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By Keith Kefgen and Dena Blum-Rothman, March 1997

How many times have you read about suspended employees getting reinstated with back wages or multi-million dollar sexual harassment awards? Well, its unquestionably on the minds of hotel industry leaders. In our HCE survey, executives considered related lawsuits a major issue facing the hotel industry. To eliminate these types of occurrences, we recommend you implement procedural justice.

What is procedural justice?

Procedural justice is the process of effective and accurate record keeping, focusing on the fairness of the practices used in making human resource decisions. Whether your company operates with a human resource department or not, a system must be in place with procedural safeguards. The system must be followed religiously, to ensure that everyone is treated equally, maintaining the fairness or that system. As long as all employees receive the same “punishment” for similar wrong-doings, the system will be viewed as free from bias. Our experience with hotel industry clients shows that procedural justice drastically reduces the occurrence of unjust terminations, accident reports and sexual harassment cases.

How can my company attain procedural justice?

There are three ways to achieve procedural justice: clearly stating corporate guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable performance and conduct; judicious record keeping, and unbiased disciplinary measures.

The first component of procedural justice focuses on the need for a system. Every employee has the right to know what type of conduct is allowed or prohibited in your organization. Reasonable guidelines for workplace conduct and performance must be described in an employee handbook and publicized during orientation. Just because something seems obvious to you, doesn't mean its obvious to everyone.

The second fundamental is accurate documentation. Every manager in your organization should be trained in the documentation process and the importance of handling employee discipline properly. We recommend that managers be trained on how discipline can be beneficial. For example, discipline may alert a low performer and result in a change of behavior, while at the same time, help to reinforce the standards of conduct and performance to other employees. Furthermore, if other employees perceived that the discipline is appropriate, it may increase their motivation, morale and performance.

The final key component is the impartiality of the decision making process with regard to your employees. If the policies of your organization clearly state the consequences of an action, and managers are trained to strictly adhere to these guidelines, all employees will be treated fairly and impartially.

When should I discipline employees through procedural justice?

Although most employees will typically conduct themselves in an acceptable manner, problems do arise. In such situations, department managers should conduct one on one behavioral coaching. When coaching sessions fail to resolve these problems, formal disciplinary action should be taken. Managers should use standardized forms (see table), so that they will understand exactly what types of information must be noted. If the unacceptable behavior persists, then the decision to terminate can be made.

In the litigious society we live in, wouldn't it be nice to know you and your company are insulated from employee related lawsuits. Although setting up procedural justice is time consuming, can you really afford NOT to?

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