How to Handle a Situation When a Top Employee is Arrested
Running a business comes with a variety of obstacles that owners encounter along the way. Disgruntled employees and frivolous lawsuits occur from time to time even for employers that terminate staff by the book. One situation that can be tough to navigate is when a top employee is arrested. Company policies might not cover arrests as these can differ from public intoxication to much more serious crimes. A person that gets a DUI in a company car can be a liability for the company as a whole. Each situation varies and a majority of companies do not want to terminate a top employee if their arrest doesn’t impact their quality of work or the safety of staff. The following are tips to help handle a situation when an all-star employee is arrested.
The Crime Matters
The crime that an employee is arrested for matters as it could be a violent offense. In these cases, it is important to terminate the employee if they have been found guilty. The last thing you want is to put your staff at risk due to wanting to keep on a great employee that could have personal issues. Drug arrests can be a risk as well as an addict might steal from clients or the company to feed their addiction. Evaluate this on a case by case basis as not all arrests are created equal and your employee could have been falsely accused. Ask to see the arrest report or court files as you do not want your employee telling a lie about what happened.
Recommend Legal Representation
There are going to be less serious arrests where your employee could be scared and not sure what to do. People are arrested all of the time for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Witnesses also make mistakes about who was involved in a fight or which person was with a certain group. Recommending a Raleigh criminal lawyer or one in your local area is important. You want your employee to get through this and this will build employee loyalty as they were taken care of in their time of need. Getting an attorney in the local area is important as they are used to working with certain judges and county prosecutors.
Grant Work From Home Days for Court Appearances
There is a chance that your employee needs to go to court for one reason or another. Most court appearances do not take very long so granting work from home day can allow them to stay productive while handling legal matters. Most appearances can be handled by legal representation but this is not true if your employee decides to plead guilty or go to trial.
The Next Arrest Won’t be Handled in an Understanding Manner
Let your employee know that being arrested does happen to a lot of people but it can reflect poorly on the company. Your employee should be given a list of possible consequences if they are arrested again. Unpaid suspensions along with classes that address the issue that led to the arrest is an option. Termination is the other as you cannot continue to overlook arrests as sets a bad precedent for the rest of the staff.
Dealing with the arrest of a staff member has to be done on a case by case basis. Certain arrests warrant termination while others are not as big of a deal.
