What Managers Can Do to Reduce Employment Litigation

Managers are very often on the front line, helping to identify problem areas that could possibly lead to litigation. Unfortunately, managers have a lot on their plate, as they work on other responsibilities around your organization, while trying to identify problem issues in a workplace that is becoming increasingly litigious.

As an employer, you must train your managers to be very aware of what they say, or put in writing at all times. Managers often send out e-mails, memos or messages, not realizing that these messages can be saved for months after, or maybe even longer. If one of your employees decides to take you to court, those e-mails and messages that may have inappropriate language could be used as powerful evidence against your organization. Managers must always be aware of all the things that they say to employees, and around employees.

Very often, Los Angeles employment lawyers find that managers fail to identify potential issues that could lead to litigation, because there’ve not been trained to identify these. You may assume that some amount of joking around is normal in an office, but this could be the basis for a future harassment lawsuit against the company. Your managers, who are frequently on the floor, must be trained to identify any inappropriate behavior or actions that could lead to litigation against your company. Make sure that managerial training is provided not just at the time that the person is hired or promoted, but is made a regular part of person’s employment at the company. Training should be provided preferably at least twice a year.

Managers must also be trained to document all actions. A Los Angeles employment lawyer will use this documentation as valuable evidence defend your company during employment litigation. That includes recommendations related to not just performance evaluations, but any complaints that are made by an employee, allegations of discrimination that are made, and other actions related to an employee. Employers must establish a system that provides for such regular documentation.