By Lynne Curry “It’s not the difficult conversations that bite you the hardest,” I told the manager. “It’s the ones you put off until too late.” I listened to the manager’s reasons and told him, “Here are the risks you take. You dread telling ‘Robert’ what and how he needs to improve because he lashes out at you and remains sullen for days after you’ve counseled him. You … [Read more...] about Don’t delay if you have to deliver bad news
Termination
What does FMLA require of a law office employer?
One of the employment laws that affect how you manage your staff is the The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This is a federal law that requires certain employers to provide their employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for certain qualifying reasons. These reasons include the birth or adoption of a child, the care of a family member with a … [Read more...] about What does FMLA require of a law office employer?
5 lessons employers can learn from Elon Musk’s Twitter crises
By Lynne Curry When multi-billionaire and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk acquired Twitter on Oct. 27, he assumed leadership of a company that hadn’t earned a profit in eight of its ten years, By Nov. 4, eight days later, 1.3 million users had fled Twitter. Revenue dropped dramatically as advertisers, Twitter’s main revenue source, pulled out. One could feel sorry for … [Read more...] about 5 lessons employers can learn from Elon Musk’s Twitter crises
What to do when an employee uses FMLA to cover drinking
By Lynne Curry Question: We suspect one of our employees of using intermittent FMLA leave to cover her abuse of alcohol. We see a clear pattern. She takes leave two to three Mondays a month. Prior to her requesting FMLA leave, she claimed occasional sick days on Mondays. Other employees have noticed her leaving early on Fridays as well. With this fact pattern and given … [Read more...] about What to do when an employee uses FMLA to cover drinking
7 strategies for firing without backfiring
By Lynne Curry The final revenge of the difficult, fired employee. You’ve hesitated to fire him, you’ve given him chance after chance, but he’s not getting better. In fact, he’s getting worse, and so is the situation. You owe it to your other employees, who consider this employee toxic or carry his shirked workload burden, to bless this employee out the … [Read more...] about 7 strategies for firing without backfiring
The dreaded “you’re fired” interview
By Lynne Curry You dread what you’re about to do. Even though your employee deserves to be fired, you hate firing anyone. You also fear the damage a fired employee can create with false wrongful termination allegations. If you’d to fire without backfiring and in a way that leaves the fired employee with dignity, here’s what you need to know. Do your job right Have you … [Read more...] about The dreaded “you’re fired” interview
Employees who ask to be fired: A new trend to obtain a strategic advantage
By Lynne Curry At first, you think you’re imagining things. Your employee, “Kevin,” seems to want you to fire him. It started with Kevin not showing up for two critical team meetings in a row. When you sent him a text asking, “what happened” after the first, he responded, “It wasn’t on my radar.” You sent him an individual meeting request to ask him about this, but he was a … [Read more...] about Employees who ask to be fired: A new trend to obtain a strategic advantage
Quiet firing meets quiet quitting
By Lynne Curry Quiet quitting, the employee behavior pattern that swept through the nation this summer after a viral TikTok video in July, has met its match—quiet firing. Employers, disgusted by employees that consider it justified to do the bare minimum at work, are blessing these employees out the door. Managers take action In September 2022, 91% of 1,000 managers … [Read more...] about Quiet firing meets quiet quitting
How do we tell our employees we are laying off some of them?
By Lynne Curry As the economy takes a new twist, the talk in many work sectors is turning from staffing shortages to coming layoffs. If this is the case for your law office, here are some things to think about: Consider alternatives Have you considered all the alternatives your company has to layoffs? Could you reduce hours or salaries for a larger number of employees? If … [Read more...] about How do we tell our employees we are laying off some of them?
Russian-American workplace discrimination: It’s a thing now
By Lynne Curry Question: Like many other employees that need highly skilled employees and want to diversify their labor pool, ours has hired several Russian emigrants. Other than coworkers complaining that these employees’ accents make understanding them difficult, we had no problems—until Russia invaded Ukraine. At first, nothing occurred that created worry. Many of our … [Read more...] about Russian-American workplace discrimination: It’s a thing now