5 Steps to Avoid Litigation
I recently found an interesting little article on avoiding employment litigation. A recent edition of the Fisher & Phillips newsletter cited some eye opening statistics related to employment litigation with some useful advice for all employers on how to stay out of it. They note that today more than 50% of all court filings in federal district court are employment cases. Thus, employers will very likely either be embroiled in employment litigation or become involved in settlement negotiations to avoid litigation. The author cites simple examples of topics such as policy implementation, training of managers, eliminating managers who do not contribute to a workplace of dignity and respect, and creating a credible human resources component. While we've seen many of these recommendations before, effective management is critical for the last two - make sure your managers are worth their salt and treat employees with respect and make sure that even if your organization does not have a high level human resources function that you give someone in management the authority and accountability to handle human resources and employee relations issues. If you view the HR function as an administrative function and don't give it the muscle it requires, you are bound to get into trouble.