2. Employment Law Talk Show
General Information
•Share the webinar
•Ask a question
•Votes (polling questions)
•Rate (before you leave)
•Attachments (download today‟s presentation)
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 2
3. Employment Law Talk Show
Having Audio Problems?
The audio for this event is streaming to your
computer
If you can‟t hear through your computer
speakers:
US Dial-in Number: 1 877 299 4502
Passcode: 776 077 86#
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 3
4. Employment Law Talk Show
Earning HRCI Credit
To receive 1 HRCI for this Webinar, participants
must:
−Attend the Webinar for in it‟s entirety
(one person per computer)
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 4
6. Employment Law Talk Show
Official Disclaimer
The presentation you are about to witness should not
be relied upon or construed as legal advice.
Failure to stay awake for the remainder of this presentation
could result in potentially long-lasting side-effects, including
litigation headaches recurring nightmares and/or severe
gastrointestinal discomfort from having to spend too much
time with lawyers.
Please consult with your own HR and/or Legal departments
before making any major policy and/or procedure changes.
You have been warned.
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 6
7. Employment Law Talk Show
Tweet along: #mpwebinar
Follow Mark on Twitter:
@manpowerblawg
Find us on Facebook:
facebook.com/manpowerUS
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 7
9. Employment Law Talk Show
Today‟s
SHOW
What YOU Want Us To Talk About
How to Prevent and Manage Litigation
How to Investigate Without Getting Investigated
How to Fire Without Getting Fired
How to Keep Social Media From Ruining Your Life
The BIG Picture
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 9
10. Employment Law Talk Show
What YOU
Want Us To Talk About
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 10
11. Employment Law Talk Show
Today‟s Webinar
Designer:
YOU
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 1111
12. Employment Law Talk Show
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 Source: ManpowerGroup Employment Blawg 12
13. Employment Law Talk Show
What concerns you
most about the
world of work?
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 1313
14. Employment Law Talk Show
Employment 333
Law million
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 14
16. Employment Law Talk Show
How to Prevent
and Manage Litigation
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 16
17. Employment Law Talk Show
Poll Question What do businesses identify
as their absolute #1 legal
headache today?
A. Government audits
B. Contract disputes
C. Intellectual property protection
D. Employment law disputes
E. Lawyers
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 17
18. Employment Law Talk Show
Poll Question What do businesses identify
as their absolute #1 legal
headache today?
A. Government audits
B. Contract disputes
C. Intellectual property protection
D. Employment law disputes
E. Lawyers
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 Source: Fulbright 18
19. Employment Law Talk Show
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 Source: ManpowerGroup 19
20. Employment Law Talk Show
Textorama What‟s the #1 most common
claim filed with the EEOC?
414.751.0126
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 20
21. Employment Law Talk Show
1. Love your employees
Top 11 2. Know the law
Litigation 3. Take the Mom Test
Tips in the 4. Model ethical behavior at the top
5. Address known and systemic issues
History of 6. If it ain‟t job-related, it ain‟t job-related
the Universe 7. Follow your own policies and contracts
8. Conduct early case evaluations
9. Establish budgets and fixed/flat fees
10. Never ever ever retaliate
11. Investigate and document ALL claims
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 21
22. Employment Law Talk Show
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 Source: ManpowerGroup 22
23. Employment Law Talk Show
Poll Question What are an employer‟s odds
of winning at trial?
A. It is unlawful for employers to win
B. 28%
C. 48%
D. 68%
E. 88%
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 23
24. Employment Law Talk Show
Poll Question What are an employer‟s odds
of winning at trial?
A. It is unlawful for employers to win
B. 28%
C. 48%
D. 68%
E. 88%
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 Source: Jury Verdict Research 24
25. Employment Law Talk Show
How Much
Will YOU Pay?
39% 1%
32% $100K-$1M $1M+
$0-$50K 28% Pattern +/or Big pattern
1 plaintiff + no $51-$100K really horrible +/or reallllllly
horrible facts 1 plaintiff + facts horrible facts
horrible facts
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 25
Sources: EEOC, Jury Verdict Research
26. Employment Law Talk Show
How to Investigate
Without Getting Investigated
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 26
27. Employment Law Talk Show
Poll Question What hit record highs last year?
