hit you with a lawsuit.
When many businesses (both large and small) are faced with any sort of lawsuit, the first thing that many employers want to do is settle the case. One report shows that while settling is often an appealing option, it may not always be the best option
Along with employee lawsuits, there are several other areas where employer are facing challenges in the workforce. Many employers, almost 90% percent are concerned with employee retention while almost 90% percent of employers have concerns about social media and employee privacy.
In addition employers voiced their concerns concerning the challenge of employee taking advantage of employee leaves especially when it comes to the Family and Medical Leave Act and similar laws.
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