POEM’s R&D Review: Thumbnail Sketch
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This article was prepared for the October 24, 2001
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Managing Employees & Preventing Lawsuits
Recording an employee’s missteps — and his good
work too — is so time consuming that many supervisors, struggling
to bring projects in on time, often just don’t bother. It can be a
nuisance to take detailed notes on complaints against the employee
who thinks it’s funny to harass women or on the employee who
consistently
outperforms everyone in the department. But the effort pales beside
the alternative.
“You’ve got to do it,” says Kathy Raykovich, a senior
human resources analyst with the New Jersey Department of Labor.
“It
overrules excuses.” The reason? “These days anyone can sue
for any reason.”
Raykovich, who studied Spanish, education, and theater at Rowan back
when it was Glassboro State, has been educating employers for the
labor department’s division of business services for 25 years. She
speaks on “Document! Document! Document!” on Tuesday, October
30, at 9 a.m. at a meeting sponsored by the labor department and the
Employers Association of New Jersey at the Department of Labor
Building
in Trenton. Cost: $10. Call 609-984-3518.
Among the excuses Raykovich hears with some regularity are “no
time,” “no space,” and “someone will see it.”
She gives advice on overcoming all three.
Established procedures cut recordkeeping time. Where anemployer has policy manuals, detailed job descriptions, time cards,and well-designed appraisal forms, documenting employee performancebecomes largely routine. A good infrastructure for recording eachemployee’s contribution — or lack of same — means less timespent creating paper trails on a case-by-case basis.Storing employee records takes some thought. “Somepeople think everything on an employee should be in the samefile,”says Raykovich. This common mistake can lead to big problems. Shesays a government office, maybe Immigration or the I.R.S., which wantsone form on an employee, will not dig out that piece of paper, butrather will take the whole file. The employer is left with nothingon that person.Keeping everything in one place can also be a problem if an employeewants to see his file. By law, Raykovich says, the employee does nothave an automatic right to see it, but denying him access can causemorale problems. If everything ever written about him is there, theemployee may come across negative comments by supervisors who nevermeant him to see them. He might also come across incident reportsmentioning other employees.It is worth spending some time in clearing an area, or areas, fordifferent types of employee records, and then establishing a setfilingsystem.Keep comments under lock and key. It is important forsupervisors to document negative performance by an employee, and itis important that these comments be kept where no one else can seethem. Raykovich recommends a locked drawer or a password protectedcomputer file.Know that written records can be subpoenaed.Supervisorsneed to be aware that anything they write down can be called asevidenceshould an employee sue. With this in mind, it is vital that allcommentsabout an employee address only behavior. There is no room forsubjectiveobservations.Don’t write in anger. Raykovich says it is a good ideato record an employee’s behavior soon after an incident occurs —but not too soon. Let any anger evaporate before picking up a pen,she suggests.Include lots of detail. While comments about an employee’sattitude are probably best left out, all specifics on negativebehaviorneed to be included. If the problem is absence, for instance, writedown the date, the time, the day of the week, whether the employeecalled in, and even who called in for him. Make a note of whetherhe submitted a doctor’s note, and if so, how long after the absence.These facts could be used to establish a pattern or to documentviolationsof company policy.Remember the top performers. Lawsuits come not just fromdisciplined employees, but also from those passed over for promotion.Be prepared to document why Susie got the top job, or Johnny, passedover yet again, could well take legal action. In order to prove thatSusie moved up because of her superior ability and performance, itmay be necessary to produce records of her positive efforts andachievements.An important overall goal in documenting employees’ actionsis establishing a reputation as a fair