No matter how well you screen and train your employees, performance issues are bound to occur from time to time. Some will be minor and some serious. While the care of the disabled person is the first consideration, some knowledge about correct HR procedures can protect you from a possible law suit for wrongful termination, and can protect you from unemployment claims that can raise your unemployment insurance premiums on your other staff.
Maryland DDA provides New Directions Waiver Support Brokers with a manual that includes a disciplinary form and some guidelines. It is your judgement, however, that will determine when to merely provide a verbal reminder about your procedures to a staff member, and when to put it in writing and impose a suspension or to terminate employment. I had a lengthy conversation with the Human Resources specialist at the ARC and learned a lot from her. Some of what she had to say was surprising to me. Unless V's safety has been deliberately put at risk, I try to use mistakes as teaching opportunities,starting with a mild verbal reminder, or a refresher training on the issue at hand. I keep a record of these issues/incidents somewhere so that they can be mentioned in the next performance review, and so that I have a record if the same problem occurs again. If the problem continues, then a written warning is presented, signed by all parties, and goes into the employee file. If the issue is serious enough, I may skip the simple written warning and write up the incident, imposing a suspension for a day or longer, without pay.
Your chances of winning an in an unemployment claim if termination becomes necessary, are better if you can show a written record of performance issues, especially a pattern of behavior that has not responded to counseling.
Even if all you want is to have good care for yourself or a loved one, having employees makes you an employer and that brings all of the legal responsibilities that go along with that job, whether it is a paid job or not. It can be unpleasant, frustrating and stressful at times and it is one price paid for having to depend on others for care.
Good luck to all of you out there who are managing these responsibilities.
