The effect of employee lawsuits on companies.
Many of my clients ask me, quite anxiously, about labor lawsuits, as if it's a very concerning topic for them. With over 36 years in this business, I've seen labor lawsuits in various lights. Initially, I viewed them as personal attacks, then as the employee's spite, later as mere nuisances. Now, I see them as a way people hurt themselves for a promise of getting rich.
In my business, we don't face more than 4 to 5 conciliation appointments per year, and it's very rare that any turn into lawsuits. We always seek an office settlement; that way we avoid anger, it costs us much less, and we really protect the worker from being marked by a lawsuit.
We've realized that workers leave the company due to work problems, personal reasons, or because they found a better opportunity. Sometimes, we have to let someone go for reasons that benefit the business. Although it may not sound coherent, any of these options is in the worker's favor. If a worker stays in our company and it's no longer beneficial for them or the company, they will simply stop growing and being productive. Sometimes it's difficult, and the worker will struggle, but it's for improvement and not staying stagnant.
This is when the opportunity to sue arises. In Mexico, the law allows that when a worker sues or complains, they don't have to prove their complaint, or even attend conciliation. It's the employer who is responsible for proving that the worker is wrong. Workers sue for various reasons: bad advice about making easy money, or because they are genuinely angry with someone in the company and seek some type of revenge. Whatever the reason, the worker who sues ends up on a blacklist (which is prohibited) that greatly harms them, especially if they want to enter international companies or rise to supervisory levels or higher.
Our motto is "Defend the worker even from themselves." Although in these cases it sounds contradictory, it is not. The first thing is to pay more attention to our workers, see if they are having problems, especially with leadership. If we need to let them go or if the worker leaves, we seek the best settlement outside of court. This protects the person from future problems. We don't take it personally; it's just business and taking care of the people we lead.
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