Most small business owners start off with zero or one employee to manage. Usually the first few hires are simple and not complicated. Shortly after that, the business owner is confronted with the task of payroll, unemployment insurance, taxes. These can get handled by a number of services but not long after that, an employee issue can arise.
Initially, the response is guided by common sense. Someone is late to work and has a personal issue. If you are the owner, you sit them down and talk to them and ask them to do better; hoping that will do the trick. Or an employee is down in production and/or quality and you have the same talk. This type of management works in small numbers but there can still be challenges in keeping employees working and treating them in a fair and even handed manner.
What you may not be aware of is that this type of management is a policy. It may not be written down, but employees have memories and they notice how you handle one situation from the next. Problems can arise if employees feel they are not being treated fairly and assign that difference to their race, gender, religion, pregnancy, etc. Your intention may be completely innocent of malice, but it quickly can become a matter for the courts to decide.
Hopefully as a company grows, an employer will grow its practices and policies with it and implement a formal and consistent employee policy manual. Not one that just sits on a shelf, but one that applies to the daily activities of the company and employees alike. A manual that can be changed periodically upon review from a Maryland employment attorney like Luchansky Law.
Regularly reviewing your employee manual can keep your company current with regulations, technology and industry best practices. You want your policies to be consistent and effective.
Set a schedule to review your policies and decide on changes
Recognize when a significant change is occurring that might affect your existing policy and consult counsel for advice.
Changes to corporate laws and regulations can warrant a change in policy and should be part of the review process.
Making changes to the employee policy manual can be incremental and if well thought out can also be a simple process with few to no distractions in your day.
Contact Luchansky Law today to discuss a review of your company policies and procedures.