Problem: If an employee’s insubordinate behavior was caused by her bipolar disorder and you fire her, is the termination a violation of the Americans with...
Plenty of employees have chips on their shoulders. Some are hypersensitive to perceived slights and constructive criticism. Others get angry over minor problems....
How belligerent does an email have to be to warrant firing the sender for willful misconduct and threatening a co-worker? A court has concluded that typing in all...
Progressive discipline policies are not mandated by either state or federal employment laws. But legal issues often arise from the application of progressive discipline...
Insubordination can result when difficult employees intentionally disregard a direct order from a manager, or inadvertently cross the discipline line when company...
If you had to, could you quickly produce records showing that every employee who broke the same rule received the same punishment? Would you be able to readily explain...
Some employees seem to have no problem picking fights and engaging in arguments with co-workers, customers and supervisors. You don’t have to put up with it....
HR wears many hats, one of the most important being keeping your organization out of court. An equally important—and related—hat is smoothing out the...
It’s always wise to keep careful records showing exactly why you terminate employees. They’re crucial if an employee ever sues. By showing specific reasons...
Remind supervisors and managers to stick with verifiable and documented facts when writing up an employee for poor performance, a mistake or other disciplinary matter....
Sexual harassment allegations often come down to he said/she said arguments. Without hearing from both sides, there’s no way to determine what happened. If one...
Ohio law allows individuals to sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress, including cases that arise from work-related incidents. Fortunately for...
Paul Falcone, author of 101 Tough Conversations to Have with Employees, offers these scripts to follow when you need to have awkward but essential conversations with...
Even among the employed, stressful economic times make for stressed-out workers. Layoffs often mean a lot more work for the remaining workers. Even the fear of layoffs...
Employees with excellent performance records often head straight to HR the first time they face disciplinary action. And you’re right to worry enough to take a...
While the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses feel like the end of a long campaign season, it’s really just the beginning of a heated political year … one that could...
Disciplinary and termination meetings are emotionally charged events that carry the potential for nasty words, hurt feelings and even legal troubles. You never know...
