Week 8b HR

Types of Performance Issues:

1. Constantly late or leaving early

2. Too much time spent doing personal things at work

3. Inability to handle proprietary information

4. Family issues

5. Drug and alcohol abuse

6. Nonperforming

7. Conflicts with management or other employees

8. Theft

9. Ethical breaches

10. Harassment

11. Employees conduct outside the workplace

Internal performance factors

1. Career goals are not being met with the job.

2. There is conflict with other employees or the manager.

3. The goals or expectations are not in line with the employee’s abilities.

4. The employee views unfairness in the workplace.

5. The employee manages time poorly.

6. The employee is dissatisfied with the job.

external performance factors

1. The employee doesn’t have correct equipment or tools to perform the job.

2. The job design is incorrect.

3. External motivation factors are absent

4. There is a lack of management support.

5. The employee’s skills and job are mismatched.

The Role of the Performance Appraisal in Discipline:

a systematic process to evaluate employees on (at least) an annual basis. The organization’s performance appraisal and general rules and policies should be the tools that measure the employee’s overall performance. If an employee breaks the rules or does not meet expectations of the performance appraisal, the performance issue model, which we will discuss next, can be used to correct the behavi

Performance Issue Model

We can view performance issues in one of FIVE areas: Mandated issue is serious and must be addressed immediately, second performance issue can be called a single incident, when single incidents are not immediately corrected, they can evolve into a behavior pattern, which is our third type of performance issue, employee has been corrected for a behavior pattern but continues to exhibit the same behavior, we call this a persistent pattern

Discipline

the process that corrects undesirable behavior

The goal of a discipline process shouldn’t necessarily be to punish, but to help the employee meet performance expectations.

guidelines on creation of rules and organizational policies

1. All rules or procedures should be in a written document.

2. Rules should be related to safety and productivity of the organization.

3. Rules should be written clearly, so no ambiguity occurs between different managers.

4. Supervisors, managers, and human resources should communicate rules clearly in orientation, training, and via other methods.

5. Rules should be revised periodically, as the organization’s needs change.

steps in progressive discipline normally are the following

1. First offense: Unofficial verbal warning. Counseling and restatement of expectations.

2. Second offense: Official written warning, documented in employee file.

3. Third offense: Second official warning. Improvement plans (discussed later) may be developed. Documented in employee file.

4. Fourth offense: Possible suspension or other punishment, documented in employee file.

5. Fifth offense: Termination and/or alternative dispute resolution

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Unbiased third party looks at the facts in the case and tries to come to an agreement, lower cost and flexibility,

Peer resolution system

a committee of management and employees is formed to review employee complaints or discipline issues

Ombudsman

a person is selected to be the designated individual for employees to go to should they have a complaint or issue

Employee Separation

• An employee can resign

• An employee can be asked to leave the organization – cause or not for cause

• An employee can quit and leave without notifying anyone of their departure

considerations in developing a severance package

1. How it will be paid

2. Which situations will pay a severance and which will not. For example, if an employee is terminated for violation of a sexual harassment policy, is a severance still paid?

3. A formula for how severance will be paid, based on work group, years with the organization, etc.

4. Legal documents, such as legal releases and noncompete agreements

5. Will an accrued vacation and/or sick leave will be paid, if at all

absconded employee

If an employee stops showing up to work, a good effort to contact this person should be the first priority. If after three days this person has not been reachable and has not contacted the company, it would be prudent to stop pay and seek legal help to recover any company items

Rightsizing

the process of reducing the total size of employees, to ultimately save on costs.

Considerations of rightsizing

First, is the downturn temporary? There is nothing worse than laying people off, only to find that as business increases, you need to hire again. 

Second, has the organization looked at other ways to cut expenses? Perhaps cutting expenses in other areas would be advisable before choosing to lay people off.

Finally, consideration should be given to offering temporary sabbaticals, voluntary retirement, or changing from a full - to part-time position.

Job Protection Rights

It is the HR professional’s job to understand and protect the rights of employees

Whistleblowing

when an employee notifies organizations of illegal or unethical activity. Whistleblowers are protected from discharge due to their activity.

constructive discharge

the conditions are so poor that the employee had no choice but to leave the organization

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)

law that requires companies of one hundred or more employees to notify employees and the community if fifty or more employees are to be laid off.

retaliatory discharge

occurs if an employer fires or lays off an employee owing to a charge the employee filed.

• For example, if an employee files a workers’ compensation claim and then is let go, this could be a retaliatory discharge.