Russ: This is PKF Texas, the Entrepreneur’s Playbook. I’m Russ Capper, this week’s guest host and I’m here with Laura Gibson, labor and employment lawyer with Ogden, Gibson, Brooks, Longoria and Hall. Laura, welcome back to the Playbook.
Laura: Thank you very much, Russ.
Russ: You bet. Well talk to us about what trends you see today in labor and employment.
Laura: Russ, the trend I see most right now in labor and employment is a trend I see in life and it’s ironic. All of these devices that we have that effectively allow us to communicate wherever we are don’t allow us to communicate effectively. So the speed at which we live and the devices which distract our attention in my view impair our communications, don’t help them. As a trial lawyer and labor and employment specialist, surprises are only good at birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and Hanukah. When you have an employment situation and the employee is surprised, it’s bad news. What that results in is a law suit. So the part of my job I like the best is when somebody calls me before they fire their employee to tell me, “Hey, I wanna fire Joe. Can I do it?” Then I look at the communications between the employer and the employee to make sure that the employer has treated the employee fairly and that when that termination is communicated, the employee is not surprised. That means no law suits. So, you think you’re spending money with a lawyer, which no one likes to do, but I guarantee you if somebody spends 30 minutes with me before they terminate somebody, it’s going to be a lot cheaper than if they wait to call me until they get the law suit.
Russ: Great advice. Thank you for sharing that with us.
Laura: Thank you.
Russ: You bet. This has been another Thought Leader production brought to you by PKF Texas, Entrepreneur’s Playbook. Tune in next week for another chapter.