November 19, 2013
Managers, supervisors and human resources professionals are critical to the operation and success of any business. They are an employer’s front line with its employees and often serve as a buffer between rank and file employees and upper management. They are responsible for communicating, selling and enforcing the employer’s policies and procedures. Often times, they are primarily responsible for selecting and maintaining the company's workforce. On any given day, they are counselor, motivator, financial advisor and psychologist.
Employees with management responsibility often find their multi-faceted job both thankless and extremely difficult. Businesses typically reward those who directly add to the bottom line, and may forget those who help ensure that the "producers" get the company there.
However, when things go wrong, it is because the managers failed to manage or did not properly motivate their employees. Sometimes, these employees are ill prepared to handle their numerous responsibilities. Many were promoted to their positions because they performed the best and were the most skilled employees. They were not necessarily chosen for managerial talent or because they knew how to manage.
In today's litigious society, with the onslaught of the never-ending employment laws, managers, supervisors and human resources professionals are expected to know and enforce these laws, or subject the company to serious liability.
Author: Gary B. Eidelman, Esquire, Saul Ewing LLP
- Partner in Saul Ewing LLP’s Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Practice
- Member of the firm’s executive committee and serves a vice chair of the business department and vice office managing partner
- Practice areas include the representation of employers in all aspects of labor and employment law and litigation matters, including counseling, drafting and litigation of restrictive covenant, noncompetition and trade secret agreements, employment discrimination, harassment, disability and leave, wrongful discharge, wage and hour collective actions, occupational safety and health, affirmative action compliance, and general employment and business counseling
- Active member and contributing writer to the ABA's Section of Labor and Employment Law, including the employment rights and responsibilities committee, where he currently is the management co-chair of the statutory rights subcommittee
- Named one of America’s Leading Lawyers in Employment Law by Chambers, The Best Lawyers in America by Woodward White, a Maryland Super Lawyer by Law & Politics magazine and Baltimore magazine, Baltimore Smart CEO Magazine’s Legal Elite, and The International Who’s Who of Management Labour & Employment Lawyer
For more Human Resource training and other HR educational material on this topic visit www.lorman.com. Lorman Education Services has been providing HR Educational Training Seminars and Event across the US and Canada since 1987.