When you create documentation about an employee’s behavior or performance, you are writing for a future audience. By looking at the documents, a future reader who was not there, does not know the players and may not even know anything about your business, should be able to tell what happened and should have no questions about the situation described in the document. When employment lawyers request files in the context of an employment discrimination lawsuit, we hope that the complainant’s personnel file will have documents describing all the gory details about his or her performance that we have heard about from our client.
Typically, however, this is not the case. Sometimes, the documentation on the employee is practically useless because it is incomprehensible.
Remember that documentation must include the “who,” “what,” “where,” “when” and sometimes the “why” of the situation. When any of these are missing, the documentation becomes less helpful, if not completely worthless.
Handling Time in a Document
Time is an important factor to consider in any documentation. There may be two or more “whens”: 1) When you are writing the report and 2) when the events you are writing about occurred.
Always date the report the date you are writing it.Always make clear the date when the event (or events) you are writing about happened.Here are some other factors about time to keep in mind when documenting:
When you write the date either on the report or in the report, you need to include the day, month and year. Do not forget the year. Especially when an employee is employed for years, if there is a report in the file that says “June 6,” we may never know what year it was written. Get in the habit of writing a full date on notes, phone messages, reports and any documentation. You never know when it could be important.Do not just say that an event occurred “last Tuesday.” Look at a calendar and figure out the date to ensure accuracy.Keep in mind that it might also be important to note the time of day that something happened, and whether it occurred before, after or during working hours.Time can also be relevant when there is a sequence of events. Be sure the order in which things occurred is clear.Here is an example:
Chris:Sarah came in a lot later than I thought she would. This was unacceptable and was not approved ahead of time. Ruth had to cover for Sarah, which meant Ruth could not do everything she needed. Margaret told me that Sarah was going to be a little late.
Stephanie
How many problems regarding time can you find with this memo?
Here is a suggested revision:
November 6, 2008Chris:
Sarah came in a lot later today, November 6, than I thought she would. Margaret told me yesterday that Sarah was going to be a little late today. I thought this meant about 15 minutes.
Sarah came in 1½ hours late today. This was unacceptable and was not approved ahead of time. Ruth had to cover for Sarah, which meant she could not do everything she needed.
Stephanie
Learning to handle the “time” factor in documentation can be helpful to the company in the future when that document plays a role in the company’s legal defense. Make sure to train your managers and executives in writing proper reports that contain all the necessary information so they clearly communicate to the reader, not only today, but also in the future.
First published on Human Resources IQ.
Devora L. Lindeman is a Partner with Greenwald Doherty LLP, a labor and employment law firm exclusively representing management in relationships with employees and unions, with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. She provides management training to employers and employer associations on these and other topics. Lindeman joined Greenwald Doherty in 2007 with many years experience in management-side labor and employment law. Previously an attorney at Proskauer Rose, LLP, she divided her practice between human resources consultation and court and agency litigation. Lindeman spent a number of years at a labor and employment boutique firm prior to that. Since she has a business background, she understands employers’ needs and works with them to creatively solve employee issues. Much of her practice involves counseling clients on issues that arise daily, such as responding to workplace discrimination or harassment complaints, dealing with wage and hour compliance issues, accommodating individuals with disabilities, dealing with leave laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act and routinely addressing the other myriad of situations that arise on a daily basis when one has employees. She also reviews and drafts employee policies and handbooks and assists employers with employee agreements, such as non-compete and confidentiality agreements, as well as those involved with reductions in force. Lindeman lectures to trade and business associations on various employment law topics.
Lindeman received her undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College and graduated from Rutgers School of Law—Newark with Highest Honors. During law school, she served as the Notes & Comments Editor for the Rutgers Law Review. On graduation, she was inducted into both the Order of the Coif and the Order of the Barrister. She then clerked for the Honorable Stanley R. Chesler, U.S.M.J., in the District of New Jersey. Lindeman has practiced management-side labor and employment law ever since. She is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey.
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CathyG 11/09/2008 10:33:10 AM EST As a career consultant who works with employees, I think this post als offers a good lesson for documenting cases for promotion and protecting oneself against an unfair situation. Good info. 
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