Document, document, document! It's the mantra of the human resources profession.
Create timely and thorough documentation for all employment decisions.
On the other hand, supervisors and managers often view documenting as a chore they simply don't have time for.
But do they have time for the following all-too-common scenarios?
- Rebecca, has performed her data entry job poorly for several months. She is consistently late and her work is often inaccurate. The manager has spoken with her and given deadlines for improvement but the deadlines have come and gone. The company decides to fire her but wants to wait a few days until the manager returns from a business trip. Before he returns, Rebecca suddenly goes out on leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for a problem with her back. Upon her return, the company fires her for poor performance. She claims the company retaliated against her for taking FMLA leave. Without documentation of her performance problems, the coaching efforts or the timing of their termination decision, the company has no defense against her claim of retaliation.
- Joe, performs some aspects of his graphic design job well but is often slow to get back to customers. Co-workers pick up his slack. Resentful, two of the best employees quit so the supervisor knows she needs to fix the situation quickly. She approaches Human Resources about firing Joe. The HR administrator check's Joe's personnel file and finds several years' worth of good performance evaluations. So she says, "You can't. At least not yet." The supervisor and HR work together on a coaching and performance improvement plan that will take a couple of weeks to implement. The turnover adds pressure until replacement staff can be hired and brought up to speed. Staff members grumble louder than ever.
- A supervisor in a retail store, Marcus, asks employee, Kaitlyn, out on dates every day. She tells him, "No, thank you" but he keeps asking and makes comments about her body that make her feel uncomfortable. It is Kaitlyn's first job and she doesn't know how to handle the situation so she quits. She was given a copy of the company's sexual harassment policy on the first day, along with a stack of other papers. No one told her what was in the policy, she never read it, nor did she sign an acknowledgment that she received it. Her mother helps her contact the EEOC. They decide to pursue two claims: one for sexual harassment and one for constructive discharge. (Constructive discharge is when an employment situation is made so intolerable that a reasonable person would quit.)
All of these scenarios are preventable surprises.
Supervisors and managers and those responsible for handling human resources need to understand that creating timely documentation is a critical part of their role.
Here's 5 reason why:
1. Documentation is vital in an employer's defense against discrimination and other employment claims;
2. Memory alone will serve poorly in court. The lack of documentation will be a glaring omission and could paint the employer in a potentially suspicious light, particularly in a jury case as juries are notoriously pro-employee;
3. Documentation can explain how a situation was handled when an individual involved is no longer available to testify;
4. Documentation can verify that employees have read (or heard) and understand information they were given;
5. Documentation helps supervisors provide accurate and constructive performance feedback to employees.
When you need help implementing your HR audits, connect with me on LinkedIn and let's talk about how we can help you.
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I often hear executives complain about record-keeping, and especially that HR records creation and retention is a waste of time.
I've even heard some knuckleheads boast that they keep only the most basic and minmal records as though this practice provides some magical protection against a lawsuit.
What's best is to have compliant practices and well kept records.
For better or worse, documents are relied upon to tell the story.
No point in not having yours in good shape.
But, I do worry that we have gone overboard in the type of documentation we require.
CYA documentation and the regulations that produce it add no value.