Written Counseling is Critical

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Tom Crane

 Written counseling is important.  I have advised and represented small business owners.  The best protection from a false claim is written counseling made at the time of the alleged infraction.  Russell Cawyer describes in good detail what written counseling should include.  Even the most basic workplace will have scratch paper somewhere.  You as a manager need to include the basics:  what the employee did wrong, when s/he did it, and what you as the manager expect in the future.  This written documentation will help tremendously when/if the employee later seeks unemployment benefits or files suit for alleged discrimination.  

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An Employer Needs to Document Problems

Posted on September 8, 2009 by Tom Crane

 If you have a problem employee, it is important to document those problems.  Written counseling serves many purposes.  Michael Fox discusses a case in which the employer did not document those problems and lost a claim for discrimination because of that failure.  Of course, he assumes the alleged work problems were genuine.  Maybe they were genuine and maybe they were not.  If the issues were genuine, then it is even more important to document those problems.  A good employee, or a formerly good employee, as this lady appears to have been, deserves a chance to improve.  

Of course, as Mr. Fox notes, it hurt the employer that it did not follow its own progressive discipline process.  That failure to follow its own policies can help show that the employer's concerns are not genuine and have been fabricated.  

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