Business Journals around the country are running an article titled “Avoiding litigation that will keep you awake at night.” You can read the whole article here in the South Florida Business Journal if you have a business journal subscription. In case you don’t here are some key points:
If there’s a bully working for you, you can’t sit by and let him or her run roughshod over others. You need to confront the employee, point out the bad behavior and the consequences if it continues. Then deliver the consequences if behavior doesn’t change.
The article covers several issues like abuses of leave, where the lesson is essentially the same. When you’re confronted with bad behavior, you have to deal with it. It’s your job as the boss.
What about preventing bad behavior? The article offers two clear pieces of advice. Here’s one: “Conducting a thorough background check on new hires can save a lot of hassle in the long run.” If you’ve got an applicant who is likely to create problems for you, an effective hiring process, including a background check, can help you avoid a hiring mistake.
The other bit of advice is to make your expectations clear. The people who work for you need to know what your policies are. They need to know what you expect and what you forbid.
Tell new people when they’re hired. Review key policies with everyone regularly.
Take away these three rules to help you avoid lawsuits.
- Hire carefully and well, using reference and background checks.
- Tell people who work for you what to expect and what the consequences are for bad behavior.
- Confront problems early. Define what will happen if bad behavior continues.