Consultant’s Corner: Employer Protection Considerations

Q: What do I need to do to protect myself from any wrongful termination claims or unemployment claims against my company?

From a general business perspective, the basic ways to protect a business and owner (and management staff) from employee claims and other labor law issues are identification of the applicable federal and state laws, effective recruiting procedures, written company personnel policies, consistent application and enforcement of employment policies and practices, and utilization of legal resources as necessary.

Wrongful termination meaning

Wrongful termination refers to the violation of government laws, public policy, employment contracts, company policies, or other legal employment principles. The following legal information explains:

“There is no Federal “wrongful termination law” per se. Rather there are a variety of Federal laws that, if violated by employers when discharging employees, might constitute wrongful termination. Collectively, such laws are generally called wrongful termination laws or wrongful discharge laws.

It might also constitute wrongful termination if employers violated constitutional provisions, state laws or public policy when discharging employees. The same goes if employers breached legal principles or concepts, or contracts related to employment…..”:

http://employeeissues.com/wrongful_termination_2.htm

Also, the following legal information discusses these potential violation considerations for wrongful terminations:

1. Written Promises
2. Implied Promises
3. Breaches of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
4. Violations of Public Policy
5. Discrimination
6. Retaliation
7. Fraud
8. Defamation
9. Whistle-Blowing Violations:

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/wrongful-termination-was-firing-illegal-32282.html

http://www.bizfilings.com/toolkit/sbg/office-hr/managing-the-workplace/employee-termination-rules-are-complex.aspx

Employer protection from wrongful termination claims

From a general business perspective, there are proactive measures to protect employers from wrongful termination claims; however, the proper legal defense in an actual wrongful termination claim or legal action (factual or frivolous) would have to be determined with the assistance of your business lawyer. You can review the measures to protect against wrongful terminations through legal and labor industry information like the following, which includes these common tools:

1. Employer’s clear understanding of applicable laws and legal practices
2. Employee job descriptions
3. Employment contracts where applicable
4. Written company policies and procedures (handbook)
5. Employee training
6. Management training
7. Employee performance appraisals
8. Progressive employee discipline
9. Proper grounds for dismissal
10. Employee outplacement service
11. Employer insurance:

http://thewestongroup.blogspot.com/2011/10/strongest-defense-against-wrongful.html

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/list-procedures-avoiding-wrongful-termination-suits-65779.html

http://www.hrknowledge.com/wrongful-termination-how-to-avoid-employee-litigation/

http://corporate.findlaw.com/litigation-disputes/preventing-lawsuits-for-wrongful-termination.html

Employer protection resources

The following are example tools, resources and considerations to help you address your wrongful termination protection concerns:

1. Job descriptions:

http://www.careerplanner.com/JobDescSearchTool.cfm

2. Employment applications:

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobapplicationforms/a/employmentapplication.htm

3. Written company policies and procedures:

http://www.elinfonet.com/human-resources/Why-a-Company-Should-Have-an-Employee-Handbook-Learning-the-Pros-and-Cons

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/employee-handbook-benefits-30207.html

4. Performance appraisal forms:

http://fsnews.findlaw.com/firmsite/attachments/BE10_d_SampleEmployeeReviewForm.pdf

http://hrweb.mit.edu/performance-development/forms/performance-review-forms

5. Progressive discipline:

http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/10141/the-5-steps-of-progressive-discipline

http://www.thehrspecialist.com/article.aspx?articleid=2880

6. Employee terminations:

http://humanresources.about.com/od/discipline/a/fire_employee.htm

http://rapidlearninginstitute.com/hric/the-steps-to-smoothly-handle-an-employee-termination/

7. Employee termination contract:

http://www.ilrg.com/forms/employ-release.html

http://employment.findlaw.com/losing-a-job/sample-employment-termination-contract.html

8. Employment practices liability insurance:

http://www.iii.org/article/what-employment-practices-liability-insurance-epli

Unemployment claim considerations

Unemployment claim eligibility and benefits are defined by state regulations so employers do not have the same legal risks and concerns as with wrongful terminations and other labor violations. Generally speaking, unemployment eligibility is very broad whether an employee is terminated or quits, but some employees do file unemployment claims when they are not eligible, for example, due to misconduct or quitting for no good reason. Whenever you feel an employee is ineligible for unemployment benefits, you have the right to appeal the claim under the state guidelines.