Employees and Employment Law: How To Avoid Getting Sued

It is inevitable that every employer will get sued by one of their employees at some time in the future. If an employee is upset about his/her termination, all that is required to sue you is to go to the EEOC or ICRC and fill out a form. Then the agency begins an investigation, to which the employer must respond and this usually requires getting an attorney involved. The most basic safeguard is to simply make sure you have a sound business reason for any employee related decision you must make.

The following steps are provided as a guide to help employers with issues that confront businesses every day:

1. Discrimination – There are laws that prohibit discrimination against minority groups such as employees involving race, gender, disability, sexual harassment etc. Make sure you treat all employees consistently and have a good business reason for whatever you do.

2. Retaliation – If an employee complains to you about any of the above, they fall into another protected class and you can’t take action against them unless you have a documented and sound business reason.

3. Wage and Hour issues – There are a lot of plaintiff’s lawyers out there who are actively seeking to file class action law suits. If if a company has a habit of poor record keeping or is not paying overtime properly they are at risk. Watch out for these critical issues because if a suit is filed and you lose, you will have to pay attorney’s fees, which can be substantial.

Employment laws are amazingly complex and are getting more so under the the current administration. Every employer should keep abreast of employee issues and the ever changing laws that could affect their business. An employee handbook is highly recommended.

Bruce Mills is a labor and employment lawyer located in the Geist area. He does not charge for telephone consultation, so if you have a question, give him a call at (317) 318-5286 or e-mail him at bfmills1@aol.com. He also has a sample employee handbook that he will e-mail to you at no charge.