A. EEOC complaints
B. EEOC class actions
C. EEOC $$$ recoveries
D. EEOC love notes from employers
E. All of the above, except “D”
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 27
28. Employment Law Talk Show
Poll Question What hit record highs last year?
A. EEOC complaints
B. EEOC class actions
C. EEOC $$$ recoveries
D. EEOC love notes from employers
E. All of the above, except “D”
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 Source: EEOC 28
29. Employment Law Talk Show
Prepare Plan the investigation strategy
Review all relevant policies
Evaluate the pros & cons of investigation
Pick a competent & impartial investigator
Analyze potential risk factors
Review allegations & prep witness & ? list
Establish a confidential investigation file
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 29
30. Employment Law Talk Show
Investigate Interview the complaining employee first
Now – don‟t procrastinate
View the site of the alleged incident
Each witness ID‟d by complainant interviewed
Supervisors interviewed to provide context
Take time to gather all relevant evidence
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 30
31. Employment Law Talk Show
Investigate Interview the accused
Gather potentially mitigating evidence and
interview witnesses ID‟d by accused
Analyze all the evidence objectively
Talk to attorney about potential legal issues
End the investigation with a written report
and appropriate communication
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 31
32. Employment Law Talk Show
How to Fire
Without Getting Fired
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 32
33. Employment Law Talk Show
Top 11 1. Not firing someone who should be fired
2. Not treating with dignity and respect
Termination 3. Considering non-job-related factors
Troubles 4. Inadequate documentation
5. Not getting a release
6. Emotion instead of facts
7. Ignoring past practice
8. Bad post-termination communication
9. Ignoring policies and contracts
10. Poorly planned termination meeting
11. Not telling real reasons
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 33
34. Employment Law Talk Show
Termination • Employee Handbook
Checklist • Employment Agreement
• Collective Bargaining Agreement
• Personnel File
• Performance Appraisals
• Discipline Notices
• Manager Notes
• ALL other relevant documents
(emails, texts, tweets, etc.)
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 34
35. Employment Law Talk Show
Termination Test
Notice: Reasonable notice of Proof: Sufficient evidence that
consequences? guilty as charged?
Rule: Related to (a) efficient
and safe operations and Consistency: Rule consistently
(b) performance company applied to all?
should reasonably expect?
Penalty: Punishment fit the
Investigation: Full, fair and crime, considering
timely? (a) seriousness of offense and
(b) service record?
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 35
36. Employment Law Talk Show
Termination Meeting
Who? Manager, HR. No third
parties (except union rep).
Security? Outplacement?
When? Mid-week #1, Friday
#2, Monday worst. End of day
#1, morning #2. Avoid holidays.
What? Manager: decision.
HR: all else. Final pay + notice
(some states).
How? Compassionate.
Keep it short.
Where? In person. Not in
manager‟s office. No projectiles.
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 36
37. Employment Law Talk Show
How to Keep Social Media
From Ruining Your Life
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 37
38. Employment Law Talk Show
Quarterly Do you currently use a
social media tool @ work?
Social Media A. Yes
Index B. No
C. What‟s social media?
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 38
39. Employment Law Talk Show
Quarterly What social media tool
do you use most @ work?
Social Media A. Facebook
Index B. LinkedIn
C. Google+
D. Pinterest
E. Twitter
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 39
40. Employment Law Talk Show
social starter
media kit
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 40
41. Employment Law Talk Show
Social Media • Summary of the law
Starter Kit • NLRB-approved model policy
• McGuire Woods model policy
• Other Fortune 500 policies
• SM 101 articles
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 41
43. Employment Law Talk Show
How To
GET SUED BIG NOW
Terminate Without Using the Blawg’s Termination Tips
Fail to Use the Blawg’s Investigation Checklist
To Ensure Full, Fair & Timely Investigations
Venture into Cyberspace Without the
Blawg’s Social Media Starter Kit
Ignore Known Violations and
Potentially Systemic Issues
Pretend Wage & Hour
Laws Don’t Exist
Have Unethical
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012
Leaders 43
44. Employment Law Talk Show
Tweetorama If you had to boil all of
employment law down into
@manpowerblawg
ONE word, what would it be?
