Top 10 Proactive Retaliation Prevention Strategies

Pritikin, founder of Proactive Lawsuit Prevention, made her comments at SHRM’s Employment Law and Legislative Conference, held recently in Washington, DC.

Retaliation Policy Must-Haves

Pritikin suggest that employers include the following in their anti-retaliation policies:

• Make a standalone commitment against retaliation—it’s the number one EEOC claim!
• Define retaliation
• Give a specific examples including zone of interest
• Set forth a complaint procedure with more than one avenue of complaint
• Include your hotline, ethics officers, ombudsman (but centralize all complaints to HR for investigation)
• Don’t promise confidentiality
• Set forth the consequences for violations

Proactive Retaliation Prevention Strategies

• Make a commitment and show it
• Train managers and employees
• Make a list of the “protected” (those in the zone of interest, the parties, witnesses)
• Timing is everything. Involve HR when making any decisions that affect those on the list (including routine warnings and appraisals)
• Reevaluate chain of command—is the accused reviewing the complainant?
• Remind employees to come to HR is they think they are being retaliated against
• Keep the investigation as confidential as possible and instruct participants to keep it confidential
• Follow company policy for a post complaint references
• Follow up with the complainant
• Watch out for:
• Protective measures (that might disadvantage the complainant)
• Hazing of the complaint
• Anti-fraternization
• Selective enforcement

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Pritikin’s Final Tips

When complainants tell you that they want to go home to avoid retaliation, get it in writing that this was their idea, and that they do not consider it a suspension or disciplinary action for making a complaint, says Pritikin.

Finally, she adds, pay serious attention to training—retaliation is now the number one legal threat, but many employers barely cover it in their training.

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