Litigation over workplace practices is on the rise, and business owners need to stay on top of the laws. Keeping employees safe is paramount, as is protecting the bottom line by ensuring staff and management are well-trained on employment law issues. An employment attorney Dallas TX at Simon | Paschal PLLC is knowledgeable about employment law issues from an employer’s perspective and frequently assists clients in providing instruction to employees on the law. Well-trained management is less likely to get the company in hot water, and more importantly, leads to happy and productive employees.
Employment Attorney Dallas TX: Training Staff and Management on Employment Law Issues
Employees, particularly those in management, should receive regular and thorough training and instruction on key aspects of employment law, including:
- Employment discrimination laws. Every supervisor should be familiar with federal and state discrimination laws and should know what types of behaviors constitute sex discrimination, sexual harassment, age discrimination, disability discrimination, race discrimination and religious discrimination. Management must be trained on what he or she can and cannot do or say, and what he or she cannot endorse in other employees and managers. These types of discriminatory charges are extremely serious and can cost money, time and corporate reputation. Well-trained management is the first line of defense against employment discrimination lawsuits, and when those in charge know how to act, employees are more comfortable and less likely to feel discriminated against.
- Documentation of disciplinary actions. In line with understanding discrimination, management should be trained on how to document disciplinary actions with employees. They should understand that the best defense against a discrimination charge is proof that an employee was disciplined or terminated for cause and not for a discriminatory reason. A well-preserved record of an employee’s actions can provide the company with ammo if the employee later brings a discrimination charge.
- Proper employee evaluations. Managers who are in charge of evaluating junior employees should be trained on how to assess an employee based upon merit and within the scope of the employee’s position. Employee evaluations that are unnecessarily negative or that lack support can be used against the company in an employment lawsuit, so management should ensure that they are based in fact and well-documented.
- Enforcement of employee policies. Supervisory staff should understand the corporate policies regarding expectations of employees and employee behavior. Poor enforcement can lead to claims of favoritism, unfair misapplication of the rules, and of course, discrimination. Every business should have clear-cut policies governing employee and manager behavior, and these policies must be enforced.
Find an experienced employment attorney Dallas TX at Simon | Paschal PLLC to assist business owners in developing training programs for staff and management to understand employment law issues. Call (972) 893-9340 to discuss your company’s needs with respect to employee training, or visit simonpaschal.com/contact-us/ to set up a consultation.
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