Thirty plus years of employment and worker’s compensation practice has exposed me to thousands of personnel files and interviews, not to mention my experience with what could easily be twice that many management-level employees. Those that manage employees or those charged with the responsibility of managing the business’ worker’s compensation claims routinely make four common mistakes:
1. Failing to consistently enforce the policies, rules and procedures of the company. An employer must be consistent with every employee and with every policy. Nothing is harder to explain than why the rule/policy/procedure was being enforced against Jane but not against John or others.
2. Failing to accurately report and document what goes on in the workplace. Many employment related claims turn on who said what to whom. In other words, the “she said, he said” credibility battle is at the crux of many disputes. Inaccuracy in your documentation will come back to haunt you every time.
3. Failing to use common decency and respect. Follow the Golden Rule we all learned as children: treat others as you would like to be treated. This is a simple yet often overlooked rule.
4. Failing to document the personnel file. Although much has been written about the importance of documentation, it is remarkable the lack of documentation we see in many situations. Properly documented files leads to less confusion and can save everyone time and money in the end.
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, please contact the authors regarding more in-depth training we provide on these subjects and how to avoid these mistakes.