Misunderstanding Employment-at-Will
This can result in wrongful termination or discrimination complaints. Without documentation to support terminations, employers can face costly and lengthy challenges.

Designating a Probationary Period
Implies that just cause is needed to terminate when "off probation" and sets up legal liability of wrongful termination.

Lack of Patience & Skill in Hiring
Poor hires take up a supervisor's time, lower morale, and affect service and product quality. Without preparation and interviewing skills, good hiring decisions are often left to chance and seldom result in hiring the candidate with the needed skills who best "fits" the organization.

Using Another Organization's Employee Handbook
Borrowed handbooks are often out-of-date and not in compliance with current employment law. If policies or procedures are unclear or difficult to administer, supervisors often ignore or administer them on a haphazard basis.

Poor Documentation Practices
Many employment activities can be the basis for a discrimination charge. Lack of documentation, incomplete or inconsistent documentation or poorly worded documentation, can create liability for the organization.

Poor Employee Communications
Supervisors are often responsible for coaching and giving feedback. Untrained supervisors struggle with delivering corrective feedback and may "sugar-coat" the information or avoid any discussion as long as possible.

Lack of Knowledge of Employment Laws
Companies with as few as 14 employees are subject to 15 federal labor laws, as well as state and local laws. Employment laws are often difficult to understand or interpret; they are also subject to frequent change.