Employment Laws - The 10 Most Common Mistakes Made By Employers

Santayanna once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to relive it." Practicing employment lawyers are very much aware that employers often make the same, avoidable mistakes. Believe it or not, here are the 10 most common misconceptions that repeatedly translate into costly employment-related mistakes.

Mistake #1: As long as you have an Equal Employment Opportunity Policy somewhere in your employee handbook or posted in your break room, you do not have to worry about legal exposure for harassment or discrimination.

Mistake #2: Place no limitation on employee use of company e-mail, voice mail and the internet.

Mistake #3: Do not give employees bad news about their performance until you fire them.

Mistake #4: It's okay to apply a lesser penalty for a rule infraction if the employee in question is generally a nice person.

Mistake #5: Your employees are employed "at will" and so you can fire them whenever you feel like it.

Mistake #6: If the real reason you are terminating an employee might hurt their feelings, come up with a kinder, gentler explanation, such as a decline in business.

Mistake #7: A jury will believe everything you say, so do not bother documenting everything.

Mistake #8: Be quick to terminate employees who are grappling with health problems and issues at home. Fire people right before Thansgiving, Christmas, their birthday and make sure a guard walks them to the door in front of their coworkers.

Mistake #9: We have had a very good handbook for many years and all we need to do is make sure we follow it.

And finally...

Mistake #10: As long as the Human Resource Department is familiar with the laws, there is no need to train everyone.

In future posts we will explore some of these mistakes in more detail along with what "the truths" really are.