Monthly Archives: June 2012

Have you ever heard of Managers, normally very nice people, who do crazy things towards their employees? I have! And, it’s not pretty. How about?

• “Now those are what I call come-f**k-me shoes”
• “Let’s go to her house and fire her… she’s not really sick”
• “I just threw the hammer at him as a joke”
• “Just use your woman’s intuition to do a better job”

Seriously?! What would possess a person, any person, to behave like this?

Sounds nuts but it happens every day. These are often the mavericks of the world who dream big and don’t let anything get in their way… and are often small business owners.

It’s these same business owners who also end up paying for unemployment, discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims.  They may get away with it for a while, but sooner or later, their luck runs out.

If you know a maverick, tell him/her to chill.  It’s not worth losing their business over or ruining their reputation.  It’s just a matter of time until they get caught.

If that doesn’t work, have them call me.  I’ll give them some other real life examples… along with the dollar figures paid in settlements.

Federal Agencies have become more aggressive in pursuing claims of wrong-doing by employers.  The Department of Labor (DOL), in particular, has ramped up it’s Audit and Claims Investigations substantially within the last couple of years.

This can be troublesome for small businesses in several ways.  Businesses can easily spend 40-60 hours responding to a claim investigation, even when there is no violation found and even when there is no jurisdiction established.  Establishing agency jurisdiction is becoming secondary to whether or not a violation occurred.

This shift in focus raises the stakes on business because agencies now share information.  Now the information collected by one agency can be shared and used to create claims with multiple agencies.  For example, a state audit could easily turn into IRS and DOL investigations, if employees are being paid as contractors.

Although information can be shared between agencies, each agency will still conduct their own investigations and pursue their own recourse for penalties, fees, back-pay, taxes etc.  For example, a small business could be looking at paying penalties to the state, the IRS and the DOL for the same violation.

Small employers can take a few simple actions avoid getting stuck in an agency crunch.

• Adopt and follow smart policies and practices.  Do not over commit yourself by creating unnecessary policies that you cannot reasonable follow fairly and consistently.
• When responding to an audit or investigation, keep your answers simple.  Do not volunteer a wealth of information that you think might be helpful or  relevant.  The agency knows what is relevant and will ask for it, if needed.
• Review your Employee Handbook and Company Policies, at least once a year.  Policies that work to your advantage this year, could easily work against you next year.
• Partner with a trusted HR Consultant or Employment Law Attorney.  It is extremely challenging to stay on top of all the legal minutia… and still effectively manage your day-to-day business.  Let the experts scan the legal environment for you and guide you through steps to avoid agency scrutiny in the first place.