Article courtesy of Payne Financial Benefits Buzz newsletter, January 2012 issue.

Employment discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) hit a record high in fiscal year 2011, with 99,947 charges filed.

Employers can take the following steps to avoid time-consuming and costly discrimination lawsuits:

• - Audit your practices and policies to uncover potential problems.
• - Offer discrimination compliance training to all employees.
• - Establish a clear disciplinary policy, communicate your policy to employees and follow it.
• - Implement internal complaint procedures.
• - Seek legal guidance, even for small issues to prevent them from becoming bigger ones; also have legal counsel review your policies and procedures.