No law requires that companies undertake performance evaluations. And, nothing in the law requires that performance evaluations, if done, take any particular form. All the law requires is that the evaluation not be based on unlawful criteria (e.g., protected class characteristics such as pregnancy) or activity (e.g., job-protected leave such as FMLA) or be conducted in a discriminatory or retaliatory manner.
Most companies undertake performance evaluations for one of four or more reasons:
Employee evaluations also play a significant role – sometimes good, sometimes bad – in risk management. There are four general guidelines for making sure that they do not play a bad role in the company’s risk management plan. First, do not establish a policy that requires evaluations to be done on a particular schedule (e.g., annually) or in a particular way. Second, whatever the employer’s policy says will be done should be done. Third, employers should not neglect preparing an evaluation on an...
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