Date: September 10, 2021
SHRM reported TELG principal R. Scott Oswald's presentation at its 2021 annual conference. Scott explained to the audience that how HR gets involved in potential misconduct can have a major effect on resolving employment issues before they need to go to court. Scott offered five main tips, including how to stand up to the boss.
Quoteworthy:
"How [HR professionals] get involved can make a big, big difference."
R. Scott Oswald
[EXCERPT]
5 Ways HR Can Help Avoid a Lawsuit
LAS VEGAS — HR professionals can help curb employment-related lawsuits by crafting prompt and appropriate responses to employee complaints, according to R. Scott Oswald, who represents employees as an attorney with The Employment Law Group in Washington, D.C.
Even if an employee’s initial complaint is about a manager’s, co-worker’s or other business partner’s conduct, HR always gets involved eventually, Oswald said at the SHRM Annual Conference & Expo 2021 on Sept. 10.
“How you get involved can make a big, big difference,” he told attendees who were participating in person and online.
1. Don’t ignore employee complaints.
Employee complaints put the company on notice that a problem needs to be addressed. When HR responds properly to a complaint, Oswald said, the employee is more likely to accept the results of an investigation or process. But employees who feel their complaints are ignored are more likely to contact a lawyer.
2. Don’t skip procedures.
If you have a procedure for investigating employee complaints or a progressive disciplinary process for workers who violate company policies and you don’t follow it, the jury will wonder why, Oswald said.
Employers should also be sure to discipline employees in the same way for the same problem; otherwise, they may leave themselves vulnerable to a discrimination claim.
“You’ve got to be consistent,” he said. Applying policies unevenly invites a jury to believe that an adverse employment action was taken for an illegal reason. He noted that employee lawsuits increasingly have focused on the employer’s failure to follow its own policies, and HR professionals may have to testify at a trial about what they did or didn’t do to enforce policies.
