Legal Risk In The Workplace

In any organization, there are legal risk that could arise due to the way the organization handles employee matters. Business should be well prepared to handle these legal risk and think about all the possible risks that are associated with their actions. Some of the most common legal risk that arise within an organization are related to discipline, separation, and conflict. All these areas need to be handled with care and the reasoning behind the company’s actions need to be supported. If a company has proper documentation and actual proof of the employee’s actions related to each of these areas, then the employee will not have a chance to pursue legal actions since the business had appropriate reasoning to react the way they did. However, …show more content…
Involuntary separation refers to layoffs, the closing of the business, or disability whereas voluntary separation is related to resignations, retirement, or job abandonment. Whatever the reason may be for the cause of separation, the employer should be able to handle any situation that may arise because of their action. “The legal system that governs employee separations is becoming more protective of employee rights, which is causing a business more risk when deciding to separate with an employee” (Balkin, 1992, p.64). Therefore, the business should have strict rules in place that covers the legal aspects of each kind of separation reasoning. A reward system is one way that a company can reduce the effects of legal risks associated with separation. For example, the company many need to have early retirement incentives and health care benefits extended to the older employees in an effort to get them to want to retire early. Another way is to offer a performance compensation plan that is well documented on how an employee is measuring up to the company standards. Both components are ways to ethically and legally have reasoning to separate with an employee without forcing them out of his/ her job with the …show more content…
An organization should have a conflict resolution policy in place and it should involve the HR manager to make the deciding factor in the matter. In order to avoid legal issues that arise from conflict, the HR manager should determine the cause of conflict in a timely manner and remain unbiased during the duration of the investigation. The HR manager should try to resolve the issue using as much company policy and procedures as possible and he/ she should be fair in determining the outcome. During a conflict, an employee may feel threatened or feel he/ she was treated unfairly which is a legal risk. The HR manager should follow all company policies and procedures to assure that their actions and reasoning is