Discrimination

Love in the Workplace

Another update from the HR jungle…

Bobby supervises the day shift crew for his company. A few months ago he became romantically involved with one of his subordinates. Then they broke up.

When Bobby verbally counseled the subordinate about poor attendance she countered with a complaint of harassment. A few weeks later when Bobby proceeded to a written warning about attendance she complained to the owner (John) about sexual harassment and a hostile workplace. That was John’s first clue that he had a problem.

John’s company grew organically over the past few years and has few formal processes for handling employee complaints. There is no HR department, only a payroll administrator who coordinates payroll matters with the CPA firm that handles John’s business and personal tax matters.

What should John do next?

1. He needs to immediately investigate and resolve the complaint against Bobby. He may want to hire a third party to conduct the investigation to demonstrate that the process will be neutral and fair to all parties.
2. He needs to decide how to avoid similar situations in the future perhaps by creating an explicit non-fraternization policy.
3. Most importantly, he needs to create some human resources policies appropriate for the size of his company so that employees know what is expected of them and what they can expect from John’s company.

Has your company faced similar problems and wondered what to do next? Corporate Compliance Risk Advisor can help your company to create the HR policies that fit your situation and then be a resource to your staff.

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Is DIY Always the Best Approach?

Another update from the HR jungle…

Bentley is the office manager for a small manufacturer. He was originally hired as the second shift supervisor but his organizational flair meant he soon was promoted to an office job. Now his boss has assigned him responsibility for employee matters.

Bentley knows nothing about human resources or how to run an HR department but he’s a team player. He knows the company faces some HR issues already. Several second shift employees have complained about being harassed by a co-worker. Bentley knows all the parties involved from his days on second shift and is worried the harassment really happened.

Bentley begins researching harassment issues on the EEOC website. There he discovers that harassment comes in many forms and is covered by several different laws. Bentley also notes there are a lot more federal HR laws that apply to his employer than he initially realized. (Bentley hasn’t even begun to look at applicable state laws.)

What should Bentley do next?

1. He could continue researching HR laws and issues but the research cuts in to his regular workload.
2. He could muddle along doing his best until a crisis erupts, exposing the gaps in the company’s HR compliance efforts.
3. He could tell his boss that it’s time to get professional help in setting up the HR department. A person knowledgeable about HR issues can be a resource for Bentley while he learns his new duties as head of HR.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the old saying goes. Corporate Compliance Risk Advisor can help your company create an HR department and then serve as a resource to your HR staff.

Join the HR Compliance Jungle today. Click here!

Follow us on Facebook & Twitter!

Visit us: http://www.complianceriskadvisor.com/