A Dozen Tips to Prevent Employment Litigation

As a labor and employment lawyer representing employers for now over thirty years, I have always been focused on the proactive and preventative steps employers can and should take to avoid claims and liability. Despite these efforts it seems we lawyers end up doing more damage control. Through this damage control many lessons are learned. With each matter I've always made an effort with clients during the course of the case and certainly at the end to talk about lessons learned. While they are numerous, and could be the subject of a book on the topic, the following are a few of the key lessons learned:

1. So you say you are an "At-Will" employer. Then why does the proper disclaimer not exist in your employment application, employee handbook, work rules and other policies and procedures? I've heard many times over the years, He or she was At-Will and we didn't have to tell them why we fired them; or "My lawyer told me they were At-Will and I didn't need a reason to