Chapter 27 - § 27.1 • INTRODUCTION

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 27.1 • INTRODUCTION

This chapter is designed as a "how to" guide to help employers and their counsel effectively manage employment issues and potential liabilities. It begins with a brief discussion of how juries deal with employment cases and where employers face the most risk, and then turns to a step-by-step discussion of the key facets of the employer-employee relationship: hiring, performance management, and discharge. Along the way, the chapter discusses employment policies and handbooks, personnel files, responding to and investigating workplace complaints, and reductions in force.

Developing hard-and-fast rules for workplace risk management is difficult and sometimes dangerous because of the many differences between companies, the people they employ, the products or services they provide, and the facilities in which they do their work. Even within a single company, what works for one work group may not work elsewhere. Individual managers and their respective...