Train Supervisors From the Start and Avoid Woes Later

Now that employers are developing cultures that require leaner management, supervisors are being called on at times to make chancy personnel decisions. That can put your business at risk if you have an untrained supervisor who is unfamiliar with the counter-intuitive aspects of the law. You can't assume you're safe as long as your supervisors understand they can't make an employment decision based on race, age or gender. There are other characteristics to laws that your supervisors need to recognize.

Many supervisors try to avoid making personnel decisions. They understand the company can get sued, and they realize they do not know what they can do, so they do nothing. With those challenges, supervisors need to be armed with enough training that they are capable of identifying a problem at an early point. Through training, a supervisor can learn the counterintuitive nature of the law. The supervisor can become knowledgeable about the fundamental rules that will help guide him through most situations.

This article appeared in the August 22, 2008 issue of the Charlotte Business Journal.