Interviewing. Porter has personally schooled all the bank's managers in discrimination laws, and she continues to conduct training for supervisors every month. During interviews, for instance, they know exactly what can and cannot be asked. Illegal questions include, How old are you? Are you married? and even, Do you have a car? "The car question could be perceived as discrimination against low-income people," Porter says.
The trick, she adds, is to ask open-ended questions. "People love to talk about themselves," says credit manager Roberta Greaves. "You can learn a lot just by listening." All the interviewers fill out a work sheet, giving their impressions of the candidate and stating whether he or she should be hired. If each interviewer says yes, Porter herself conducts the final interview. By that stage, she has assembled all the data needed to reach an objective hiring decision -- credit checks, work histories, the psychological profile, drug tests -- and it's all documented.
Clarifying the ground rules. Once hired, a new bank employee receives a handbook. Among other things, it lists offenses that can lead to termination: reporting to work under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, use of profanity or abusive language, possession of firearms, insubordination, fighting or assault, theft, destruction, defacement, gambling, and falsifying or altering bank records. To make sure the handbook covers all the bases and implies no contracts with the employees that the company can't deliver on, Porter subscribes to a personnel-policy service that, for a fee of several hundred dollars a year, supplies a thick volume of lawyers' explanations of all key personnel issues, as well as updates as required.
Instituting a progressive system of evaluation, documentation, and action. Even with its intensive hiring procedures, the bank sometimes brings in people who don't perform as expected. It deals with them under a progressive system, handled by the supervisors.
"If an employee does something significant enough that it could result in termination, the manager documents it on what we call our employee-counseling form and sits down with the individual," Porter says. "That's the beginning of a progressive system of evaluation and action. You talk with the employee, and they have an opportunity for rebuttal. But it sets a time limit -- usually 30 to 90 days -- for the shortcoming to be corrected. If the situation is no better after that, you sit down with the employee again. You warn them that there will not be a third counseling session. We try to take the monkey off our back and put it on theirs, because generally they terminate themselves if they don't do what we're asking them to do."
Throughout the process, supervisors are required to put all actions down in writing. "You have to document everything, because if you don't, you don't have a leg to stand on," says credit manager Greaves. "I did have to terminate someone, and there was talk of legal action. But because we had full documentation, nothing came of it."
Creating a good working environment. By installing legally sound and defensible policies, it's possible to reduce the likelihood of being sued, but perhaps the greatest defense against potential litigation is creating a well-managed, fair, and motivating company. If all your company's management practices stress fairness and openness, you're likely to be as lawyer-proofed -- and, by the way, productive -- as you can be. "Our philosophy is that if we're good to our employees, they're going to be good to our customers," Porter says. "And we're very good to our employees." For the Community Bank of Homestead, that's good business. Its net profits were up 416% last year. "And," Porter continues, "though we have had to terminate people, we have never had a lawsuit."
Knock wood, Marlene.
AN EMPLOYMENT-LITIGATION INDEX
740,000 Number of lawyers in the United States
$200,000 Average range for the cost of defense to $20,000 in an employee litigation
125,000 Number of complainants lodging charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission in 1992
52,400 Number of those cases fully investigated by the EEOC
10,500 Number of those cases determined by the EEOC to have reasonable cause for action
2,200% Amount by which employment-discrimination lawsuits have risen since 1974
10% Portion of the entire federal case load represented by employment litigation
5 Number of states that still maintain a "fire at will" employment policy
2% to 5% Rand study estimate for the drop in aggregate employment in a state that adopts the most liberal tort versions of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing
