Business owners know that one of the more unpleasant tasks of owning a business is dealing with employee issues, in particular those involving potential discipline or discharge of an individual. To make that process easier, it is strongly suggested that each employee’s performance be reviewed at least annually, and if the employee is not performing adequately or inappropriately that employee should be reviewed more frequently.

The scheduling of the reviews and the periodic nature of the reviews should be relatively the same for all employees so that one employee cannot claim that he/she was discriminated against. By performing regular reviews, it will enable the employer to address issues before they become major problems and to create a paper trail in the event that the employee must be discharged. It is extremely important also that the interviewer and another member of the company be present at the time of the review along with the employee, and that accurate Minutes be kept and signed by the person conducting the review and verified by the witness. We also suggest if you are going to discuss specific issues with regard to discipline or a performance plan for an employee who may be struggling, that you put together a list of items that are to be discussed, and in fact are discussed at the evaluation, and that you ask the employee to sign the statement indicating that those were the matters discussed. You should emphasize that by signing the document, the individual is not agreeing that he/she has violated any company policy or that he/she has done anything wrong but, rather, that he/she simply acknowledges that these are the matters discussed at the performance evaluation. If the performance evaluation includes a notice to the employee that his or her performance or behavior must improve or be corrected or else they would be subject to disciplinary action including discharge from employment, that should be specifically noted in the document that the employee is required to sign so that the employee cannot claim later that he/she did not know that they could be discharged for this particular issue. It is also important that the issues that you are discussing issues that are clearly defined in the Employee Handbook and that the employee acknowledges in writing that he/she has read and has understood all of the company policies, especially the one being discussed.

If you have questions or concerns about your employees, the attorneys at Thomas Law Group can help guide you through those staffing and employment issues.