Suspending without pay

[cardinal2]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Wisconsin
My husband and I are small business owners employing about 18 people. Recently it was brought to our attention that one of our employees started a rumor that my husband was having an affair with one of our other employees. We heard about through the employee in question after someone told her. By this time, all but about 4 of our employees had heard about it. The rumor is not true and obviously the employee in question, my husband, and I, are all quite upset. There are 2 employees who spread this rumor: the one who started it by telling a different employee outside of the work environment; and the employee she told who then spread it to others at work. We would like to discipline both of these employees by suspending them for 1 week without pay. Can we legally do this? If so, are they eligible to collect unemployment during this time period?

 

[ecmst12]

Yes, you can suspend them (though if it were me, I'd just fire them). Yes, they can file for unemployment for that week, though it seems unlikely that they'd get it.

 

[Zigner]

Agreed - why suspend and then welcome the cancer back in to your business a week later?

 

[cardinal2]

Our first thought was to fire them both. Only one will admit to helping to spreading the rumor and she seems very full of remorse. The other one claims she never started it. The biggest thing holding us back from automatically firing was whether or not they would be able to collect unemployment.

 

[eerelations]

Do you want them to be able to get UI benefits? Or not?

 

[cardinal2]

No we do not.

 

[Zigner]

They are entitled to UI. Well...the one who you feel started the rumor off the job certainly is. The other one is not so definite. However, I seriously doubt this would rise to a level that would cause them to be unable to qualify.

Again, why keep the cancer there?

 

[commentator]

I am afraid that you probably will have to pay unemployment benefits to both of these girls if you fire them right now. And if you suspend them for a week without pay, they can file for and set up a claim. Wisconsin has no waiting week.

Because this does not really fall into the area of gross misconduct, in my opinion. "Starting a rumor about someone in the company" is very hard to define. The one girl is insisting she did not "start this rumor." It would be virtually impossible for you to prove she did. Unless you have actual testimony that she was on tape saying she was planning to start a false rumor about your husband. Because all she will say is that someone had told her, and she simply passed on the gossip. She is not obligated to tell you who told her, either. It sounds like you would be trying to nail jello to a floor to figure out exactly who started this and to insist this was gross misconduct. Therefore you will probably end up paying unemployment insurance to both these women if you fire them. And that will raise your tax rates.

Although this situation may be very uncomfortable for you, if there is no truth to the rumor, the rumor will die quickly and be forgotten about. If you try to make these two women do a "walk of shame" out of your business, just to
prove your husband is the soul of virtue, and then end up having to pay both of them unemployment benefits, it doesn't sound as though it will be very profitable for you, the atmosphere of the business, or the morale of the whole staff.

I would suggest perhaps a written warning. A one day suspension without pay would not be enough time off for for them to file for benefits. I hope you have a good employee handbook with human resources policies clearly stated and progressive discipline clearly outlined. Then follow it.

 

[ecmst12]

The remorseful one deserves a second chance, IMO. The other one....well I think it would be worth paying her unemployment to keep her bad attitude out of the office. A small place like yours, morale is very important and people need to be able to depend on each other and work closely together...right?

 

[eerelations]

I understand that you and your husband are really mad at these two, however, as professional business people you need to try and keep your personal feelings out of your decision-making process. (Even though, I know, that you feel - quite rightly - that you've been personally attacked by these two.)

Try to imagine that the turmoil and gossip that these two caused in the office had nothing to do with you and your husband personally - what would you do then?

If it were me, I would suspend (without pay) the remorseful one and fire the other one. If the fired one ends up getting UI benefits I would just write that off as a cost of doing business.

 

[pattytx]

And don't forget that the employer doesn't actually PAY UI benefits. One unemployment claim wouldn't probably even raise your UI rate until 2011, depending on how long the individual is out of work.