Dealing with Problem Employees: A Legal Guide

This book is of the same high quality as most other Nolo books I have read. It covers the topic with a lot of breadth and depth. Written in plain terms, it is actually a pleasant read, not tedious or boring. This book covers not just how to handle a problem employee, but why. They may be having a bigger negative effect on your company than you think. DelPo and Guerin address the effects an individual employee and the way management handles that employee can have on the morale and productiveness of the whole work group. There is a great chapter on performance evaluations -- insights into what to include, what not to include, and how to approach the performance eval. There is a really super section on documenting performance, which will better enable you to correct it, or if necessary, fire the employee and be able to come out on the winning side should a lawsuit be involved. Excellent information on what to do and not do regarding employees with disabilities -- they are legally entitled to "reasonable" accomodation -- this book helps you figure out what you should do to get good performance and stay on the right side of the law. The very beginning of the book states that the legal advice doesn't necessarily apply to government workers, but lots of the help and wisdom in this book apply to any employee/employeer relationship. Highly recommended. This book will teach you how to make your workplace more productive, with greater moral, and with an improved relationship between employees and supervisors. Isn't that what you want when you're dealing with a problem employee?

Dealing With Problem Employees is an excellent resource for most organizations, especially for start up companies. This fine book investigates key employment issues such as contract employees, sexual harassment, alcohol and drug abuse, developing performance appraisals, dealing with dangerous employees, interviewing, and countless legal issues. All of the above issues are discussed from a detailed point of view as numerous examples are cited illustrating the fine line between what is proper conduct and what is illegal. Very specific examples are given how to fire someone, provide fair job references, and conduct a disciplinary hearing that motivates employees to improve. The importance of having an employee handbook is emphasized greatly. The depth is so phenomenal that there is even a section on how to fire your employment lawyer when he does you wrong.There are a few questionable sections on exit interviews. From my personal experiences, most firms blur the line between termination and exit interviews. In other words, when someone is terminated there is one meeting on the employees' last day explaining why he is being let go and all the benefits that this person is entitled to. Maybe some higher level management personnel may have some of these extended privileges. I realize that there are a few exceptions as the authors describe. However, from where I stand, most terminations due to performance consist of one meeting combining all the elements combined in the termination and exit interviews. Financial layoffs may vary.Also the section of an employee being allowed to have representation in a termination meeting is slightly disjointed. I have never encountered such a situation for myself or anyone else. Perhaps there are a few unusual exceptions but truthfully I think the authors need to adjust their position at least a little bit.Nonetheless, this is super book with outstanding legal references in every chapter. I can certainly overlook the two small weaknesses illustrated above as the strengths are great, numerous, and in great detail. I must emphasize that this is excellent reading for employers and even employers. Yes, employees should be aware of the many interpersonal and legal issues their employers face. In conclusion, a must have on all fronts.

I strongly recommend this book for people planning to start-up their first business, those becoming supervisors for the first time, and those who are entering human resource positions . . . as well as those who do not know how employment law currently works.Most problems with employees begin with incomplete or poor communications. This guide is just as good at helping with those communications as it is with understanding how the law applies to situations that arise.As an attorney, I found the legal information to be complete and accurate (often providing summaries and references to state laws, as well as federal ones). As a management consultant, I found almost all of the advice to be pertinent and up-to-date with best practices. The only exception was that many management experts now discourage annual reviews in favor of continuous feedback (which is also encouraged by the book). Have you ever fired anyone? It's no fun. The book's description of how events should lead up to that, and how to handle the event for all concerned is wise and helpful for anyone who is about to have to do that. Even if you have fired people before, you can probably get some good ideas in this book for how to do it better.If you don't have a system for progressive discipline (feedback that improvement needs to be made), you can get what you need here to design and implement such a system. This guide will also be helpful to disgruntled employees who wonder if they should seek out an attorney. The section on how to find an employment attorney is equally applicable to companies and employees.I was pleasantly surprised to see that after going into firing, the book also takes the reader back into hiring to see how to avoid hiring people in the future who will have to be fired. In total, this book surpassed my very high expectations. Nice job!After you finish reading this book, think about how the principles of good communication and fairness developed in the book could be applied to working with customers and other important stakeholders as well.

This Nolo Guide is an excellent discussion in plain English of the many things that are involved when you are dealing with problem employees. In 10 chapters, the book covers all the important topics from understanding the problem, employment law basics, and handling complaints, to information on how to fire, planning for the aftermath, and hiring a lawyer if necessary.Nolo Guides have always been a small business owner's best legal friends but they are useful to almost anyone that wants to have a better understanding of the law before consulting a lawyer (as this saves on money you would have to spend getting educated). This book is no exception and provides very valuable information and advice on how to handle difficult situations with problem employees. One of the best sections that I found useful were in the chapter on Employement Law Basics. Over the years, working as a Manager in various companies, I had heard of Employment at Will but didn't fully understand its implications. I had signed several employment contracts with my employers without realizing what they meant. After reading this chapter, it made me realize how many of those contracts were not enforceable! And now as an employer, I understand what kinds of contracts ARE enforceable so I can protect myself!So I believe this book is helpful whether you are an employer or an employee to get a better understanding of the law. This book is NOT meant to replace the legal advice from a lawyer but to arm you with better knowledge before you approach a lawyer. I utilize the services of a lawyer on a need basis but I always read the Nolo books on the specific topic before my meeting. As a result of that, I have saved money by asking the right questions to my lawyer and in turn my lawyer has really appreciated working with a knowledgeable client! I wish I had access to this book when I was an employee as I would have benefited tremendously (as it turns out this book was published after 2001 by which time I had already started my own business). It would have avoided a lot of heartache as I misunderstood what I had signed and thought I couldn't do certain things when in fact I could. I also missed a couple of business opportunities as a result of that.I hope you find this book as valuable as I did. I actually have more than 30 of their books on all kinds of legal topics. I plan on buying more whenever I can afford them. I have not been disapopinted by a single book from Nolo yet. Good luck!

Having worked in Human Resources for a number of years, I have nothing but praise for this book--it is practical, easy to follow, and quite comprehensive. I've found that it's extremely helpful for both new and experienced managers. No company or non-profit should go without this one.