The Dreaded Meeting with Human Resources: How Employees Should Prepare for the Meeting
In this blog post, Matt Ruggles explains what an employee should do and what an employee should not do when preparing to meet with Human Resources. Preparing to meet with Human Resources is essential to ensure the employee can fully address any issue presented to the employee by HR, and also gives the employee confidence for the difficult confrontation. On the same token, avoiding some of the most common errors Matt identifies and discusses below will raise an employee’s odds of a successful outcome in this difficult but common scenario.
Introduction
Being Called into a Meeting with Human Resources: It’s Almost Always Negative
Most people do not like confrontation because from a very young age, we are all taught to solve problems cooperatively; we are constantly reminded that we “should just get along” and that we should “turn the other cheek.” As a result, most people are extremely uncomfortable confronting anyone with a problem, and are equally uncomfortable when confronted with a problem by someone else.
That dilemma becomes even more pronounced when the confrontation takes place at work because most people depend upon their jobs to support their families. One of the most common confrontations employees experience at work that almost always creates extreme anxiety, fear and trepidation is an unexpected “invitation” from the employer’s Human Resources Department to meet with your HR Representative and your direct supervisor. Everyone knows that those sorts of meetings usually are not for the purpose of awarding you “employee of the month.” Instead, unexpected meetings with the Human Resources Department ordinarily involve a negative performance evaluation, an investigatory interview that may lead to discipline, or a potentially unexpected termination of employment.
Why Preparing to Meet with Human Resources is Necessary
Getting an email that you have a meeting with the Human Resources Department can be nerve wracking, especially if you don’t know the reason for the meeting. Naturally, an employee facing a notice of an unexpected meeting with HR will be nervous because it involves a confrontation that almost certainly will be negative for the employee. Matt’s advice is that preparation for the meeting is the best way to alleviate anxiety and stress about it – the more prepared you are for the meeting, the more confident and credible you will be in the meeting.
Here are Matt’s tips on what an employee should do before the meeting with HR in order to be sufficiently prepared:
Things You Should Do When Preparing to Meet with Human Resources
Ask Human Resources About the Topic/Purpose of the Meeting
If you truly don’t know the topic or purpose of the meeting with H.R., send a short and polite email message to the HR representative asking him/her to identify the topic or purpose of the meeting so that you can prepare for it. Matt suggests a simply email that says something like this: “I received your meeting invite for [insert date/time of meeting]. Could you please let me know the topic and purpose of the meeting so that I can prepare for the meeting?” Although HR is not obligated to tell you the topic of the meeting, most of the time the Company will give you some general indication of the nature of the meeting.
Review the Employee Handbook and Relevant Personnel Policies
Get a copy of the Company’s Employee Handbook and review it to locate any applicable policy or procedure that may be relevant to the topic or purpose of the meeting. For example, if you believe the meeting with HR will be about your attendance record, review the Company’s personnel policy on attendance as well as the Company’s policy on discipline. Matt suggests that employees print out the applicable portions of the Employee Handbook so that it can be easily and quickly referenced if needed.
Gather and Print Out Any Relevant Emails and Documents
If you have time before the meeting, do your best to identify and print out any relevant email messages and any relevant documents. Matt recommends that employees actually print out the emails and documents so that employees can highlight relevant passages in the documents and present the documents to HR during the meeting, rather than just referencing the documents or promising to email the documents to HR after the meeting is concluded. Printing out and reviewing the documents also will aid the employee’s recollection of events, the timing and sequence of events, and the person(s) involved in the events, all of which generally will increase the employee’s credibility during the meeting with HR.
Create a Short Timeline of Events
Understanding the timing and sequence of events is important to almost every single issue that happens in the workplace. Consequently, having an accurate timeline of events concerning the topic of the meeting with HR will aid the employee in putting the facts in context, and will lend credibility to the employee’s version of events because the employee will have accurate dates.
Generally speaking, the timeline should be no longer than one page, and should be done in a two-column format: the left column lists the date, and the right column includes a very brief description of the event that took place on the designated date. The timeline is not your explanation – it is only a reference tool, so keep it short so that you are actually able to refer to it quickly and easily. Too much detail in your timeline will make it impossible to use.
Organize and Review Your Documents Before the Meeting
The day before the meeting, or as early as possible, take the documents, emails and policies you’ve printed out and organize them into a packet of documents that you can quickly reference. Review and highlight the relevant portions of the documents. Use Post-it notes as flags to designate relevant passages so that you can easily flip to those relevant passages. Take that packet of documents, along with a blank notepad of paper, into the meeting. Make sure everyone at the meeting sees your documents – don’t hide it. Showing that you are ready and prepared will impress H.R. and increase your credibility.
Things You Should Not Do When Preparing to Meet with Human Resources
Unfortunately, sometimes an employee will make mistakes when informed of a meeting with HR that only makes the situation worse for the employee. In Matt’s experience over the past 30 years, here are the most common mistakes employees make when informed of a meeting with HR:
Do Not Refuse to Attend the Meeting
An employee cannot refuse to attend a meeting with HR because as an employee, the employer is entitled to tell an employee how to spend his/her time at work. Refusing to attend the meeting could be considered insubordination and gives the employer an independent reason to terminate the employee. Don’t refuse to attend the meeting.
Do Not Immediately Begin a Leave of Absence
Sometimes employees believe that beginning a leave of absence from work will forestall a pending disciplinary action or a pending termination. Although taking a leave of absence might postpone the meeting temporarily, it will not change the employer’s plan of action. In fact, an employer is not prohibited from terminating an employee on a leave of absence (even if the LOA is covered by the FEHA, the FMLA or the CFRA) if the employee otherwise would be subject to termination absent the leave of absence. As a result, going out on a leave of absence will only delay the inevitable and essentially is a waste of time.
Do Not Insist That the Meeting Be Postponed Until You Retain An Attorney
Employees in California have the right to seek legal advice concerning their employment, including the right to have an attorney contact his/her employer on his/her behalf concerning the employee’s employment. However, employees generally do not have the right to bring their lawyer to work to meet with the employer on routine matters like a meeting with HR, and insisting that the Company postpone a meeting for that purpose will almost certainly be declined. The Company has the right to require you to meet with the HR Department, so it’s best not to antagonize the Company about that decision.
Contact the Ruggles Law Firm at 916-758-8058 to Evaluate Your Potential Lawsuit
Matt Ruggles has a deep, thorough and comprehensive understanding of California employment law and decades of practical experience litigating employment law claims in California state and federal courts. Using all of his knowledge and experience, Matt and his team can quickly evaluate your potential claim and give you realistic advice on what you can expect if you sue your former employer.
Contact the Ruggles Law Firm at 916-758-8058 for a free, no obligation consultation.
Blog posts are not legal advice and are for information purposes only. Contact the Ruggles Law Firm for consideration of your individual circumstances.
