LEGAL & LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Have you seen our April L&L update? 

Did You Know?

The 5 most common workplace lawsuits brought by employees are for overtime pay violations, discrimination, harassment, personal injury, and wrongful termination.  As you may recall from our January 2019 update, the EEOC secured over $505 million for victims from within the private sector, state and local governments, and federal workplaces. This included $353 million through mediation, conciliation, and settlements; $53.5 million through litigation; and $98.6 million for federal employees and applicants in hearings and appeals. No matter how genuine, fair, or transparent a company may believe itself to be, without a full understanding of labor laws and an awareness of workplace behaviors and accountability, mistreatment followed by the potential for litigation may soon follow.  Here are some major tips to help avoid employee litigation and/or help to increase legal rulings in your company’s favor:

• Know workforce federal, state, and local laws and rules/regulations
• Identify your risk exposure and carry the appropriate forms of liability insurance
• Consult with legal to consider establishing an arbitration agreement policy
• Educate leaders on labor laws, workforce management, and internal policies/resources
• Maintain, communicate, and make accessible a clearly outlined employee/policy handbook
• Implement and sustain a viable workforce tracking, monitoring, and reporting system
• Monitor and reinforce knowledge, skills, and behaviors consistent with policy and procedure
• Ensure all employees are properly and consistently held accountable for violations in policy
• Maintain a leadership hierarchy and job descriptions with clearly defined/applicable duties
• Provide and document job training based upon roles/duties to include workplace safety
• Communicate performance expectations; conduct an objective evaluation review process
• Accurately document performance deficiencies and progressive discipline steps in detail
• Define a process to respond to employee complaints in a timely and appropriate manner
• Partner with legal to respond in a timely and thorough manner to EEOC and other inquires
• Ensure HR, legal, and leadership teams are strategically aligned on workforce issues

In addition, examine the specific needs of your organization. While you may not be able to fully eliminate employee litigation, you can greatly reduce attempts to bring suit. At the very least, active engagement relative to your work environment and employment practices will position your organization to successfully defend its actions. The financial cost of defending can be great with the financial cost of a loss even greater.  That said, the cost to your organization’s brand and reputation may be immeasurable if left unattended.