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 44
45. Employment Law Talk Show
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 Source: ManpowerGroup 45
46. Employment Law Talk Show
We are • 80% of jobs are sedentary
Stressssssed • 62% say workload increased
last 6 months
• 40% are sleep-deprived
• 33% are chronically overworked
• 32% increase in workweek
in past 25 years
Sources: Pennington Biomedical
Research Center, Kronos,
National Sleep Foundation, • 1 in 25 bosses is a certified
Families & Work Institute, Harris
Interactive, Dr. Paul Babiak
psychopath
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 46
47. Employment Law Talk Show
More Stress = The Bottom Line:
More Suits $200-$300B is lost each year due to
stress-related absenteeism, burnout,
decreased productivity, WC claims,
turnover and insurance costs.
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 Source: American Institute of Stress 47
49. Employment Law Talk Show
The Employment Law
SING-A-LONG
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 49
50. Employment Law Talk Show
Employment law can be easy
If you listen you surely won‟t fail
We wrote you this song
So please sing along
If you don‟t, you could end up in jail
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 50
51. Employment Law Talk Show
Don‟t put things off „til tomorrow
Yes investigate right away
Don‟t procrastinate
And don‟t retaliate
Or the more you will have to pay
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 51
52. Employment Law Talk Show
Remember this song
And you‟ll never go wrong
We wish you the best
On your journeys
You‟ll stay out of court
And you won‟t have to pay no attorneys
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 52
53. Employment Law Talk Show
Terminations they sure can be scary
The feds they may knock on your door
But if you prepare
Be consistent and fair
They won‟t ever bug you no more
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 53
54. Employment Law Talk Show 54
If your brain‟s too full to remember
All the stuff we just covered above
There‟s one simple word
That sums up what you heard
Love, Love, Love, Love, Love, Love
LOVE!
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 54
55. Employment Law Talk Show
Remember this song
And you‟ll never go wrong
We wish you the best
On your journeys
You‟ll stay out of court
And you won‟t have to pay no attorneys
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 55
58. Employment Law Talk Show
Coming soon …
Answers to the World’s Scariest
Employment Law Questions
Text the ?s that wake you up screaming
in the middle of the night to
414.751.0126
ManpowerGroup | July 25, 2012 58
60. Did you watch this webinar as a recording?
Please request your certificate at
www.manpowergroup.us/requesthrci
July 25, 2012
Editor's Notes
Lori to do intro
Lori
Lori
Lori
Lori
Thanks, Lori. Hello everyone and thank you for joining us today!In the next 57-1/2 minutes, we’re going to help you lower your legal risk, control your litigation expenses, bullet-proof your investigations, take the fear out of your firings, conquer the social media universe, sleep better at night and quite possibly stay out of jail.Before we begin, here’s our official disclaimer …In other words, you can’t sue me, Lori, Joel, Kathleen, ManpowerGroup, McGuire Woods or anyone else based on anything you hear here today.
As an extra added bonus, my alter-ego Dan Wilde will be magically tweeting along as me during today’s webinar using the handle @manpowerblawg – that’s b-l-a-w-g – using the hashtagmpwebinar. Thank you, Dan, and please don’t say anything that’ll get me fired.
And now … it’s time for the Employment Law Talk Show. Today’s presentation is brought to you, of course, by ManpowerGroup: making innovative workforce solutions humanly possible.
Here’s what we’ll cover today. First, we’ll look at some of our pre-webinar survey results to see what YOU want us to talk about. And then we’ll chat with our experts about your requested topics you see there on your screen: How to Prevent & Manage Litigation, How to Investigate Without Getting Investigated, How to Fire Without Getting Fired, How to Keep Social Media From Ruining Your Life and then we’ll conclude by pulling everything together into The BIG Picture to make sure you get all the main points. Along the way, we’ll weave in lots of polls, textoramas and even tweetoramas to help keep everyone awake. And, if you’re nice, we might even sing you a song at the end. So stay tuned for that.But that’s not all. Tune into my blawg at marktoth.com or manpowergroupblogs.us for more fun stuff, including our Smartest Person in the Audience Contest immediately following this webinar as well as our exclusive Employment Law Tool Box which will contain all of the tips you see here today plus cheat sheets on every major employment law, a handy guide to medical leave and much much more.
OK, here’s our first topic for today. What YOU want us to talk about.
Today’s webinar was truly designed by YOU. All the content you’ll see here today is based directly on the input you gave us before the webinar. In other words, if don’t like what we cover here today you have no one to blame but yourselves.