boss, a person who will onlydiscipline when it is warranted, and will promote based on merits.Beyond raising morale and attracting superior workers, such areputationcould ward off lawsuits.”The name of the game is consistency and fairness,” saysRaykovich.”If everyone knows what’s expected, people have no surprises.There’s no reason for them to come back legally or violently.”Top Of PagePOEM’s R&D Review: Thumbnail SketchSeven Princeton area companies will discuss theirtechnologywith their academic counterparts when the Princeton University’sCenterfor Photonic and Optoelectronic Materials (POEM) holds its annualreview of research activities on Thursday, November 1, starting at8:30 a.m. in the Computer Sciences building (www.poem.princeton.edu).Congressman Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania, a member of the HouseArmed Services Committee, will give the keynote talk, “GlobalChallenges and the Role of Technology in Securing Our Future.”Julie Brown, vice president for research at Universal DisplayCorporation (UDC), will give a plenary session address on “OrganicLEDs: Delivering on Technology Promises Today and in the Future.”James C. Sturm, director of the POEM center, leads the afternoonplenary session, on the intersection of photonics, nanostructures,and biology. A luncheon poster session from noon to 1:45 p.m. andan evening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. will provide networkingopportunities.Cost: $50. Fax to 609-258-1954 or E-mail: jmonte@princeton.edu.Flat Panel DisplaysFour sets of technical seminars have been scheduled. Flat paneldisplaysand other large area electronics technologies has its own agenda,led by Stephen R. Forrest of the electrical engineeringdepartmentand founder of UDC, and Brown.Universal Display Corporation Inc. (PANL), 375Phillips Boulevard, Ewing 08618. Steven Abramson, president.609-671-0980;fax, 609-671-0995. Home page: www.universaldisplay.comPhotonics & ImagingBiomolecular Photonics and Imaging is the focus ofanotherseries of seminars, led by Warren S. Warren of the chemistrydepartmentand Wlodek Mandecki of Pharmaseq. Mandecki will discussinstrumentationfor diagnostics and assay for drug discovery, particularlylight-powerednano transponders for genomic analysis. Frederic Zenhausern ofMotorolawill talk about nanostructures and near-field biological imaging.PharmaSeq Inc., 1 Deer Park Drive, PrincetonCorporatePlaza, Suite F, Monmouth Junction 08852. Wlodek Mandecki, presidentand CEO. 732-355-0100; fax, 732-355-0102. Home page:www.pharmaseq.comOptical ProcessingUltrafast optics, switching, and integrationtechnologieswill be the province of Evguenyi Narimanov of the electricalengineeringdepartment and Chris Dries of Sensors Unlimited.Thomas Curtis of UltraFast Optical Systems and Paul Prucnal of theEE department will discuss the use of non-linear interferometers forultra-fast optical processing. Milind Gokhale of ASIP joins Forrestto discuss high bandwidth metro and long haul communication systems.Chuni Ghosh of Princeton Optronics will discuss tunable lasers —VCSELs — for long Haul and switching applications.Sensors Unlimited Inc. (FNSR), 3490 Route 1,Building5, Princeton 08540. Gregory H. Olsen, president. 609-520-0610; fax,609-520-0638. Home page: www.sensorsinc.comUltra Fast Optical Systems Inc. , 5 Canyon RunRoad, Holmdel 07733. Thomas H. Curtis, president and CEO.732-888-6073;fax, 609-258-2158. Home page: www.ultrafastoptical.comASIP Inc., 155 Pierce Street, Somerset 08873.MilindGokhale, acting president. 609-537-5500; fax, 609-537-5515. Homepage: www.asipinc.comPrinceton Optronics, 1 Electronics Drive,Mercerville08619, Box 8627, Princeton 08540. Chuni Ghosh, CEO. 609-584-9696;fax, 609-584-2448. Www.princetonoptronics.comNonlinear ProcessesQuantum devices, sensing, and nonlinear processes willoccupy Richard Miles, of the mechanical and aerospace engineeringdepartment. He joins John Lowrance of Princeton ScientificInstruments.Lowrance works on electro-optical R&D and manufacturing, such as sightintegration of an automatic muzzle reference system.Princeton Scientific Instruments, 7 Deer ParkDrive,Princeton Corporate Plaza, Suite C, Monmouth Junction 08852. JohnLowrance, president. 732-274-0774; fax, 732-274-0775.The day after this marathon of presentations, the POEM centerwill host a half-day workshop on lasers and imaging, sponsored bythe Office of Naval Research and the NJ Technical Advisory Committee.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
