avoid legal trouble Whether employers need to handle situations as they crop up, or want to implement policies and procedures to make the workplace problem-free, they'll find everything they need in this one-of-a-kind book. Provides sample policies, forms, checklists and statutes for every state. NOTE: This book does not cover hiring or layoffs. For more information on these topics, see The Employer's Legal Handbook, published by Nolo.

Newbie to management and this book helped......   July 1, 2008

This book...or an expensive situation. You do the math   March 13, 2006

A great resource book that delivers as advertised.   November 8, 2003

Overall, this is an excellent resource; it is well written and planned with easy access to information. The resources provided are excellent. The authors did a commendable job and taking often complex legal information and writing it in a way non-lawyers can understand and utilize. It is what it advertises to be, a legal guide. I think this will make an excellent resource for small business owners, and plan to give my copy to a friend who runs a small non-profit and is always calling me for advise of this nature.


Nearly Flawless   September 12, 2003
  4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Dealing With Problem Employees is an excellent resource for most organizations, especially for start up companies. This fine book investigates key employment issues such as contract employees, sexual harassment, alcohol and drug abuse, developing performance appraisals, dealing with dangerous employees, interviewing, and countless legal issues. All of the above issues are discussed from a detailed point of view as numerous examples are cited illustrating the fine line between what is proper conduct and what is illegal. Very specific examples are given how to fire someone, provide fair job references, and conduct a disciplinary hearing that motivates employees to improve. The importance of having an employee handbook is emphasized greatly. The depth is so phenomenal that there is even a section on how to fire your employment lawyer when he does you wrong.

There are a few questionable sections on exit interviews. From my personal experiences, most firms blur the line between termination and exit interviews. In other words, when someone is terminated there is one meeting on the employees' last day explaining why he is being let go and all the benefits that this person is entitled to. Maybe some higher level management personnel may have some of these extended privileges. I realize that there are a few exceptions as the authors describe. However, from where I stand, most terminations due to performance consist of one meeting combining all the elements combined in the termination and exit interviews. Financial layoffs may vary.

Also the section of an employee being allowed to have representation in a termination meeting is slightly disjointed. I have never encountered such a situation for myself or anyone else. Perhaps there are a few unusual exceptions but truthfully I think the authors need to adjust their position at least a little bit.

Nonetheless, this is super book with outstanding legal references in every chapter. I can certainly overlook the two small weaknesses illustrated above as the strengths are great, numerous, and in great detail. I must emphasize that this is excellent reading for employers and even employers. Yes, employees should be aware of the many interpersonal and legal issues their employers face. In conclusion, a must have on all fronts.


Great for Avoiding and Handling Employee Problems!   September 10, 2003
  1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I strongly recommend this book for people planning to start-up their first business, those becoming supervisors for the first time, and those who are entering human resource positions . . . as well as those who do not know how employment law currently works.

Most problems with employees begin with incomplete or poor communications. This guide is just as good at helping with those communications as it is with understanding how the law applies to situations that arise.

As an attorney, I found the legal information to be complete and accurate (often providing summaries and references to state laws, as well as federal ones). As a management consultant, I found almost all of the advice to be pertinent and up-to-date with best practices. The only exception was that many management experts now discourage annual reviews in favor of continuous feedback (which is also encouraged by the book).

Have you ever fired anyone? It's no fun. The book's description of how events should lead up to that, and how to handle the event for all concerned is wise and helpful for anyone who is about to have to do that. Even if you have fired people before, you can probably get some good ideas in this book for how to do it better.

If you don't have a system for progressive discipline (feedback that improvement needs to be made), you can get what you need here to design and implement such a system.

This guide will also be helpful to disgruntled employees who wonder if they should seek out an attorney. The section on how to find an employment attorney is equally applicable to companies and employees.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that after going into firing, the book also takes the reader back into hiring to see how to avoid hiring people in the future who will have to be fired.

In total, this book surpassed my very high expectations. Nice job!

After you finish reading this book, think about how the principles of good communication and fairness developed in the book could be applied to working with customers and other important stakeholders as well.