When employers lose unemployment insurance (UI) claim protests, one of the areas that contributes to those losses is not having effective policies regarding employee discipline.  These policies and processes are generally spelled out in your employee handbook, which should be audited/updated every 18 months to ensure that you are not missing key policies.

When auditing employee handbooks/policies/processes, there are a number of areas that I often find are inadequate, misused, or are missing.  Let’s discuss some of these:

1. Missing or Inadequate Employee Handbook - this might be the single most important point made in this blog.  It is amazing how many employers I have worked with who did not have an employee handbook or had not updated theirs in years.  This is a dangerous practice from a legal perspective, but it will also lose you countless UI protests because the handbook full of employer policies is your best evidence in protesting claims.
2. Drug Free Workplace Policies - this is a very critical policy for employers because it establishes their beliefs and practices in relation to operating a workplace that is free of drugs or alcohol.  It can also be a huge pitfall if not properly constructed and if it is missing any important pieces.  Your policy should establish the parameters for drug screening (i.e., pre-employment, post injury, etc.) and it should also provide language to release the results of the test to you as the employer.  State drug testing laws can vary greatly so be sure your policy fits each state in which you are operating.
3. Attendance Policy - many employers have attendance policies that are too vague or non-existent.  When it comes to attendance, the unemployment agencies in all states want to see a pattern of offense (a pattern of absences or tardies) and they want to see a copy of your attendance policy (signed off on by the employee).  Without this, you lose.
4. Progressive Discipline Process - Many employers do not have a progressive discipline policy in place for their employees.  This policy provides a framework around which all employee discipline is constructed.  As mentioned in the attendance bullet point, state unemployment agencies need to see a pattern of offense in order to disqualify a claimant from receiving benefits so a progressive discipline policy helps to structure your discipline to provide it.  Not only could this missing policy lose you unemployment protests, but it could land you in hot water legally if your company is disciplining employees without any structure.
5. Disciplinary/Separation Documentation - this process provides written evidence that you documented the employee incident that led to employee discipline or separation of that employee from employment.  Without this documentation/evidence, you are not likely to win a UI protest for that employee.  You could also find yourself in legal trouble without any evidence to present in defense of your employment decisions.

These are just a few of the common policy mistakes that can make or break your ability to win UI claim protests.  If you are losing UI protests, then your UI costs are going to be higher than they should be, which hurts the bottom line.  For more information, visit us on at UnemploymentTracker.com.