3 Ways HRMS can Help Solve Workplace Disputes

Workplace disputes can be a major headache for everyone involved. Time, costs and negative sentiment can spiral out of hand if the HR department is not in control. There is an important tool to have in your arsenal as an HR professional dealing with these disputes and that is your HRMS. An HRMS application can help to mediate disputes in the workplace and within the HR department too.

1. Your HRMS Is an Indisputable Source of Truth

Often emotions run wild during a workplace dispute and both sides will be convinced that they are right. Your HRMS provides a baseline, objective source of data to help guide discussions and keep resolution on track. Is an employee complaining of unfair treatment? Your HRMS will document whether the employee has had the same development opportunities in the form of training. Your HRMS should also have archived performance reviews; these can be extremely helpful in discovering if a new manager is not up to scratch and inflaming the situation, or whether there has been a track record of employee underperformance.

2. HRMS Attendance Data Can Settle Disputes Quickly

Workplace disputes often revolve around hours worked, lateness and scheduling. Is an employee being scheduled disproportionately on unfavorable shifts compared to peers? Or is an employee consistently clocking in late? Prior to having an HRMS, such disputes were often based on ‘he said/she said’ and finding paper schedules after the fact along with potential issues such as an employee punching another’s timecard. If you have timekeeping integrated into your HRMS you can easily report on an employee’s scheduled hours and attendance over a period of time. The black and white numbers can quickly quell any disagreements.

3. Your HRMS Has the Facts in One Place

In the past, in the event of a workplace dispute, there was often a scramble to assemble various HR data points by searching through the paper trail. Has an employee received disciplinary notices due to infractions of the rules? Or has an employee received commendations due to solid performance in training junior staff members successfully? As HR, we need this data at hand, quickly and easily, to be able to diffuse the situation and determine the best course of action. If you do not have an HRMS storing this data, you’ll have given the dispute a head start and will be playing catch-up for weeks or months.