This Seemingly Innocent HR Practice Is a Massive Liability Waiting to Be Exploited — Improve Your HR

This Seemingly Innocent HR Practice Is a Massive Liability Waiting to Be Exploited — Improve Your HR


If you have employees, you could face an employment lawsuit one day. It isn’t just something that “happens to other people.” Of course, the best way to avoid a lawsuit is not to break the law in the first place, but that doesn’t reduce your risk to zero. How you handle problem employees makes all the difference in how a court will look at your decisions.

1. A findings memo without any reasoning shown

You may know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what happened. It may be 100 percent clear to you, but without documentation, your court case won’t go well. Coombe writes:

“A conclusion without documented reasoning isn’t a finding—it’s an assertion. Plaintiff’s attorneys never just challenge what you concluded. They challenge how you got there and why. If the file doesn’t show the work, the work might as well not have happened.