The Importance Of Documentation For Supervisors And Managers

Supervisors and managers of union-represented employees need to understand how much their documentation affects the business. Poor records can lose grievances and arbitration cases under the just cause standard, undermine an employee's right to due process and make discipline look inconsistent.

This 90-minute workshop on documentation for supervisors and managers covers the five W's: who, what, when, where and why you document. It reviews documentation styles in order of preference, verbatim, narrative, outline and fact listing, and the formats, key language, filing and access rules that apply.

You'll also look at the disciplinary process from verbal discussion to termination, what makes a verbal discussion valid, keeping records to relevant facts without emotion or opinion, and how past practices shape what you can do.

• Apply the five W's of documentation
• Choose the right documentation style and format
• Explain how documentation supports the just cause standard and due process
• Document verbal discussions and discipline with the right language
• Record only relevant facts, without emotions or opinions
• Know what documentation the union can access and when
• Recognize and change past practices that affect discipline

• The history of documentation
• The five W's: who, what, when, where and why we document
• Documentation styles: verbatim, narrative, outline and fact listing
• Formats, key language, where records are filed and who can access them in a grievance or discovery
• How documentation affects the just cause standard
• Alternative methods and legal challenges to documentation
• Documentation and the employee's right to due process
• The disciplinary process: verbal discussions, written letters, suspensions and final warnings
• What a valid verbal discussion must include
• Keeping to relevant facts and leaving out emotions and opinions
• Grievance documentation and what the union is entitled to see
• Combining discipline
• Consistent treatment and documentation
• How past practices affect documentation and how to change a past practice

The goal of documentation is to support the business, not to pay arbitrators, back pay, agency fines or lawsuit costs. Inconsistent treatment, such as giving a favored employee a written warning for conduct that normally means termination, or suddenly suspending people for something once handled informally, creates costly risk.

This session suits supervisors, managers, directors and senior leaders who manage or work with union-represented employees.

• Supervisors
• Managers
• Directors Senior Business Leaders

Gerry McLaughlin Ms. IR, is the author of "Negotiating The Labor Agreement” His experience covers 40 years of successfully negotiating over 500+ labor contracts in varied industries as Executive Director and Vice President for Fortune 100 Companies, and in areas, such as but not limited to, Manufacturing, Distribution, Telecom, Retail, Healthcare & Senior Care, Food Services, Housekeeping & Facilities.

He has negotiated with over 20 National and Local Unions, trained 1000’s Managers in “Managing a Union Workforce", “Negotiating The Labor Agreement”, “Your Employees Are Organizing A Union”, and Collective Bargaining as well as Union Avoidance and Employee Relations issues. He knows and fully understands: 

• How to build and maintain successful relationships with Union Leaders locally and nationally
• Maintain and/or Develop existing Managements Rights to ensure the unfettered Right “to run your business” to ensure successful Workplace policies
• Develop and/or protect consistent Contract language. He consistently ensures that clients' expectations are often exceeded