What are the 3 tools for San Diego employers to prevent lawsuits and minimize the legal and financial exposure of any employee-related dispute? Why are policies and procedures, employee handbooks and an arbitration agreement the crucial elements of any San Diego employer’s strategy to reduce lawsuits? These crucial company employment documents guide many internal processes and management tactics to effectively manage employee discipline and disputes. They also provide important guard rails to limit the financial exposure of a dispute or lawsuit.
Policies and Procedures
One of the 3 tools for San Diego employers to prevent lawsuits is an up-to-date policies and procedures document. The policies and procedures lay out specific strategies to manage every day operations and guide not only decision making but the investigation and management of issues and disputes. Your policies and procedures make sure all employees and management fulfill legal and regulatory compliance. They provide an outline for crucial internal procedures regarding matters from discipline to workplace safety.
Employee Handbook
It might surprise you to learn that the employee handbook is not the right tool to write a treatise on the corporate culture or all the perks of being an employee. The employee handbook should be tightly tailored to protect the employer from unnecessary risks and expectations. Stick with the basics here. The employee handbook establishes expectations and provides insight into your company’s values, policies, mission, benefits and day-to-day operational procedures.
Your policies and procedures and employee handbook establish the actual legal foundation to enforce the guidelines established within them. These documents should describe in detail the manner in which employee performance and conduct will be measured, evaluated, and when necessary corrected.
Arbitration Agreement
Recent substantial changes based upon a recent US Supreme Court ruling have obliterated a decades long attempt by California to eliminate the ability of an employer to require an arbitration agreement. The arbitration agreement is somewhat straightforward: it establishes the ground rules for how any dispute between the employer and employee will be resolved. This limits the ability of employees to seek plaintiff’s attorneys to bring substantial lawsuits and PAGA actions. The arbitration agreement is one of the essential 3 tools for San Diego employers to prevent lawsuits and limit the damages which might result.
The Watkins Firm Can Help You to Implement and Update the 3 Tools for San Diego Employers to Prevent Lawsuits
The experienced business general counsel and employer defense attorneys at the Watkins Firm help you to ensure you are compliant with all federal, state and local laws. We also help to structure the types of policies and procedures you and your management team will employ to discipline or terminate an employee.
We help to close the loop holes that allow poor performers to abuse FMLA and FLSA laws to artificially protect their employment status, or claim retaliation due to mishandling of a prior complaint or disciplinary action. There must be specific strategies to handle employee complaints, allegations of discrimination or misconduct, and other employee-related complaints. Your processes must legally and efficiently separate these issues from performance measurement metrics and ultimately the disciplinary measures you need to put in place.
The consistency of your policies and procedures and employee handbooks and the regularity with which they are updated play a major role in this effort. In addition, your internal communications to employees ensuring they are aware of any changes or updates and clearly understand how this impacts them personally and the manner in which the arbitration agreement will play a major role in preventing disputes and lawsuits.
Employee-related lawsuits and PAGA Actions have spiked here in San Diego in the past few years. Protect yourself and your company. Learn more about the 3 tools for San Diego employers to prevent lawsuits and reduce the risks of being an employer in San Diego and Southern California. We invite you to review our recent podcast Episode 28 – Common Employer Disputes and Defenses, the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.
Let’s discuss your company policies and procedures, employee handbooks and the implementation and management of arbitration agreements so that the Watkins Firm can help to protect and support your goals and objectives as an employer while reducing the likelihood and risks associated with an employee-related dispute.
