FMLA, ADA, NLRB, DOL, EEOC??  “I think I made a mistake” – This is sometimes said to our HR partners and staff at the Pinnacle offices.  We always strive to listen to what our clients say and what they do not say.  We listen without judgement, knowing we are here to help navigate our clients through the complexities of multiple Federal, State and Local labor laws.  “Nothing is without a solution”, according to one of our HR Business Partners. 

A recent example was a situation where a client terminated an employee who, in hindsight, should not have been terminated.  Our team asked probing questions to flesh out the details of the situation.  Although it can be awkward for an owner to be questioned by our staff, these important questions are better asked informally in the early stages of a conflict.  Better for everyone to have full knowledge of a situation, in order to best formulate a plan of action.  Certainly, it is better to ask the tough questions early on so that we can potentially help the owner avoid legal action or regulatory action down the road when the stakes are so much higher. 

In the recent example, the employee was a person with a qualified disability under ADA rules.  The person was also eligible for job protection under family leave regulations.  Furthermore, the business was in a State where State Laws added other employee rights and protections.  Our team helped guide the client through the process of reinstating the employee, providing all the proper forms, and gave instructions on completing/submitting the forms.  Finding an amicable resolution to that conflict becomes a best case scenario for everyone involved. 

Resolving conflict early usually saves our clients a large amount of money, since legal fees, litigation, and regulatory fines can add up to huge sums of money.  As Pinnacle works on these types of issues, we make the effort to document the actions and challenges in order to potentially assist the next client who may call with a similar issue.  The experience of our team comes from many years of hearing about challenging issues and seeing the long term effects of how our clients handled the situation going forward.  We’ve seen great overall solutions quite often which is always our intention.

Call Pinnacle’s HR Team at (210) 344-2088 for assistance.

• Please take a moment to read this month’s 2-Factor Authentication and Pinnacle Party at the Huddle articles, these blog articles are a great source of information.
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