To find out what you realllly want us to talk about, we first asked YOU what’s the absolute #1 hottest issue in the employment law universe right now?Your answer? Basically, EVERYTHING. Here are your official top ten responses.Topping the list at #1 with nearly a fifth of the votes was LITIGATION PREVENTION & MANAGEMENT. So that’ll be our first topic of discussion today. A close second was INVESTIGATIONS and then rounding out the top 3 was TERMINATIONS.We’ll cover those top 3 but as an extra added bonus we’llthrow in a bit about social media as well just because we’re such nice people.
We also asked you to answer this question in 5 words or less: What concerns you most about the world of work?Got several hundred answers, some of ‘em several hundred words long. Lots of themes came thru loud and clear: increasing regulation, increasing complexity, increasing talent shortages, increasing incivility, decreasing ethics. Several said things like “Too much focus on bottom line” or “not enough focus on peeps.”In short, there are lots and lots and lots of concerns out there. Hopefully, what we give you today will help alleviate at least some of them.OK, let’s turn to our esteemed experts. Joel: If you had to answer this ? in 5 words or less, what would you say? How about you, Kathleen?[10:00]
Well, probably the most consistent theme you expressed was this: HELP! Lots of peeps said that in one form or another, using words like confusion, complexity, bureaucracy, overwhelmed, underwater, dying, etc.To prepare for today, I did a quick Google search using the words “employment law” and in 0.23 secs got more than 333 MILLION hits. 10X more than when I did a similar search at the beginning of the year. There’s more info out there than ever before. Scary law firm emails flood my inbox every day. There’s tons of tweets, masses of mailers, waaay too many webinars.
Which leads to the final theme you expressed: MAKE IT SIMPLE. Boil down those 333 million bits of info to what’s REALLY important. That’s precisely our goal here today. Every single slide is scientifically designed to distill decades of employment law advice and literally millions of dollars of tools and tips into as few words as humanly possible.
All right, onward to our first big topic: How to Prevent and Manage Litigation.
Here’s our first poll ?. Lori? [11:30]
The answer: D, Employment law disputes. If employment law gives you headaches, you’re not alone. It’s the #1 legal headache-causer in the universe right now, which makes it very smart for you all to be here today.
Here’s our 1/4ly Lit Index, where we ask you Are you seeing an increase in emp’t law claims? While the majority aren’t seeing a major shift, 35% of you report an increase vs only 3% of you reporting a decrease. In other words, the number of you seeing an increase is 11 times greater than the number who are seeing a decrease.Joel: Is this consistent with what you’re seeing in the law firm universe?[13:00]
Here’s our first Textorama. The very first person to text their first name and the correct answer to the number on your screen – 414.751.0126 – will win a valuable prize. Here’s the question: What’s now the absolute #1 most common claim filed with the EEOC? Again, text your first name and answer to 414.751.0126. Operators are standing by. #1 most common claim right now.We’ll announce winners of all our contests later on the Blawg.
Here on 1 slide are our official Top 11 Litigation Tips in the History of the Universe. These tips were compiled over more than 2 decades with input from some of the world’s finest employment law AND HR minds. Please note that most top tens only go to 10. Ours go to 11. Really want you to get your money’s worth.I’ll run thru ‘em quickly and then we’ll ask our experts to discuss their favorites. Let’s start at the bottom. #11: Investigate and document ALL claims. Even those against your CEO or superstar salespeople. #10: Never ever ever ever retaliate. Plaintiffs’ counsel love when you do. #9: Establish litigation budgets and consider fixed and flat fees to control costs. #8: Conduct early case evaluations to see if settlement is appropriate BEFORE you rack up lots of attorneys’ fees. #7: Follow your own policies and contracts. Judges and juries hate when you don’t. #6: If something ain’t job-related it ain’t job-related. Don’t consider it. #5: Address known and systemic issues immediately. Especially wage and hour and especially if you’re in CA. #4: Model ethical behavior at the top. A certain Big 10 university learned that the hard way just this week. #3: If all else fails, take the Mom Test. Ask yourself: Would my mother approve of what we’re about to do? #2: Know the law, which is why you should all tune into the Blawg at least once a day. And the absolute #1 tip: love your employees. Much more on that one later.Kathleen, let’s start with you. Any deep insightful comments you’d like to share with the world? How about you, Joel?Got a question that fits in here, looking at #8. What do y’all think about the EEOC’s mediation program? Good, bad or indifferent?OK, time to announce correct answer in first Textorama. The #1 most common claim filed with the EEOC. RETALIATION. Which is why that made our top 11 list. Again, never ever ever retaliate. Please.[20:00]
We also wanted to find out what YOU do in the area of litigation management. Sadly, none of these valuable money-saving tools were used by a majority of you. The #1 vote-getter was reviewing legal bills which apparently 73% of you don’t really do. As a former law firm partner, I can tell you that lawyers reallllly like it when you pay without asking ?s. Might want to ramp up your efforts there.The #2 response was having outside counsel guidelines in place. The Tool Box will include sample guidelines that we’ve used for years to set expectations and reduce costs. Only 15% use litigation budgets, 14% use fixed matter fees and 9% flat annual fees. Each of those can be a great cost-saving tool. More and more organizations are talking with their outside counsel about those.Looking at the results, there, Kathleen: We use a number of these tools here at ManpowerGroup. How have you seen these help us save money and actually enhance our partnership with Joel’s firm?[25:00]
And here’s our next poll. Lori?
