Planning on Terminating an Employee – Beware of the Following!
Monday, February 11, 2013 • 7:40am
New work assignments. If the employees new assignment consists of grunt work or menial tasks or the employee is given a heavier workload for no apparent reason could conceivably be viewed as retaliatory.
Doling out discipline. Clearly, discipline may be deserved. Just because an employee files a complaint does not mean he/she is shielded from consequences of any subsequent misbehavior.
However issuing harsh discipline for minor infractions or disciplining employees for infractions that other employees get away with can be viewed as retaliatory.
Managers not having proper knowledge of FMLA. Your managers are usually the first to know about an employee’s absences and makes decisions about attendance related issues. However if your managers do not understand or have all the appropriate knowledge of Family Medical Leave Act, it’s quite easy for them to run afoul of the law.
Train your managers on the requirements of FMLA including qualifying events; notice requirements; attendance policy; reinstatement requirements; certification of provider; tracking weeks, days or hours of FMLA. Is employee requesting to take the 12 weeks consecutively or will the leave be intermitten?
Helen M. Sorrentino is the owner and Managing Member of HR Practices, LLC, a Human Resources consulting firm. She started the company is 2009 to respond to the needs of the small business owner with an employee base between two (2)-fifty (50) employees in New Jersey and New York City.
Helen has 20+ years of experience in Human Resource management working within diverse industries such as engineering and manufacturing, apparel, biotechnical, printing, music and telemarketing. In past her HR roles she provided support to all levels of management in training, organizational development, coaching, planning and all areas of Human Resources. These companies ranged from an employee base of less than forty (40) employees up to seventy-five hundred (7500) employees and represented such industries as engineering, apparel, telemarketing and biomedical.
Helen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kean University; a Master of Arts from Montclair University and a Master’s of Science degree in Human Resources Management from Upsala College. Helen stays current by taking continuing education courses via seminars and webinars encompassing state and federal labor law compliance, policies/procedures, health care reform and all areas of employee relations to recruiting and background checks to terminating employees to responding to EEOC, DOL, Wage & Hour, OSHA and ICE audits
HR Practices LLC is currently a member of the below professional organizations:
- The Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM)
- The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD)
- New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO)
- Business Networking International (BNI)
- New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
- New Jersey Association of Professional Women
- Gateway Chamber of Commerce
- Cranford Business Alliance
A few of the industries represented by HR Practices’ clients are; apparel, medical billing; doctors’ offices; biotechnical; printing; electrical contractors; non-profit organizations, day care business; cosmetics, physical therapy and other consulting businesses.
The opinions expressed herein are the writer's alone, and do not reflect the opinions of TheAlternativePress.com or anyone who works for TheAlternativePress.com. TheAlternativePress.com is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the writer.