Employers - Protect Yourself from Custody Battles that Hold Your Company Hostage

Child custody? How'd that get to be an employer's concern?

When an employee faces child custody litigation, it will effect their ability to do their job. And it often causes legal consequences for their employers as well. Unless you know where to draw the lines regarding your legal obligations and exposure, you could find your employee's custody difficulties costing the company in a variety of ways.

Custody problems have a major impact in the workplace, where they effect other employees, as well as hurting the bottom line. Worse yet, they can be disruptive in the workplace for a long time. Unlike other kinds of employee stress, a custody dispute could keep creating turmoil until the employee's youngest child turns 18. A matter may seem to be resolved, only to rise again years later as the child's circumstances change.

Financial Costs Add Up

The widespread effects of custody litigation on employers isn't a new issue. It's just that nobody has been noticing how many negative ways it creates problems in the workplace. But you need to, because the risks and harmful consequences to your enterprise of ignoring it are significant. When you consider the impact on other employees, your personnel policies, and financial exposure, this article should be a wake-up call.

Impact on the Employee's Performance

• Absence for appointments with attorney, evaluations, court dates, etc.

• Stress making them more distracted, and even ill (so more sick leave)

• Co-workers having to pick up the slack, so they feel put upon

• Unavailable for travel or extended hours

• Involving other employees in the unfolding dramatic developments, which sidetracks them all from the job at hand

• Likely self-medication with drugs or alcohol to deal with emotional strains

• Depression, anger and other emotional spill-over on the job

Impact on the Supervisor or Employer

Extra supervision is usually required to compensate for erratic employee performance issues. Distracted employees aren't capable of doing their best work. Plus, you need to be vigilant as to how custody developments effect co- workers, and the extent to which they're pulled into the personal problems. Constant updating and consoling distracts everyone involved from their work. In an effort to be "understanding" it's easy for supervisors to fall into enabling behaviors, that are harmful both for the business and the employee. These could include:

• "Covering Up: Providing alibis, making excuses or even doing the work rather than confronting the issue that they're not meeting their responsibilities.

• Rationalizing: Developing reasons why their continued behavior is understandable or acceptable.

• Withdrawing: Avoiding contact with the employee or their problems.

• Blaming: Blaming others for the continued problem behavior or performance.

• Controlling: Taking responsibility for their performance by moving them to a less important job (or reducing their obligations)

• Threatening: Saying you'll take action (ceasing to cover up, taking formal disciplinary action) if they don't improve." Quoted from Win Your Child Custody War, Chapter 11.

Be Alert to the Company's Risks

The employer must never sacrifice company policy under such circumstances. It should already have policies in place to deal with these matters - and then stick with them. If the personnel matters are mis-handled, even for well-meaning reasons, the legal exposure would be costly in both dollars and time.

And don't overlook the related issues which put the company at risk: possible workplace violence (one need only pick up the paper), compromised company confidentiality (as private work-related matters are made public records through court submission) and accidents, which are more likely when a person is distracted. And that doesn't even address the costs related to lost jobs. (It costs approximately $125,000 to hire and orient a new employee.) Custody matters often trigger relocations or resignations.

No workplace is immune. Just because custody-related problems haven't come up before, it's unwise to disregard the headaches it can cause. Knowing the proper way to support the employee and where to draw the line serves them as well as the organization.

If you want to protect your business from being held hostage when an employee goes through a custody dispute, you need reliable information. Because the consequences to your operation could be crippling.

About The Author

Charlotte Hardwick, author Win Your Child Custody War, the most comprehensive and respected guidebook on the topic (640 pages, updated each year). For resources that put you in control and arms you for every step of your custody dispute, visit http://www.custodywar.com

---

Five Key Strategies for Making Your Nonprofit Business More Effective

I love tennis both as a spectator and... Read More

The Compliance Officers Killer Application

It used to be that only the largest multi-nationals needed... Read More

Increasing the Return on Your Training Investment

Insightful leaders and organizations recognize that training is a valuable... Read More

3 Reasons Why CRM Strategies Fail

Customer relationship management (CRM) is one of the most effective... Read More

Employers - Protect Yourself from Custody Battles that Hold Your Company Hostage

Child custody? How'd that get to be an employer's concern?When... Read More

Can Your Business Run Without You?

If you are a business owner or a business owner... Read More

New Leadership For A New War

Military analysts call this "asymmetrical" war (as if war has... Read More

Bullying and the Not for Profit Organisation

Where there is people there is politics! Bullying is now... Read More

Are Your Marketing Pieces Up to Date?

The other day someone asked me for one of my... Read More

What Personal Assistants Really Want

What would happen if the personal assistants in your organisation... Read More

Problem-Solving Success Tip: Use Your Time for Problems that are Truly Important

Use your time for problems that are truly important.Hard as... Read More

The Myth of the Management Team

Every business has problems. That is why the average life... Read More

Making a Decision to Outsource: Driving Factors

Most executives view offshore outsourcing most of all as a... Read More

Taking Care of Middle Manager Bounce Off

How many times have the management consultants been 'in' and... Read More

Why Half of All Mergers Fail After the Honeymoon Ends

Marriages and corporate mergers in America have at least one... Read More

Performance Appraisal Scenarios: Improve Your Communication

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION DURING THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: If the employee has... Read More

Innovation Management ? Selecting Good Ideas

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Let the Intern Do It - Affordable Help for Your Business

Do you have more projects than time? Help might be... Read More

Whatever it Takes!

I have a sign on my office door. It pretty... Read More

Diversity in the Workplace

As you look around your office, is everyone just like... Read More

Effective Ways to Give Performance Feedback

Consequences of Not Giving Effective FeedbackLet's take a look at... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Training is in the Eye of the Beholder

This article relates to the Training competency, commonly evaluated in... Read More

Look Good on Voice Mail

Your use of voice mail tells others a lot about... Read More

Narcissism in the Boardroom

The perpetrators of the recent spate of financial frauds in... Read More

Getting Your Employees Attention Back to Work

It is 9:00 am on a Monday morning. Do you... Read More

Five Ways to Influence Change in Others

Because of my work as a consultant, trainer and coach... Read More

Leadership Skills Means Turnover is Not a Problem

"Ha!" you say. "For someone to make a statement like... Read More

Character: Is It Necessary In Leadership? (Part One)

We know character when we see it, but what exactly... Read More

Are You At The Mercy Of Computer Geeks?

Many business owners are sabotaging their business without even realizing... Read More

The Most Important Thing Youll Ever Do

The wellspring of confidence is belief. When you believe in... Read More

Effective Meetings by Phone - Part 1, How to Plan a Teleconference

Teleconferences can be a boon or a bust. On the... Read More

Creativity Management and Behaviour

What behaviour maximises the chances of thinking of great ideas?... Read More

7 Strategies for Sustained Innovation

The need for constant reinvention is a given in today's... Read More