Another reason why all this stuff is so important. According to the latest jury verdict research, an employer’s chances of winning at trial are now less than 50%. 48% to be precise. So if you go to court, you’re more likely to lose than win. For the record, A is only true if you’re in CA. I’m only partially kidding.
How much will you have to pay if you don’t heed all this advice? Here’sthe answer based on the latest research …Starting at the left. If your case has just 1 plaintiff and really no horrible facts, which is about a third of all cases, expect to pay between 0 and fifty thousand dollars. If you have 1 plaintiff but horrible facts – 28% of cases – expect to pay between 51 and 100 thousand. If you have a pattern or systemic case with more than 1 plaintiff and/or really horrible facts – 39% of the cases out there – expect to pay between 100 thousand and 1 million. And if you have a big pattern with lots of plaintiffs and/or realllllllllly horrible facts, expect to pay more than a million.This is based on years of EEOC and jury verdict research and can come in handy when you’re trying to decide whether to settle and for how much.[26:00]
OK, here’s our 2nd major topic: How to Investigate Without Getting Investigated.
And here’s our next poll. Lori?
The answer? All of the above, except D. If you want a great way to see who’s really suing whom for what is to check out the EEOC’s press releases which it posts on its web site. One constant theme in the EEOC’s biggest cases is a lack of investigation by companies. EEOC hates that. Great way to increase your legal exposure and the potential of class actions is to NOT investigate promptly and thoroughly.[SKIP?Here’s just 1 recent example of what NOT to do. A receptionist complained that her supervisor was sexting her (for example, 64 times in one 2-1/2 hr period), touching her and telling her that she could get a promotion for QUOTE “small favors” and a bunch of other highly inappropriate other things. The receptionist called corporate and allegedly they said didn’t have resources to investigate, couldn’t separate her from the alleged bad actor and asked if she’d like her final paycheck. Please don’t do that. The lesson: Don’t wait, investigate.][28:00]
Well how do you do investigations right?2 steps. Prepare and Investigate. Here’s a handy checklist put together based on thousands of collective hours of litigationexperience to help make your investigations 187% solid. Follow these and you may never see the inside of a courtroom ever again.P stands for plan the investigation strategy. Waaay too many employers skip this step and plunge in without preparation. Don’t. R is for review all relevant policies at the outset. E: Evaluate the pros and cons of investigation. Investigate ALL claims of discrimination but not everything else warrants an investigation. P: Pick a competent and impartial investigator. If you don’t, the entire investigation could be attacked as a sham. Next, analyze potential risk factors such as protected classes, medical leave issues, potential retaliation, etc. R: Review the allegations and prepare a witness and question list so you don’t forget anything. And then the last step of PREPARE is to Establish a confidential investigation file away from prying eyes.If you skip any of these steps, your investigation could be in peril.[30:00]
Now that you’re PREPAREd, it’s time to INVESTIGATE. First, you really need to INVEST as you see on your screen there by taking the time to cover each and every one of these steps. I: Interview the complaining employee first to get the whole waterfront of allegations and know what you’re dealing with. Keep asking: “Anything else?” to close things off.N: Now. Don’t procrastinate. Act while memories, docs and evidence are still fresh.V: View the site of the alleged incident. Columbo always did it, so should you. Might miss the key to the puzzle.E: Each witness ID’d by the complainant should be interviewed next and then interview S Supervisors to provide needed context and background.And then T take the time to gather all relevant evidence.Let’s stop there. Joel: Any comments on anything there on the screen?[33:00]
Next step: I interview the accused. Give him or her a chance to tell their side of the story. Don’t rush to judgment and assume they’re guilty.G: Gather all potentially mitigating evidence and interview any WsID’d by the accused.And then A analyze ALL the evidence objectively. Really think it thru. Imagine the govt or a judge ?g your every step and conclusion.T talk to your favorite emp’t law attorney – Joel Spitz for example – about potentially thorny legal issues.And then E end the investigation with a written report and appropriate communication.Here’s a question for you Kathleen as someone who’s actually spent a time in both HR and Legal. What 1 thing do you wish managers or HR folks would start or stop doing when it comes to investigations? Kathleen: Let’s start with you. Joel?
