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Employees are your most important asset, but they also are a potential source of business disruption. This week's articles have been selected to provide information on some of the possible problems - discrimination, wrongful hiring, workplace stress, and other costly situations. The more you know, the less likely you'll be taken to court by an employee.

Training won't be a defense if your supervisors are guilty of harassment. (Item #1) One of the best ways to avoid employee problems is to hire the right people. (Item #2) What does employee stress cost? (Item #3)

Make sure your terminated employees know their benefits rights. (Item #4) This article provides information on what you need to know to survive employee litigation. (Item #5) You might want to look into employment practices liability insurance. (Item #6)

As always, we look forward to hearing about your concerns with regards to business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like to see covered, please email me at bmellinger@attainium.net

Best Regards,

Bob Mellinger
President
Attainium Corp

Quote of the Week

"Companies know that discrimination, whether overt or subtle, is bad for employees and bad for business."
- Daryl Herrschaft -

Articles

1. Sexual Harassment & Discrimination
The Supreme Court has basically stated that the employer is responsible for the actions of a supervisor, even when the employer is unaware of the supervisor's behavior. This means that even though the employer has a policy against sexual harassment and even when sexual harassment training is provided to their supervisors; they still can be held vicariously liable in cases where a supervisor uses sexual content to discriminate against an employee.
http://www.employer-employee.com/sexhar1.htm

2. Hire the Right Employee!
Hiring a new employee is really no different than getting married to them, for better or worse. Even though there is no specific contract for employment, in most hiring situations, you are still forming a relationship with the employee that can involve a long and painful divorce if you later decide to terminate their employment. Therefore, it is important that you take special care in hiring the "right" employee for you company. The following guidelines will help you plan and decide who is the "right" employee to hire.
http://www.employer-employee.com/hire.html

3. The truth about employee stress
The American Institute on Stress reports chronic stress adds over $300 billion each year to cover associated health care costs and absentee rates. That is like writing an extra paycheck exceeding over $600 to every "stressed" worker without getting anything in return. Even worse, the per-hour cost for health insurance of a single employee jumped has more than doubled over the last few years. How much of this was caused by workplace stress is anyone's guess but considering this research, what you don't know about stress can cost you.
http://www.super-solutions.com/Thetruthaboutworkplacestress.asp

4. Do you provide terminated employees with adequate and timely benefits information?
This COBRA Tip presents the benefits administration issues underlying a recent opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals, Brown v. Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which resulted in an award of $89,875 to a former employee. That sum does not include the cost to the employer of defending the lawsuit in the trial and appeals courts, so the total cost to the employer is certainly well over $100,000.
http://www.onque.com/tips/aventis.html

5. A Quick Guide for Employers on Employee Litigation
Successful lawsuit defenses are predicated upon knowing and being able to demonstrate what happened. Lawsuits may be brought years after the termination of employment date. Memories may fade. Judges and juries are more comfortable when they can see what actually transpired. Employers will prevent or win employment litigation by creating and maintaining accurate and appropriate documentation.
http://www.detroitchamber.com/detroiter/articles.asp?cid=103&detcid=609

6. What is employment practices liability insurance (EPLI)?
The number of lawsuits filed by employees against their employers has been rising. No company is immune to such lawsuits. Read more about EPLI here.
http://www.iii.org/individuals/business/optional/epli/