Employee Relations: Employee->Employee Disputes

Disputes between employees can range from too much cologne being worn to illegal sexual harassment.

We will cover illegal sexual harassment in great detail as a separate subject but for now let me advise that if you get such a complaint that you immediately get HR help - such as helpdeskHR.

But for the purposes of today's post we are looking at intra-employee complaints in general.

Here's what to do:

1. Listen to the complaint in detail and document it.
2. Contact the other employee and explain the complaint and listen/document the response.
3. Talk to any witnesses for their input.
4. Evaluate and analyze all the information you have gathered.
5. Review the information with Senior Management, or if that is you, review with an HR expert like helpdeskHR.
6. Make a decision of resolution.
7. Inform both employees of the decision.
8. Keep a management file of all the documentation (your notes, docs supplied by the employees, research material) in the case. This is invaluable in the future. Remember that this file can be subpoenaed in case of litigation so it must be pristine and pertinent

Note: In similar instances in the future, this decision will be the precedent for subsequent decisions.

Lance