In SHRM’s “Workplace Compliance Trends for 2025” webinar, Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio, chair of the Executive Leadership Research Institute for Women and Minority Attorneys at Harvard Law School, discussed this year’s regulatory environment and how new worker protections are increasing employer obligations.
In light of the new compliance burdens employers are facing, it is critical for companies to exhibit consistency in policy to avoid legal risk. Specifically, employers need to ensure uniformity across all “processes related to how [they] screen, interview, and train people coming into [their] organization,” Cecchi-Dimeglio said. While consistency is important in major milestones such as hiring and onboarding, it is also essential to have regularity in performance management, disciplinary measures, data security, and workplace safety.
By having clear and well-structured policies, a company creates a stable environment where “every employee knows what is about to happen, as well as helping management do their job,” Cecchi-Dimeglio said.
It is especially important to be consistent when terminating an employee in order to avoid a claim of wrongful termination. This happens when an employer fires an employee for an illegal reason.
In Jones v. Georgia Ports Authority (2024), an employee sued his employer for wrongful termination after being fired on the grounds of failing to follow company policy. “The employee had to return a letter to his employer from his...
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