Employment Law Best Practices with Melinda Gau

On this episode of Up and Adam, Adam is joined by Melinda Gau attorney and CEO of Quinlivan & Hughes, P.A. to dive into the topic of employment law. They focus their discussion on problematic employees and how employers can handle them properly and respectively.

Melinda talks about the importance of supervisors using guidelines and company policy as reference when dealing with problem employees and how the definition of problematic depends on employee behavior. Whether that is being toxic to co-workers, not following company values or not treating clients well, the way an employee can be problematic often varies and there’s not one singular fit. Melinda then goes on to share how many times employers procrastinate when managing problem employees because they are worried about escalating the situation or being sued. Melinda encourages employers to document and address the situation in a timely manner to avoid escalation.

Melinda stresses that equipping managers and supervisors with proper protocol and guidelines is key to dealing with problem employees so they have the right tools at hand to get the employees up to speed or moving on. She mentions other strategies that employers can utilize to work with difficult employees, and tactics her firm uses when partnering with employers to handle potential lawsuits if termination is the solution. For the remainder of the episode, Melinda talks about resources and preparation plans employers should have to ease the overall process of terminating problem employees and the importance to having an attorney at hand to collaborate with if needed.