Things To Avoid At The Workplace Before You Make Headlines

It is said there is no such thing as bad press. Well, they could not have been more wrong. One bad headline and the house of cards will come falling for your company. The worst part is that the press is no longer just limited to newspapers and magazines.

With the availability of numerous social media platforms now, even small negative feedback or comment on your company can hamper your credibility to a great extent. 

There are various factors that can trigger bad press. Some topics which make it to the top of the list are ethical violations, fraud, sexual harassment, and many other workplace-related incidents.

Companies should avoid making these workplace disasters with extreme caution just like a plague. Below are the top four workplace disasters any company should avoid before making it to the headlines:

1. Discrimination

A whole lot of employees spend a quarter of their lives at work. With so much time spent on hard work, the companies owe it to all the employees to make them feel safe and equal. Cultivating a healthy and positive environment should be a top priority for every employer.

To begin with, there should be no room for any kind of discrimination in the workplace. Discriminating your co-workers or employees regarding their religion, race, color, sex, genetic disability, or nationality is completely banned by the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). There is also a law for pregnancy discrimination that can be used against people who stereotype working mothers.

The people who watch discrimination happening in front of them and don’t raise their voices are equally at fault. Discrimination can occur in many forms in an office like unfair hiring practices, unfair treatment, and pay gaps.

Thus, every organization should treat all their employees fairly and equally. Build an organization of which everyone wants to be a part. 

2. Tax Evasion

There are few words that every company doesn’t want to be associated with them even in their worst dreams such as fraud, tax evasion, unpaid taxes. No matter how smart employers think they are, tax evasions will catch up with them in no time.

There are numerous examples of such cases that prove a company can’t get away with workplace disasters. Some organizations try evading their payroll-tax management by paying the workers under the table in cash.

Others hold back taxes from their employee’s wages and keep it for themselves rather than transferring them to tax agents. Many small-scale businesses have run into the ground because they were not able to remit the payroll taxes.

This fiasco can be avoided by companies by educating themselves on payroll responsibilities. This can be done easily by using reliable payroll software such as Pocket HRMS. 

3. Workplace Harassment

Threats, inappropriate behavior, physical violence, bullying, and rude comments can all be considered workplace harassment. Human resource-related workplace disasters can escalate to a great extent, hampering the company’s credibility.

Every organization should have an HR department with problem-solving capabilities. They should be able to think quickly and make the right decision on complicated matters.

An anti-harassment training program can be initiated in which all the new hires can learn about the ways to tackle harassment at the workplace. The program should also entail the repercussions of not following the laws and regulations of the workplace.

Additionally, if there is a conflict going on between two employees or an employee and the manager, HR should quickly intervene and make everyone calm down.

As an employee too, you have the responsibility to ensure that any kind of harassment doesn’t happen in your workplace. You can’t avoid such situations, but you can do your due diligence and raise your voice against what is wrong. 

4. FLSA Violations

Does your company adhere to overtime and minimum-wage law? If not, then it is time you start.

Not complying with the FLSA (Fair Labour Standard Act) can result in penalties. Failing to pay the employees minimum wage or not compensating them for their overtime will not only make you lose your talented employees but will also make for bad press and unwanted headlines for your company.

No one wants to work in a cheap company that doesn’t appreciate and recognize the hard work of the employees. While some companies do this knowingly, some do it unknowingly due to less knowledge on overtime laws or minimum wage.

When it comes to minimum wages, there is a lot of competition as the wages provided by every company are different. If employees are putting a quarter of their lives working, they want it to be worth it. Otherwise, they will not work productively if they feel they are not going to be appreciated anyway.

If the company fails to pay its employees on time or it doesn’t pay them what they deserve, it will make a disastrous headline. 

5. Payroll Disaster

One of the biggest disasters that companies make and are continuing to do so is using the traditional manual method of payroll management.

Many organizations, especially small, spend way too much time managing the payroll of their company every single month. The HR department is still handling a large amount of data of every employee in the company, manually.

Doing the same task every day can become mundane and boredom can strike. This can result in HR managers making errors in the salary payroll. Even a small payroll error, can end up costing the company a fortune, and the legal ramifications are another consequence to be dealt with.

All of this can easily go away if the company makes a wise decision in investing in HR software. HR software comes with a number of benefits for the organization such as:

i). Payroll software

With the help of payroll software, HR does not have to calculate the salary, leave, deductions, taxes, etc. of every employee manually.

Good salary payroll software automatically calculates the salary of every employee in the company, including the leaves taken. This helps the company in giving their employees the exact amount of salary that they are entitled to. 

ii). ESS portal

With good HR software, come the latest and updated functions, such as an Employee Self Service Portal. Through this, an employee can view and update all their data.

They can even apply for a leave easily and get approval from their manager within seconds. Tracking leaves, performance, the salary of every employee becomes very tedious for the HR department. With the help of an ESS portal, the employees can manage everything on their own without wasting their time or that of the HR manager.

The ESS portal also has options to customize the employees’ dashboards according to their fields and designations. They can add their schedule on the dashboard so that their managers can see what they are currently working on.

This helps the seniors to stay up-to-date with all the projects that are going on and they can review the employees’ performance on a weekly basis rather than annually. The managers can also give any feedback to the employees if required, to better their performances.

iii). Appraisal

Through good HR software, the performance analysis of every employee can be conducted weekly rather than annually. An unfair appraisal is worse than no appraisal. Through the software, the managers can keep an eye on their employees’ performance and provide them with suitable guidance if necessary.

Rewards and appraisals are the main motivation for employees to work harder. By getting unjust appraisals, the employees start feeling demotivated and demoralized. Thus, maintaining a good appraisal program is essential to avoid a workplace disaster.

The companies can create different kinds of reward programs that fit the company’s budget. For example, if an organization doesn’t want to spend much financially, it can always put up a board and write the name of the employee of the month on it to appreciate them, and maybe give an extra day off.

Takeaway: Avoiding workplace disasters

Giving importance to workplace situations are crucial. One negative headline and the business will tank even before soaring. Thus, organizations should be up to date with all the laws and regulations and ensure that they are following them thoroughly.