It goes without saying that employees are more knowledgeable about their rights in the workplace than they were in years past. It should also go without saying that state and federal laws have taken over many of the protections once only offered by unions in this country. Many of those protections are related to Equal Employment Opportunity.

For years, American employers have relied on an employer-employee relationship called "employment at will." Actually that is a legal doctrine that comes to us from Old English law. Essentially, it means we will work together until one of us decides to end the relationship. That can happen for "just cause" or for no reason in particular. Today's manager is faced with requirements of legislation designed to limit employer freedom in terminating employees. Equal Employment Opportunity laws represent some very tight restrictions on employers in that regard.

We may not terminate or take disciplinary action against any employee who exercises their rights under EEO laws. That means, any employee who complains of illegal discrimination cannot be punished for making the complaint, whether the complaint is valid or not.

Staying out of the EEO doghouse is really easy, if you have a clear understanding about what information is "fair game" in your business decision making. National EEO laws tell us we may not make our decisions about employees based on their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, pregnancy, use of family care leave, veteran status, disability or age (over 40). We can, however, make our decisions about employees based on factors such as job performance, education, job experience, time in grade, seniority, attendance, punctuality, and specific job-related skills. Since illegal discrimination carries with it large financial penalties, it is in the interest of every employer to ensure management decision making is done based on proper job-related factors.

It is even more serious when managers and supervisors initiate illegal discrimination in the form of harassment. There are numerous court cases that show how individual managers were held personally liable for their harassing behavior. Some of them have lost their homes in the wake of such court assessments. Those who are cavalier about their personal treatment of employees can discover the pain of court-imposed remedies.

You are more conscientious in your approach to management, or you wouldn't have started reading this article. You already test each management decision by asking "Is it based on legal, job-related factors we can support if challenged?"

Now you are interested in deciding how to handle those situations that arise in your workplace when people have misunderstandings or communication fails to work as well as it should. You need an internal grievance procedure.

Even though you run a nonunion organization, you can still establish a process for handling employee complaints. You can call it a grievance process, a complaint program, an open door policy or something else. Whatever you call it, you will find such a program can be extremely helpful to your employees, and ultimately to the organization.

Creating an employee complaint program is the easy part. Making sure it is implemented and maintained is the hard part. It takes constant care. It requires protecting those who you believe are making frivolous claims and wasting your time. It takes a dedication to giving everyone an "honest hearing" and checking on the facts. That takes effort. Done correctly, though, your effort will be rewarded by employees who are convinced you are managing fairly and carefully.

Steps in an Employee Complaint Process

Step 1: Establish a formal policy inviting employee complaints

Put your policy in writing. Invite employees to submit their complaints to any management person or to a specific manager who will handle complaints for everyone. Resolving complaints internally can cost one-tenth what it will cost if employees file their complaints with EEO protection agencies.

Step 2: Honestly and thoroughly investigate each complaint

Talk with the complaining employee, the accused employee or manager, and any witnesses to what happened. Review your policies and discuss legal requirements with your management attorney. Decide if the complaint is valid. If it is not, decide how you can clearly communicate why it is not. If it is, decide what remedial action you will take to correct the problem.

Step 3: Provide feedback to the complaining employee

Always "close the loop" with the complaining employee. Explain what you have decided to do based on the complaint. If someone will be disciplined because of the complaint, be sure you let the complaining employee know that. Emphasize everyone's personal privacy rights.

Thank the employee for using the complaint process and encourage him or her to let you know if there are any repercussions as a result of the complaint. Explain that you will not tolerate retaliation of any kind.

If you take those three steps, use your management advisors wisely, and communicate clearly to your employees that you truly wish to have them feel free to use your complaint process, you will discover it is a positive management tool. If it is implemented carelessly, or allowed to suffer manipulation, employees will quickly take their complaints elsewhere. Often that means legal action and great expense to the employer.

Stay out of the doghouse. Develop a formal employee complaint handling process and work diligently with your staff to implement it. You will be glad you did.