Running a company is tricky business. Sometimes, it can be tough to protect your company from lawsuits while also keeping your employees safe and happy. While there is no silver bullet that will guarantee that a workplace incident won’t occur, there are a few key policies that you can direct your human resources department to implement so that you can work towards both goals simultaneously.
Adequate sexual harassment training and protocols
If an employee suffers sexual harassment from a coworker, manager or officer of the company, they could decide to bring a lawsuit to vindicate their rights. This is why it’s important to hold regular and thorough sexual harassment trainings. It is also essential to make sure that your HR department has proper training on how to respond to reports of sexual harassment in your workplace.
If you have adequate training in place, it can reduce the probability that a sexual harassment incident will occur, thus keeping your employees safe. In addition, if an incident does occur, it can help to shield your company from liability, because you will be able to demonstrate the steps you took to prevent and deal with the harassment.
Avoiding retaliatory action
Sometimes employees do things that greatly inconvenience or even damage their company. It is essential, however, for you to train your human resources department on what constitutes illegal retaliatory action, so that you can avoid a wrongful termination or discrimination lawsuit.
For example, if an employee reports what they consider to be an OSHA violation in your workplace, your supervisors cannot suspend them, deduct their pay, fire them or otherwise punish them solely based on this report. The same goes for applying for workers’ compensation benefits and other federally protected programs.
Among your many other responsibilities, protecting your company from an avoidable lawsuit is one of the most important. A well-trained human resources department can make all the difference in this respect.
