Good appraisals provide documentation of job related reasons for a termination or other corrective action. They can minimize the risks of discrimination, equal pay, and wrongful discharge claims. Managers can put their organizations at serious legal risks when they carelessly or inappropriately appraise their employees, or fail to complete appraisals at all. To reduce this exposure managers should avoid:
- Giving "Inflated" Appraisals. Being "too nice" or failing to be honest about an employee's performance can come back to haunt you. It's difficult to defend a termination of an employee who has been given good evaluations (which probably weren't justified) and is then terminated for poor performance.
- Appraising An Employee On Personal Or Non-Job Related Factors. Business related appraisals based on an individual's specific job duties (not personality, status, personal life, etc.) are the easiest to defend.
- Making Comments That Are Unrelated To Performance. Personal, careless, or "stray" comments can be easily misinterpreted or misconstrued. Remember that "what you say can and will be used against you."
- Giving Inaccurate Or "Shoot From The Hip" Evaluations. It's awfully difficult to defend an employment action if the underlying documentation is unreliable.
- Providing Very Subjective Ratings. Appraisals based on objective, specific criteria are much easier to defend.
- Appraising Similarly Situated Employees Differently. While the goals, ratings, and comments may be different for employees in similar positions, the overall appraisal process should be consistent. Inconsistent processes open the door for discrimination charges.
- Failing To Provide Notice Of Problems. Neglecting to discuss problems and document them fails to give an employee notice of deficiencies and the opportunity to improve. Most people (and juries) would perceive that as unfair.
- Being Argumentative And Confrontational During The Appraisal Meeting. How you say something may be more important than what you say. Many lawsuits arise because of perceived unfair treatment not substantive issues. Be honest and direct, but calm and professional.
- Failing To Consider FMLA, ADA, And Other Legal Implications. Managers should be careful that they don't reduce an employee's appraisal scores because he exercised a legal right or took a legally protected leave. For example, rating an employee lower on an attendance factor because he took FMLA leave would be inappropriate.
- Rating Everybody The Same. Failing to distinguish the performance of your employees will make it harder to justify why you'd differentiate their pay or terminate one of them in the future.