If you have ever attended an employment law seminar or a management training class, you have no doubt heard the speaker extol the virtues of consistency when dealing with employees. Consistency provides your employees with clear direction and minimizes uncertainty. Once your employees know what you expect, they are more likely to meet those expectations without the need for discipline.
Consistency is also the key to prevailing in the unemployment compensation arena and reducing your company's exposure to discrimination claims. In both contexts, the issue of whether the disciplined or discharged employee engaged in inappropriate conduct, or failed to meet the performance expectation, often is not in dispute. Instead, the basis for many claims is that the company allegedly failed to treat the claimant the same as it did another "similarly-situated" employee who engaged in comparable conduct. In other words, the employee complains that the company acted inconsistently and the reason for the inconsistent actions is the employee's protected status.
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