1. Legal/Human Resources Overview
John Muckelbauer, General Counsel
Danielle Heinisch, Manager, HR

2. Agenda Employment Actions Hiring Employees Performance & Conduct
Progressive Discipline
Retaliation

3. Employment Actions Hiring employees Managing employees
Have you selected the best candidate for the job?
Managing employees
Are you managing your employees fairly, avoiding favoritism and discrimination?
Firing employees
Do you have the authority to fire? Do you have the documents in hand to justify it? Have you stepped back and thought about it without emotion? Is it the best thing for the VFW?

4. Hiring Employees

5. Hiring Employees Draft a standard announcement
Pay attention to the job description
Don’t target one particular class

6. Hiring Employees Conduct a fair interview for all applicants selected
Use a standard question list

7. Hiring Employees Does the applicant have the necessary skills?
Will the applicant fit into the office culture?

8. Hiring Employees
Avoid favoritism and discrimination when deciding on an employee.

9. Performance and Conduct

10. Performance & Conduct PLANNING Set goals and measure
Establish and communicate elements and standards
MONITORING
Measure performance
Provide feedback
Conduct progress reviews
DEVELOPING
Address poor performance
Improve good performance
RATING
Summarize performance
Assign the rating of record
REWARDING
Recognize and reward good performance

11. Planning Set goals and measures
Standards should be:
Understandable
Measureable
Attainable
Fair
Challenging
Establish and communicate elements and standards
Employees should be involved in the development of goals and measures
Employees should know what is expected and how well they have to do it
Plans should be flexible

12. Monitoring Measure performance
Measure employee’s performance through job description and observance
Conduct regular sessions with new employees to see if fit is working
Counsel employees on good work and sub-standard work formally
Provide feedback, formally and informally
Specific
Timely
Positive manner
Conduct progress reviews
View as a tool, not a punishment
Measure what is important, not only what is easy
Use multiple measures

13. Developing Address poor performance
Take action for sub-standard performance as well as unacceptable conduct
Communicate clearly
Provide positive, constructive feedback
Increase supervision and work closely with employee
Positive reinforcement for good performance or conduct
Assign a mentor
Skill training (classes, online and on-the-job)
Checklists

14. Developing Improve good performance Training and classes
Assignments that introduce new skills
Higher levels of responsibility
Improving work processes
Cross-training and job rotation
Mentorship
“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” ~Henry Ford

15. Rating Summarize performance Assign the rating of record
Compares performance over time and across employees
Assign the rating of record
Based on work during entire appraisal period
Useful in granting pay increases and making other employment decision

16. Rewarding Recognize and reward good performance Formal and informal
Ongoing
Intrinsic rewards
Provide meaningful work
Autonomy
Opportunities for an employee to show his/her competence
Facilitate professional development
Extrinsic rewards
Money
Verbal praise
Public recognition or awards
Promotion

17. Progressive Discipline

18. Progressive Discipline
Start a discipline policy. Progressive discipline is best practice.
Counsel employee formally when discipline is needed.
Always take action immediately. It doesn’t get better with time.

19. Progressive Discipline
Steps in progressive discipline
Verbal discipline
Written discipline
Suspension
Termination

20. Progressive Discipline
Is it performance or conduct based discipline?
Is it can’t or won’t?

21. Other Issues
Can’t I do what I want with an employee in an “at-will” state?
I’m not firing an “employee.” I’m firing an “independent contractor.”
Should I just tell the person, “you’re fired?”

22. Retaliation

23. Retaliation One of the most common reasons for lawsuits.
Retaliation, or the appearance of retaliation, can take many forms: discipline, reduction in salary or status, denying benefits of employment.
Employee only needs a “good faith belief” that a wrong occurred.

24. QUESTIONS? Danielle Heinisch dheinisch@vfw.org 816-968-1135
John Muckelbauer