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Employee conduct policies should be clearly documented and effectively communicated to employees to ensure understanding of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. It is vital to consider the specific needs of your business while developing these clear and concise policies.
Employees should receive copies of these policies in hand and sign off on having received, read, and understood them. Make sure that your employees receive, read, and understandany updates to the policies.
What complications could arise if this procedure is not followed? For instance, consider a policy prohibiting the use of cell phones at work. If employees have not been informed about this policy, enforcing it could potentially be viewed as discriminatory, as if specific individuals are being targeted, even though the policy is already established.
However, a policy your employees are not aware of can not be enforced without possibly seeming discriminatory. Make sure your employees understand all policies and sign off on having read and understood them.
To best protect yourself and your employees, it’s a good idea for the employee handbook to detail how misconduct will be handled and what qualifies as misconduct. Be sure to follow the handbook when dealing with employee policy violations and misconduct.
For example, the handbook may state that misconduct will first be addressed by a meeting with a supervisor and then by termination. If an employee is fired for an initial infraction instead, they may come back and claim they were wrongfully terminated.
It’s safest to have clear guidelines for handling employee misconduct. Have a clear process in place and in writing, essentially an investigation followed by an opportunity for your employee to understand and respond to your concerns.
Further actions if misconduct continues may take the form of notice, probation, suspension, or termination. Be sure this process is in writing and understood and that your employees have the opportunity to understand the policies they are violating.
It is crucial to maintain written documentation of performance issues and disciplinary actions. Often, instances arise where an employee, after a prolonged period of problematic behavior, is terminated, only to initiate a wrongful termination lawsuit. The primary complication in such cases is the lack of written documentation and reliance on verbal communication about the employee’s behavior.
When you’re documenting performance issues and disciplinary actions, make sure they’re in writing. Make sure that there are witnesses associated with these meetings. Have another supervisor in the room with you when you speak to the employee formally. This helps confirm what was and was not said during the meeting and can protect you from conflicting or false versions of events in court.
Be sure that the documentation associated with these disciplinary actions gets into the employee’s HR file. This helps document, keeps good records, and makes sure that events are clearly described in light of a future possible case.
Attorney Jeanette Witten is a seasoned employment law attorney serving California. For over 20 years, she’s helped clients just like you carefully craft policies that protect their businesses and foresee employee risks.
Have questions about navigating termination or discipline in California? Reach out to Hudson Martin PC at (831) 375-3151 for an initial consultation today.
In general, there is no guidance under California law on how an employer should address a grievance from at-will employees. Have your process for handling grievances documented in an employee handbook and follow that process that has been outlined for each employee grievance.
A typical sound process might involve documentation and investigation of the grievance, a disciplinary meeting with the person or persons accused of offensive behavior, and the opportunity to appeal disciplinary decisions, with everything in writing and by the book.
If your business does not have an employee handbook (as many small businesses don’t), ask your employees to put their grievances in writing. Small issues, such as parking space disputes, can likely be handled by you. If an employee has bigger grievances, such as feeling discriminated against or harassed, I would recommend reaching out to an attorney at that moment.
It’s best to have legal advice when serious complaints are made to help you navigate the process and be better protected.
HR companies and third-party investigators can be valuable resources to help you investigate grievances. There is an HR company this firm has worked with in the past that has helped multiple businesses investigate employee misconduct, discrimination, and harassment.
A third-party investigation keeps things more neutral. It can be emotionally challenging to investigate a favorite employee or your own spouse, and objectivity is going to be very difficult, if not impossible.
Be sure the investigating company puts in writing what they found, who they talked to, and what they discovered. This report or a summary of the report will often be shared with the employee who shared the grievance to let them know an investigation was conducted.
Start by identifying the highest-risk factors associated with employee grievances in your industry. Work with an attorney or HR advisor to pinpoint these risks and develop strategies to address them. Then, sit down with your company’s managers and supervisors to share these risks and the ways to minimize them.
Ensure that your managers and supervisors fully understand company policies and discipline procedures, and emphasize the importance of consistent enforcement. Every instance of employee misconduct should be documented, not just verbally addressed, but also in writing.
Make sure managers grasp all the rules and the reasons behind them. For instance, ensure they understand your company’s policy on clocking in and out, and the requirement for lunch breaks to last a full 30 minutes. Explain why these measures and proper documentation are crucial for maintaining compliance with California law.
By equipping your management team with this understanding, they’ll be better able to explain and enforce policies effectively with employees.
One case that stands out involved a unique situation in the military industry where an employee physically attacked a coworker. The incident led to the facility shutting down, and the police were called. The attacking employee was banned from the premises but then turned around and sued for not receiving meal breaks.
The individual, upset over their termination, chose to lash out over policies unrelated to their dismissal. This case had little chance of success in court. With the help of a police report, testimony from other employees, and medical bills from the injured party, we were able to settle the case for a very low amount, allowing our client to move forward without further concerns about this former employee.
At our firm, it’s incredibly rewarding to alleviate some of the stress that employers face in such situations. In this case, the client was already dealing with a stressful situation and then had to contend with a wage and hour complaint on top of it. It’s a difficult position to be in, and it’s natural for the employer to think, “This is so unfair. How am I in this situation?”
Being able to achieve a quick resolution definitely relieved their stress. While this case presented a somewhat unusual set of circumstances, we’ve handled several similar cases, and it’s our aim to reach such an early resolution for each of our clients.
For more information on Firing Employees In California, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (831) 375-3151 today.
Attorney Jeanette Witten is a seasoned employment law attorney serving California. For over 20 years, she’s helped clients just like you carefully craft policies that protect their businesses and foresee employee risks.
Have questions about navigating termination or discipline in California? Reach out to Hudson Martin PC at (831) 375-3151 for an initial consultation today.
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