Let’s move on to our next topic: How to Fire Without Getting Fired.
Here are our official Top 11 Termination Troubles.Again, let’s start at the bottom. Of course, you’ll see some correlation here with the Top 11 litigation tips, but here we’re focused specifically on terminations.#11: Not telling someone the real reasons you’re firing them. Don’t sugarcoat. Be honest. #10: A poorly planned termination meeting. We’ll fix that for you in a moment. #9: Ignoring policies and employment contracts. Never good. #8: Bad post-term communication. Saying either too much or too little can hurt you. #7: Ignore past practice at your peril. #6. Reacting out of emotion instead of facts can lead to terrible decisions. Just the facts, man. #5: Not getting a release especially if you give an employee $ to go away is never a good idea. They just might use it to sue you. #4: Inadequate documentation. Document, document, document unless you say dumb things. #3: Considering non-job-related factors. Again, if it ain’t job-related, it ain’t job-related. #2: Not treating employees with dignity and respect when you terminate them. More on that later. #1: Not firing someone who should be fired. Too many employers drag their feet when it comes to terminations which can end up hurting morale and costing more in the long run.One theme of questions is how these tools apply in real life. So, Joel/Kathleen, any real-life examples of the termination troubles on this list you’d like to share?[38:00][SKIP? Here’s one graphic example of a real-life case which in my book is the worst termination case of the year (so far):A few weeks ago, an Oregon jury awarded $332,000 in a case filed by 2 airplane mechanics who apparently weren’t given access to a restroom and were forced to either use a bucket or on several occasions according to the allegations, soil themselves. After they complained to OSHA, a company vice president said this in an email to the employees’ managers: “If someone did it here [at HQ], I’d have them gone by the time they zipped up. They have got to go – there is no place for them. Tell me when it will be done by.” The jury didn’t like that.]
Before you terminate anyone, here’s a handy checklist to make sure you review each and every key piece of information. Organizations miss one or more of these all the time.
Now we’ll move on to our last substantive section: How to Keep Social Media From Ruining Your Life.
Want to see what you’re realllly doing out there. It’s time now for our Quarterly Social Media Index. Lori?
We’ll make this one short and easy for you. We’ve pulled together all the world’s greatest tips into our official Social Media Starter Kit, which is available for free under our Tools & Tips Section of the Blawg.
Here’s what you get …A handy summary of the latest decisions by the NLRB. The NLRB’s official govt-approved model social media policy, as well as a model policy drafted by the fine folks at Joel’s firm McGuire Woods. There’s also a host of links to other Fortune 500 company SM policies, a batch of SM 101 articles and much more. All on the Blawg. And. All. For. Free.
And now it’s time to wrap things up with The BIG Picture.
Anyone can tell you how NOT to get sued. To sum up, here on one page is HOW TO GET SUED BIG NOW.If you want to get sued big, terminate employees without using the termination tips we discussed. Don’t avoid the Top 11 Termination Troubles. Don’t use our Termination Checklist. Or the Termination Test. Or the Termination Meeting Tips.Next, don’t use the PREPARE or INVESTIGATE checklists we provided to ensure full, fair and timely investigations. Venture into cyberspace without the Blawg’s SM Starter Kit. Ignore the NLRB’s recent rulings. Keep using outdated social media policies, digging up non-job-related dirt on the Internet and tweeting and texting without thinking.If you want to spend all your time defending class actions, just keep ignoring known violations and potentially systemic issues. And if you realllllly want to get sued big pretend wage and hour laws don’t exist, especially in CA.And last, if you realllllly want to get sued big and maybe even make the news, do nothing to address unethical leadership at the top. As recent events have shown over and over, that’s a great way to quite possibly bring an entire organization down overnight.
