The employee’s working document is the most important document of the supervisor. The information document provides evidence of the employee’s performance, including all training activities. Accurate documentation of completed questions is absolutely necessary to justify decisions regarding training or assignment.
Unfortunately, not enough employers use these tools to consistently produce the necessary accurate documents to defend against workplace lawsuits. In almost every employment litigation case, the legality of the decision to discipline or dismiss will be contested. This article discusses how to act as an employee document.
Appraisals: Failure to evaluate employees consistently can be the subject of a lawsuit, such as if an employee alleges that he was treated differently because he was never given a proper evaluation. Employees also often argue that they have never had performance problems. You could end up in hot water if you try to train employees whose performance is not consistently evaluated. If you don’t consistently evaluate employees, it would be wise to set a schedule for it and stick to it.
Warnings: Unfortunately, few employers regularly provide warning documents to employees. Many actors are afraid of document minor problems such as being slow to work or prolonged absences. However, in many cases, documentation of these problems would be very useful evidence in demonstrating that the employee has a problem to perform. Letters of this nature should take the form of a short memo from the employee’s supervisor and be retained in the employee’s personnel file.
Document all conversations with employees, including the time of the conversation, name and title, and the employee’s name and title. This sounds obvious, but it is rarely done on a consistent basis.
When documenting behavior issues, it is crucial to observe behavior and not diagnose personal problems. Well-substantiated documentation will provide objective information and help the supervisor avoid becoming involved in the employee’s problems.
It is important to follow your company’s guidelines so that you are in compliance with privacy laws. When you document something, write it down as it happens. Be factual and include the date, time and particulars of the incident. Note the facts, not the impressions or rumors. Keep the document confidential and relevant to the job.
Once the documents are done, prepare to meet the employee formally. Discuss the matter with management or human resources personnel to ensure that it is applicable to the company. Collect and summarize all related documents such as past work performance reviews or incident reports. Find out what needs to be done to improve things. Last but not least, try to anticipate the employee’s reaction in order to be prepared.
The purpose of the meeting is to warn the specific employee of their poor performance and to obtain agreement in the process to obtain better future performance. Don’t waste on documentation, which can be just as damaging as lack of documentation.
Report:
- Free Business and Human Resources Forms – www.entrepreneur.com/formnet/humanresourcesforms.html
