As an employer-side defense attorney, I assist employers with employment issues from pre-employment advice through post-employment litigation for alleged wrongful termination. During litigation, I am sometimes faced with facts that would suggest the employer engaged in unlawful conduct because the documentation is lacking. When I give a presentation to human resource professionals, I joke they will hear me say “document, document, document” at least 20 times.
Not every company has an in-house HR department; even if they do, HR may not be apprised of every action supervisors are taking or failing to take. For businesses without an HR department, company policies regarding standards of conduct should be reviewed for legal sufficiency before being put into practice and then followed closely when making employment decisions. Companies with a dedicated HR department must train first-line supervisors on how to properly document employment actions, taking institutional knowledge and precedent into account to ensure company policies are uniformly followed and enforced.
Of course, employers cannot formalize every instance of employee performance issues.
For example, a first-line supervisor may verbally correct an employee who fails to abide by company standards. The supervisor should send an email to the employee later in the day to document that the employee received a verbal warning, preferably citing the specific provision in the employee handbook or policy the conduct...
The United States alleges that from September 2015 through December 2020, St. Michael’s Eye & Laser Institute (St. Michael’s) and Dr. Michaelos caused the submission of false claims for transc...