Are your employees a liability?

By Jean Seawright Vice President Seay Management Consultants, Inc. Orlando, Fl.

IIOST employers agree that the lUlkev to a successful business is hiring and retaining happy, satisfied and productive employees. If your employees are not productive, your business will ultimately fail. If your employees are not managed properly, they can become a huge liability.

Hiring, retaining and discharging employees properly is perhaps the biggest challenge employers face today. It is no longer acceptable or legal to ask questions in an interview about the applicant's age, renting or owning a home, or the number of children the applicant has. The result can be a charge of discrimination that costs thousands of dollars and leads to a government investigation or lawsuit.

Title vll of the civil Rights Act and various other state, county and city regulations prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, physical or mental handicap, marital status, age, and others. We do not recommend that you ask any questions related to these categories in any way, during the application process. To do so can be considered potentially discriminatory and employers must be able to prove that all employment decisions including hires, discharges, transfers, layoffs and promotions are not discriminatory.

The government operates under an unusual enforcement policy which says that the burden of proof is on the employer. This means that ifyou cannot prove that your policies and procedures comply with state and federal employment regulations, the government will automatically assume that they do not. Just ask any employer who has been through an investigation.

To reduce your liability, w'e recommend that you document every employment decision. For example, if an employee's performance begins to deteriorate, document the facts so that if you discharge this person, you can prove it was not because ofhis or her sex, age or other protected class.

In your hiring process we recommend that you complete a "Job Candidate Comparison Sheet" which ranks candidates with regard to important qualifications for the position. This will provide you with objective and comparative information concerning your selection and will help to establish consistency in your hiring process. We also recommend that you conduct reference checks and document your attempts to do so.

Story at a Glane

Tips on complying with govemment rcgulations. ways to avoid litigation, invest(1ations, unfair claims. hidng and firing techniques.

Every company should develop and maintain a company policy handbook which establishes ground level performance expectations and non-discriminatory policies and procedures. A handbook helps to meet the burden of proof by ensuring that policies and practices are administered consistently among employees.

We live in a litigious society which is very concerned with the "rights" of individuals. Today's employees are aware of the laws and regulations which protect them and they are not afraid to exercise this knowledge. Managers must be able to respond to these attitudes and challenges.

It has never been more necessary for employers to audit their internal policies and procedures and their hiring and discharge practices. Employers should ensure that their applications do not contain any potentially discriminatory information; they should ensure that managers who interview are aware of questions to avoid; and they should ensure that a progressive disciplinary process is utilized.

Employers can keep up with current labor regulations which affect employment and proper and effective steps toward compliance by reading personnel newsletters and articles, attending labor relations seminars or working closely with a human resource consultant. By acquiring this knowledge, they can avoid costly unfair employment claims, lawsuits and government investigations, and have peace of mind.

0SB panel siding offers advantages including easy application.

D LYWOOD still dominates the panel siding market, l- Uut dealers who have turned builder customers on to engineered OSB panels report happy results.

The OSB panel is engineered to provide all of plywood's strengths with none of its drawbacks, adherents claim. There's no veneer to peel or fall apart, no grain to split, no knots or voids to patch and no irregularities to discolor, those who have used the products say. Because it is made from real wood, it has the familiar feelof T1I l, yet it weighs less and is easier to work with. It's strong enough to be nailed directly to studs 24 inches o.c. And in these days ofecological concerns shaping buying decisions, it has the added advantage of being made from plentiful, noncontroversial timber sources.

A $400,000 home built in Mobile. Al.. last summer was an early OSB panel siding project. Louisiana-Pacific, one of the first major U.S. manufacturers of OSB and a