We all spend a lot of our lives at work. We have acquaintances, we build teams, and we sometimes make friends at work. It can be particularly difficult for supervisors to manage communication with people whom they also treat as friends, employees with whom they may have a beer, or otherwise engage socially.

Many litigation cases don’t start at top management but with a front-line supervisor who is communicating directly with employees on a regular and consistent basis. Therefore, it is important to work with supervisors and employees on work-communication skills and boundaries.  One stupid meme can create huge issues.

The Communication Basics

• Communication should be consistent and clear-cut. Don’t hide, waffle, or twist communication in such a way that employees can’t even make sense of it.
• Communication should be transparent. Why is this communication occurring, what is the reasoning behind it, and what is the intended outcome?
• All communication should have a business purpose when done on official business systems. All “unofficial” communication should still meet your policies on anti-harassment and professionalism.

No Private Communication

Now, most of your employees are unlikely to do this which leads to the next truism. There is almost no private communication. When you work with someone at any point in time, your behavior outside of work can be linked to your workplace and result in potential discrimination or other claims. This is particularly true with supervisors as they have authority over employees and therefore are held to a higher standard of policy compliance and professionalism. Particularly with the advent of social media, texting, and similar items, there can be very little demarcation between “private” off-work behavior and work. Employees should be aware of this, particularly when interacting with co-workers/friends and they should also be aware that your company policies may relate to certain off-work behaviors as well, including discrimination or harassment.

Friendships and Communication Traps

Several communication mistakes occur when we are friends with someone or feel that we have known them for a long time. Many people feel like they understand how someone will react in a specific situation. Unfortunately, we never know how someone is going to react and there are some traps that supervisors need to be aware of.

• Trying to be kind. Supervisors may attempt during a discipline or even a termination to empathize with the employee and be kind to “soften the blow.” Some comments in circumstances such as this could be, “I’m your age and I know how it is,” or “I had another employee that did _____” or “You’ve been so great maybe you want to think about retirement instead of us having to fire you.” All of these things can lead to potential claims - specifically claims of age discrimination. Supervisors are better served to be straightforward with employees and leave out comments of this type.
• Making inappropriate comparisons. Comparing a termination to some other life event is never going to be appropriate. Further, aphorisms like, “You’ll pull yourself up,” or “It will be better tomorrow,” really don’t strike the right note in a termination. An employee termination should be direct, specific, and employers should remember that your average employee doesn’t care that it gives you heartburn to do a termination, they only care about what is happening to them.
• Making decisions for other people. Making assumptions no matter how reasonable you think they may be about what other people can and cannot do is not appropriate. The ADA/ADAAA specifically requires that you engage in an interactive discussion to determine what is and is not appropriate. This should also be backed up by medical documentation regarding any restrictions an employee might have in the workplace. Simply deciding that an employee can’t do their job, whether it is for age or disability or some other reason without clear support is not appropriate under the law. No matter how complicated it sometimes feels, conversations need to be had to assess whether or not a reasonable accommodation can be made.
• Thinking social media, tv or music gives you a pass on what you say. Employers and supervisors sometimes attempt to connect with their employees by utilizing language they have heard on tv shows, in music, and even language that they hear their employee use informally. However, just because something is used socially doesn’t mean it is acceptable in the workplace or an acceptable way for a supervisor to communicate. There is a significant amount of music that has sexually inappropriate language, demeans women, or uses language which is racially charged. None of that language, regardless of the type of music your employees listen to, should be used in the workplace.
• Thinking it’s okay because we are friends. Just because you are friends with an employee doesn’t mean that it is okay to make inappropriate comments about other employees, spread gossip, tell them trade secrets, or engage in any other activities that will place both the supervisor and the employee in an awkward position.

The Big Picture

How we talk to and with employees is crucial in mitigating potential future litigation and damages. Given remote workplaces, the increasing use of social media, various platforms to communicate, and the informality of day-to-day business life which has developed over the last decade it becomes increasingly difficult to separate the personal and work leading to a lack of professionalism in many work relationships. That lack of professionalism creates litigation risk and should be addressed in the workplace.