The last time I defended a company in a wrongful termination trial the plaintiff, who was fired for poor performance after only three months of employment, wanted $1,000,000 just to settle the case! Despite exposing a series of blatant lies, the jury awarded him all of $20,000 - and that was after his attorney spent more than two years and $100,000 preparing the case for trial. He received the $20,000 because the company used a poorly drafted letter of intent. To everyone's surprise, the juror's invoked a 30-day warning notice in the document which was never even signed by the plaintiff!

Despite the fact my client "won" that case, it still had to pay me over $80,000 in legal fees to try the case, and then it went on appeal where my client "won" again after paying an additional $20,000 to the lawyers and $20,000 to satisfy the final judgment. Had my client hired one of those mega-law firms with antique Chinese vases in their lobby and $120,000 first-year associates, chances are their legal fees would have been two or three times that amount. What few employees and managers understand is this: my client had to raise an additional $400,000 in net revenue to match the $120,000 outlay caused by the filing of the lawsuit. Now that hurts!!

Not only are these lawsuits expensive, the costs associated with defending against them are immediate. There is no amortizing the expenditure. If you're like most employers and don't have insurance coverage, you're picking up the entire defense. If the case goes to trial, and you end up losing (as 67% of employers do), then odds are you're looking at a verdict that nationwide averages more than $250,000, with 15% having punitive damages claims of over $1,000,000. Just think how much new revenue you'll have to generate to absorb those figures!

The reason I point out this sad reality is not to scare you but rather to educate you. The first step in the risk management equation is to understand the risk. In developing the HR That Works program, we have intensively analyzed the factors and statistics surrounding today's employee lawsuits…and it's not a pretty sight. Good news is, you can do something about it.

When you purchase HR That Works you will discover  .  .  .

• The three most common reasons why employers hire the wrong employee and what you can do about it

• Why most performance appraisals backfire in court -- and what you should replace them with 15 questions you need to ask before firing any employee

• More than a dozen personnel policies that must be in your employee handbook

• A step-by-step approach to follow when faced with a claim of sexual harassment or discrimination

• A checklist you must review before hiring any temporary or leased employee

• The most important factors insurance agencies review when assessing your risk- management exposure

• How you can give job references without getting sued for slander or defamation

• Where you can go for free assistance with the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act)

• How you can use governmental agencies before they use you!

• The most powerful question you should ask any job applicant before you hire them to see if they could be your next lawsuit in waiting

• An exit interview you should use as a last ditch effort to find out about any potential claims

• How just one form -- the Compliance Survey -- can immediately cut your exposure to employment law claims in half!

• How one simple but powerful form helped a company eliminate $5,000 per month in wasted overtime!

• If you are considering a downsizing, a checklist you should review immediately before doing anything else

• The one form you should have every departing employee sign to protect you against defamation and slander lawsuits

• The secrets to drafting a sale commission agreement that keeps you out of court

• The most important question you should ask when conducting reference checks

• An agreement that should be signed by any home-based worker

• The form every employer must use to help employees "own" their disciplinary problems

• The policy you must distribute to prevent voice mail, e-mail and Internet privacy claims

• Four strategies you can use to avoid claims of misrepresentation in the hiring process

• The advantages and pitfalls of mediation and arbitration and how to draft an agreement that will keep you out of court

• How to protect yourself from the 12 most important factors government agencies look at when conducting an independent contractor classification audit

• Critical notices and disclaimers that must be on your job application

• Three magic words that must be in your independent contractor agreements to protect your property rights

• The three most common wage and hour claims and what you can do to prevent them

• Where to get free help in addressing job accommodation concerns in the workplace

• Two forms you must use to meet your obligations under the family and medical leave laws

• More than 20 questions you should ask any attorney before hiring them

• How to create a vacation policy that avoids confusion and protects you from wage and hour claims

• And, there's much, much more .   .  .

As age-old wisdom has it .   .  .

"It will not injure you to know enough of the law to keep out of it!"
- Old Farmers Almanac - 1851

Like I Said, There's More  .  .  .

1. Personnel Forms - HR That Works contains more than 150 personnel forms including everything from job applications to employment contracts and pre-termination checklists. Some of these forms, such as the Compliance Survey and 60-Day New Employee Survey, are one of a kind, while others are improvements on existing forms. They are a centerpiece in this program. They're so good that Inc. Magazine has licensed many of them.
   
    

2. Compliance an Productivity Audit - This 200 question "do-it-yourself" audit comes with suggested responses, strategies and tools. You can take it all at once or focus on critical areas first.
   
    

3. Compliance Quizzes - These 10 and 50 question quizzes are designed to make sure your HR executives and employees "get it" when it comes to personnel law compliance. If they don't, you have a lawsuit in the making.
   
    

4. LAWSUIT FREE!™ How to Prevent Employee Lawsuits - This is the best nuts and bolts compliance program in the country. It addresses the 80/20 principle of legal compliance in an easy to follow format. This program comes with Audio Files, links to Personnel Forms, Special Reports, websites and more.
   
    

5. Employee Contract Builder - A comprehensive program that builds draft employment agreements.
   
    

6. Employee Handbook - This easy to use program can help you produce an employee handbook in no time. Each section comes with a help file that contains a legal/management narrative and, where appropriate, links to Personnel Forms, Special Reports or related web sites.
   
    

7. Employee Surveys - Some of the most powerful tools in your HR arsenal. Along with the Audit, it has helped me generate a financial "turnaround" for many companies. Also contains shorter survey tools.
   
    

8. HR Department Improvement Plan - A 39 step process to build a powerful HR department. We suggest all users take a "one new thing every month" approach to building the HR function. If you are not doing that…what are you doing?
   
    

9. Special Report Series - It has taken years of writing and thousands of dollars of professional editing to generate the Special Report series. Each report focuses on a critical compliance or personnel management issue. It is a great source of eduction for your management team.
   
    

10. Strategic HR Tools - This part of the program is designed to help advance an HR career to the next level. Comes with HR assessments, audits, score carding techniques and much more. This alone is worth the cost of the program.
    
     

SEMINAR, TRAINING AND SUPPORT MATERIALS

1. Building Powerful Employment Relationships! - This is a dynamic program that has been presented to executives all across the country. It focuses on how the factors of trust, direction, communication and commitment can improve your workforce and bottom line. As with all of our training modules, it comes with a PowerPoint presentation, streaming video, book or special report, handouts, quizzes and more.

What Others Say About HR That Works. . .

The incredible value of the HR That Works program has drawn critical acclaim from across the country. Here are what just a handful of business owners, risk managers and others are saying:

"The HR That Works program provides us with a risk management approach to a very complex legal area that is easy to understand and implement."

"HR That Works is an effective tool to keep your business in compliance with changing laws. I've saved a lot of time and money not writing new policies, training modules or creating personnel forms by using HR That Works available resources. I don't think a monetary value can be put on the importance this resource holds in day-to-day business. "

Paige Bonopaine, PHR
Paramount Mold

"I use HR That Works for information about HR issues such as applicable laws, best practices, suggestions and interesting tidbits about the HR world. I am the HR department at my company, but I do not have much formal training for it. I find HR That Works is an excellent resource to help me do my job better."

Gail Parsons - VP Human Resources
Moon Maryoras Architects, Inc.