When you have employees, you may find yourself dealing with workplace grievances where employees bring to you the problems they are facing in the workplace and ask you to resolve the problem. It’s impossible to predict what sort of grievance your employees may encounter, but here are some common ones you can prepare and avoid.
- Workplace
Harassment: While
company culture can go a long way towards preventing harassment in the
workplace, sometimes people just don’t get along. While the conflict may not
rise to the level of bullying or harassment, you should have a written no
tolerance policy in place as well as a process to review and handle complaints.
When an employee is dismissed as a result of their behavior, they may turn
around and sue your business. In these situations, documenting your process and
the steps you took to address issues, as well as the problem itself, is going
to be important to your defense.
- Working
Conditions: Some businesses
have more hazardous working conditions, particularly if your employees work
with heavy loads, machinery, or drive forklifts. Even offices can have
unsanitary working conditions if the bathrooms are not clean or they aren’t
adequately adjusting the temperature during extreme weather. In these
situations, injury and illness can lead to an employee having a grievance with
their employer, especially if short term disability is an issue. Again, careful
documentation can go a long way towards protecting the business’s position that
proper training was provided and reasonable steps were taken to keep the
workplace clean and safe.
- Leave
Accommodations: There
are both federal and Utah state laws that govern employee leave, both those
apply differently to businesses of different sizes. Further, businesses have a
variety of ways they can handle their leave policies. It is important to set
your policies in writing and then follow them consistently with your employees.
From maternity and paternity leave and work-from-home options to family medical
leave and donating leave, your business
will need to design policies that make the most sense for your team and then
adjust those policies as you grow.
- Termination: It’s unfortunate when you have to let go of an employee, either because of something they did or because of a downturn or change in your business. Employees, of course, don’t like to lose their jobs and often feel that the business fired them unfairly. Further, there may be issues if the employee is then ineligible for unemployment due to the way they are let go. As with all other workplace grievances, proper documentation of the employee’s conduct is important to proving that they are not eligible for unemployment.
Because our litigation work focuses primarily on business issues, our lawyers are familiar with handling employee grievances and the different processes and agencies regularly involved. To learn more, reach out to the Dunn Law Firm by calling (435) 628-5405 and set up a free consultation today.