If that’s too many words for you. Let’s make it even simpler.The 1stperson to tweet on Twitter the correct answer to the question you see on the screen along with our Twitter handle -- @manpowerblawg -- will win a valuable prize. If you had to boil all of employment law down into ONE word, what would it be. We’ve asked this ? time and time again in our webinars and on my Blawg. Want to see if it’s starting to sink in.
While we wait for those texts to roll in, we really wanted to get at the crux of all the employment disputes out there. It’s becoming more and more evident that extreme stress just might have something to do with it. We asked you on a scale of 1-10, how stressed are you right now, with 1 being “perfectly at peace” and 10 being “absolutely freaking out of my gourd.”Unfortunately, it appears that our suspicions were right. More of you are leaning toward the high stresssss side of things. The #1 answer was 7 and #2 was 6. So, basically you’re freaking out of two-thirds of your gourd. Sadly, only 2% of you are perfectly at peace and 8 times more of you are completely freaking out. Not good.
Well, according to lots and lots of studies, we are ALL super stresssssssssed.80% of jobs are now officially sedentary. Recent studies show the more you sit the more you stress and the sooner you die. 62% of us say our workloads have increased the last 6 months. 40% of us are sleep-deprived zombies. A third of us are chronically overworked. Despite all the technological advances, we are working 8 more hours a week than our parents. And 1 in 25 of our bosses is a certified psychopath. The fact that that # is 4 times the normal population really makes you wonder what’s going on in our workplaces.
The bottom line: more stress = more suits. According to the American Institute of Stress (pretty sad that there is such an organization), between 200-300 billion is lost each and every year due to all the stress-related stuff you see there on your screen.Which brings us to the answer to our Tweetorama. If you had to boil down all of employment law and HR down into 1 word, we believe that the very best answer would be …
Don’t get caught up in all the technicalities. This is what employment law is all about: LOVE one another. Treat each other the way you’d like to be treated: with dignity and respect. If we all did that, we could do away with the alphabet soup of employment laws and all of us employment lawyers would be out of jobs.In fact, there’s more and more scientific evidence that the better you treat your employees, the better they perform. Those of you who attended my last webinar might recall that the top engagement factors are feeling valued by the employer and that your employer truly cares about you. It even works with clients. The whole net promoter score craze is fueled by one simple question: Do you treat your customers the way you’d want to be treated? The Golden Rule – LOVE.So … Want more productivity? Love your employees. Want to spend less time with lawyers? Love your employees. Want fewer govt interventions and lawsuits? Love you employees. Want fewer unions, more customers and ultimately more profits? LOVE YOUR EMPLOYEES.It’s really that simple.
And last but not least, we’ll close today’s festivities with our Employment Law Sing-a-long.Scientific research shows that you’re far more likely to remember something if you actually sing it. That’s why you remember the lyrics to really bad 70s songs but not the rules under the FMLA.So, please join Kathleen, Joel and me in singing along with gusto. The words will appear on your screen. It’s in the key of W.
That was beautiful. Literally brought tears to my eyes.Hope you all learned a few things today. As we mentioned before, there’s lots more on the Blawg. Tune in immediately after this webinar to sign up for our free employment law alerts and compete in our Smartest Person in the Audience Contest. We’ll post the full PowerPoint from today, along with all my notes, in a handy SlideShare format, along with our updated Employment Law Tool Box and a full replay of this webinar as soon as humanly possible.
Here once again is our blog address: manpowergroupblogs.us or marktoth.com for short.
And last, here’s a quick advertisement for my next webinar on October 31 -- our annual special Halloween-themed session entitled Answers to the World’s Scariest Employment Law Questions. Send us your spookiest, freakiest, most scream-inducing ?s and we’ll do our very best to answer as many of ‘em as possible in 60 minutes or less. We’ll also attempt to answer ?s that we couldn’t get to today.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU so much for your time, attention and participation – we really really reallyappreciate it! And thanks once again to today’s special guest stars, Joel Spitz and Kathleen O’Toole!And now, back over to Lori.
