In order to avoid having to dedicate time and money to an employment lawsuit down the line, it is extremely important for employers to clearly define the expectations they have for employees.  Also, even small business managers should think like larger corporations when it comes to employee training.  Having a clear understanding of the standards by which performance will be measured, as well as an opportunity to be trained to meet those standards, can go a long way toward eliminating feelings of unfairness.  If an employee feels as though he or she was treated unfairly, a “combustible situation” often occurs, which means the employee could act out in a negative way by filing a claim.

Defining expectations and adequate training.  Easy concepts, right?  Not so easy in practice.  Perform this simple test: ask an average employee what the standards are by which he or she is being measured and if he or she would have liked to have had more training in any given area.  The answers are sure to surprise you.

This blog is presented under protest by the law firm of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP.  It is essentially the random thoughts and opinions of someone who lives in the trenches of the war that often is employment law–he/she may well be a little shell-shocked.  So if you are thinking “woohoo, I just landed some free legal advice that will fix all my problems!”, think again.  This is commentary people, a sketchy overview of some current legal issue with a dose of humor, but commentary nonetheless; as if Dennis Miller were a lawyer…and still mildly amusing.  No legal advice here; you would have to pay real US currency for that (unless you are my mom, and even then there are limits).  But feel free to contact us with your questions and comments—who knows, we might even answer you.  And if you want to spread this stuff around, feel free to do so, but please keep it in its present form (‘cause you can’t mess with this kind of poetry).  Big news: Copyright 2013.  All rights reserved; yep, all of them.