As an employer,
you must conduct employee investigations
before termination proceedings
can begin. This is because failure do
employee investigations before termination
proceedings can lead to lengthy legal
battles – and you might find yourself
on the losing end.
Why are employee investigations before
termination so important?
Conducting
extensive employee investigations before
termination is so important because
a court can use all of your documentation,
or lack thereof, if your employee decides
to file a wrongful termination suit.
If you do not have enough documentation
or properly recorded documentation, you
can not build a strong case to back up
your termination decision. Remember,
it is up to you to prove your case. Without
the evidence documentation provides,
you will have a difficult time doing
this. As a result, you might find yourself
paying damage charges or stuck with an
employee that you don’t want to
keep on board – or both.
How do I conduct employee investigations
before termination?
Employee investigations before termination
should be a team effort among supervisors.
If you are a small business owner, you
might be the only supervisor. If you
are a Human Resources Manager, on the
other hand, this responsibility may rest
on your shoulders as well as on the shoulders
of the other supervisors in your company.
Regardless of whom is in charge of supervising
the employee, everyone responsible must
be aware of proper documentation procedures.
These procedures include documenting
any problems that may have taken place
with the employee. This should include
a description of the incident that took
place, the date it occurred, and the
disciplinary action you or your supervisors
took. As part of this documentation,
you should have the employee sign paperwork
showing that he or she read the report.
If the employee refuses to sign it, have
another supervisor sign pointing out
that he or she witnessed your discussion
with the employee.
What if I think
there is a problem with an employee
but can’t “catch
him” in the act?
You may believe
an employee is doing something against
the rules or that puts
him or other employees in danger, but
have not been able to witness the employee
engaging in these actions. If this is
the case, you may need to hire an investigator.
However sometimes you can handle the
situation yourself. For example you might
suspect the employee is taking drugs
so you can have him or her take a drug
test. To prevent having discrimination
charges brought against you, however,
you must give all of your employees a
test. If the problem is a workmen’s
compensation issue or a safety issue,
you might have to hire someone to keep
an eye on the employee and record his
or her unscrupulous actions. Regardless
of the problem, extensive employee investigations
before termination are necessary if you
hope to keep yourself free from legal
troubles.
When
should you fire employee?
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