Child Custody Battles

When an employee faces child custody litigation, it effect's their ability to do their job. In addition et often causes legal consequences for their employer as well.

Custody problems have a major impact in the workplace, where they effect other employees, as well as hurting the bottom line. Worse yet, they can be disruptive in the workplace for a long time. Unlike other kinds of employee stress, a custody dispute could keep creating turmoil until the employee's youngest child turns 18. A matter may seem to be resolved, only to rise again years later as the circumstances of one of the parents or children change.

The growing and widespread effects of custody litigation on employee or employers isn't a new issue. It's just that nobody has been noticing how many negative ways it creates problems in the workplace. But you need to, because the risks and harmful consequences to your enterprise of ignoring it are significant.

• When you consider the impact on other employees, your personnel policies, and financial exposure, this article should be a wake-up call.

• Absence for appointments with attorney, evaluations, court dates
• Stress making the employee distracted, and even ill (sick leave)
• Co-workers have to pick up the slack, so they feel put upon
• Unavailable for travel or extended work hours
• Involving other employees in the unfolding dramatic developments, which sidetracks them all from the job at hand
• Likely self-medication with drugs or alcohol to deal with emotional strains
• Depression, anger and other emotional spill-over on the job

Extra supervision is usually required to compensate for erratic employee performance issues. Distracted employees aren't capable of doing their best work. Plus, you need to be vigilant as to how custody developments effect co-workers, and the extent to which they're pulled into the personal problems. Constant updating and consoling distracts everyone involved from their work.

In an effort to be "understanding" it's easy for supervisors to fall into enabling behaviors, that are harmful both for the business and the employee. These could include:

Covering Up: Providing alibis, making excuses or even doing the work rather than confronting the issue that they're not meeting their responsibilities.

Rationalizing: Developing reasons why their continued behavior is understandable or acceptable.

Withdrawing: Avoiding contact with the employee or their problems.

Blaming: Blaming others for the continued problem behavior or performance.

Controlling: Taking responsibility for the employee by moving them to a less important job or reducing their obligations

Threatening: Saying you'll take action (ceasing to cover up, taking formal disciplinary action) if they don't improve."

If the personnel matters are mis-handled, even for well-meaning reasons, the legal exposure would be costly in both dollars and time. The employer must never sacrifice company policy under such circumstances. It should already have policies in place to deal with these matters-and then stick with them.

Issues which put the company at risk. 90% of Workplace Violence is related to an employees divorce and child custody problems. Almost every day the newspaper reports workplace violence by an employees significant other, compromised company confidentiality (as private work-related matters are made public records through court submission) and accidents, which are more likely when a person is distracted. None of this address the costs related to the loss of the most important resource for a company: the loss of a good employee. It costs approximately $125,000 to hire an orient a new employee. Custody matters often trigger relocations or resignations.

No workplace is immune. For many years it was assumed that an alcohol addiction problem was the employees personal problem. When drugs brought attention to addiction and the workplace employers instituted programs to identify, monitor, and guide their employees. Just because custody-related problems haven't been addressed in the past doesn't mean they are not negatively effecting your company. Knowing the proper way to support the employee and where to draw the line serves them as well as the organization.

You can help:

1. Make sure your proactive substance abuse procedures apply to your employees divorce and child custody challenges.

2. Supply your employee with the Win Your Child Custody War manual.

Why is this book more effective than our standard counseling?

While counselors deal with many kinds of problems this manual is a compendium of information on only child custody.

The challenges your employee faces require specific information and techniques that can be accessed 24/7.