Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own--Or Is It?

How far can you go in regulating your employees' off-duty behavior without being sued? This question came up in my recent seminar on “Turning Around Turnover.” Be aware that 28 states and D.C. all have laws prohibiting you from preventing employees from engaging in lawful activities, such as drinking and smoking. Here’s the acid test: Does your employee’s behavior threaten your company in any way financially or legally? Does your employee’s behavior compromise proprietary material? If not, you may have a hard time trying to defend yourself in a lawsuit.

Make your determination on how their out-of-work behavior affects their performance while at work. If they are convicted of drunken driving or theft, then it may be a different story, especially if they drive for you or handle money. Check your state’s laws and discuss the situation with legal counsel before taking action.

Things You Need To Know About Firing People

One of the hardest problems for managers, supervisors, and business owners is firing someone. Here are some important things to help make it easier and protect you and your company. When firing someone, make sure to have a witness present. After the conversation is over, type up a memo for the witness to sign. In some cases lawsuits are unavoidable, but here are some things that may lessen your chances of a lawsuit (I am not giving legal advice): First maintain your composure. These situations can become heated, even violent. Your anger will not help the situation. Above all, don’t fire anyone in front of others (except the witness), and don’t denigrate the employee in any way.

The firing should not come as a surprise. If the employee violated a company policy or broke laws, they should have been aware of these policies through handbooks and training. If the firing is a result of behavior over a period of time, they should have been warned, verbally and in writing. They should have received regular feedback and performance reviews with suggestions for how to improve. Use probation and suspension whenever possible before firing.

Watch your wording. Sometimes people feel bad for the person being fired so they soften it by telling them about the good aspects of their performance. This should have been done during performance reviews, not during the firing. If you sugar coat it too much, they may remember what you said and,use it as a basis for wrongful termination.

Finally, don’t discuss the firing with other employees. This is between you and the departing employee. If you discuss it, the word often gets back to the fired person. You leave yourself open to a defamation or slander lawsuit.

We Want To Get But Not Give

What a dilemma! We all want to get information from references, but we do not want to give out information about former employees. Most people are afraid of legal action. You probably won’t have problems, as long as you stick to the truth and only discuss information pertinent to the job. Don’t give out any false information, where you slander the applicant. Don’t divulge information that is confidential or personal, or reveals protected characteristics. Finally, don’t mislead inquirers about a dangerous person. This is one you should check with your attorney about. If you hold back information about a violent person or make them seem really great, you could be in for a negligent hiring referral lawsuit.

How Bizarre Can Things Get?

Just when you think things can't get more bizarre....It seems that those that hire illegal aliens have something else to worry about. If you hire illegals, your firm can actually be sued under the RICO Act by another competitor, because hiring illegals reduces your cost and results in unfair competition. Yes, companies can sue competitors who hire illegal aliens. Imagine your competitor spying on you so they can prosecute you! It happened between two cleaning companies, and the Federal Second Circuit Court upheld it. Convictions and penalties under the RICO Act can easily put you out of business--especially if you are a small business.

Truth & Lies On Applications

I received many e-mails about this, so I thought I would give you a few hiring tips. Many candidates often leave out items on an application. Let them know they must fill out the entire application to be considered. There can be no gaps in employment, unless they can provide an explanation. Get at least five to seven years of employment history.

Job title and responsibilities, salary, and education credentials are areas where most lies are found. People also lie about criminal convictions. You can certainly verify the first two with references. Education and convictions can be verified with a background check. Have them prove their education with copies of degrees, certificates, and licenses. If they claim a place went out of business that they worked for, have them prove it with performance appraisals and pay stubs. When a candidate is a finalist, then do your background and reference checks.

Keeping The Best-Losing the B.M.W.'s

You need to have someone at your organization who is in charge of preventing turnover. Let's take this a step further... There are people who are really important to your firm, who would be difficult to replace. Have you identified them? Have whoever is in charge of preventing talent flight sit down with department managers and supervisors to identify the people you should keep. Then have each of them prepare an actual plan to prevent those employees from leaving. Think: what's is it going to take to assure that this person will stay with us? Obviously, you must know what motivates that individual. If you don't know, you need to ask them. Pay attention to those key motivators, and be sure you are doing what it takes to retain your best people.

You might be thinking, what about the b.m.w.'s (bare minimum workers) who feel they are being ignored? That's good! Maybe the b.m.w.'s will get the hint and move on.

Motivating Those BMW's

In my seminars I use the phrase BMW's to describe those bare minimum workers or those who are unmotivated. They are close to retirement and become masters of the minimal. They have been on the job for twenty plus years, and won't advance in position or salary, and they feel they have accomplished everything they can. They do just enough to get by. You would be hard pressed to terminate them because you have been giving them satisfactory reviews for years, and it would only create legal problems. What can you do about it?

Try making them a mentor to a new, young employee. This could give them a spark, and they may be flattered with the new responsibility and feel very important. I have seen people really come alive when they become a mentor, and they give it their all. You may want to ask them to assist in classroom training in some areas, as long as they have the communication and interpersonal skills. Also, try putting aside their regular duties, and give them special projects with a bonus incentive. If all else fails, sit down with them, and explain to them that you are concerned about their last years at the company, and want to be sure they are productive and happy. Ask them, what kind of work would they like to do more of that would give them job satisfaction.