Aug 7, 2017 | Employment Law |
By Bradley Hunt, Attorney at Law If you are like many supervisors, preparing and delivering annual employee reviews is not on your list of favorite things to do! That said, regular performance reviews are important, and how they are handled matters. Reviews are important to employees Employees want and need feedback, and regular communication with individuals and teams can help improve the work environment. Knowing what they are doing well and where they need to improve can make employees feel the employer cares about their success with the company. While an annual review is standard for many companies, you should give feedback regularly. It can be hard to remember what happened eight months ago, so an informal monthly or quarterly review may be helpful to both the employer and employee. If an employee’s action requires correction or discipline, handle that immediately and be sure to document any corrective measures that need to be taken. Individuals should know up front what their job duties are and understand the employer’s performance expectations. Written job descriptions can provide guidance to employees and protect employers if there are questions about duties or salaries. A well-written employee handbook can define high-level expectations related to conduct (tardiness, vacation, procedures to report a workplace injury, etc.) and spell out discipline procedures, including actions that would result in immediate termination. This handbook can protect both parties and help ensure all employees are treated the same. Reviews can protect employers Employment in North Carolina is “at will,” meaning an employee can be terminated without cause. While there are some exceptions to “at will” employment, we usually recommend employers...
Mar 8, 2017 | Business Law, Employment Law |
By Bradley Hunt, Attorney at Law There have been several high profile claims of workplace sexual harassment in the news lately, most recently with a claim by a former engineer at Uber that her manager sexually harassed her. Claims of sexual harassment must be taken very seriously by employers, who can be held accountable if the behavior of a harasser is ignored. In the case of Uber, the CEO just hired a third-party to investigate the claims. What is Sexual Harassment? According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), “It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person’s sex. Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person’s sex.” The law does not consider occasional teasing or single incidents that are not serious to be harassment, although employers must be aware that behavior that escalates may quickly jump into this category. Behavior becomes harassment when it creates a “hostile or offensive” work environment or results in the victim being fired, demoted or believing he or she has no recourse but to quit the job. It is important to note that both men and women can be victims of sexual harassment, and the harasser may be a manager, coworker, someone else within the company, the employee of a vendor or supplier, or even a client. The law not only protects victims of harassment, but also protects third parties who are...
