Legal Mistakes by HR (Part 1)

Yes, it happens.  We have a host of responsibilities and every once in awhile, HR can make a mistake.  Oftentimes multi-tasking results in our missing a step in a sequence or forgetting something.  We simply allow something to fall through the cracks.  Over the next couple of days I am going to focus on a handful of mistakes that I see as real landmines.   

1.  Failure to train supervisors.  Unintentional or not, supervisors say or do things that put the entire company on the hook.    A seemingly harmless question during the interview process such as "what church do you attend" or "how old are you" can spark a discrimination lawsuit.   Ignorance may be bliss, but it's not an excuse (or defensible in a court of law).

Ensure supervisors learn how to listen for leave requests that may fall under the FMLA umbrella and trigger FMLA protections. Remember, employees don't have to specifically ask for FMLA.  It is extremely important to train your management staff and front line supervisors on what constitutes notice of FMLA.  Further, the supervisors have an obligation to take action if they suspect an employee has provided notice. 

Why is training so important?  Let's take a look at the discount chain Target for just a moment.   Multi-cultural tips (via a controversial document) recently distributed at one Target location has sparked claims of discrimination by three employees.  The document which Target claims is not part of it's company-wide training program, called “Organization Effectiveness, Employee and Labor Relations Multi-Cultural Tips," was distributed to managers.  The document included subtitled sections like "intercultural differences."  What were the intentions of the managers?  You can only guess.  Here's an excerpt from the document:

1. Food: not everyone eats tacos and burritos
2. Music: not everyone dances to salsa
3. Dress: not everyone wears a sombrero
4. Mexicans (lower education levels, some may be undocumented)
5. Cubans (Political refugees, legal status, higher education level)
6. They may say “OK, OK” and pretend to understand, when they do not, just to save face.

Recognize the potential areas for training within your organization.  One size doesn't fit all so tailor your training needs to your organization.