Your small marketing startup company rented a workspace, and you and your team all share it. While every one of your employees has a formal title, the job descriptions are murky, so everyone ends up doing everything. In this article, we will discuss how informality can possibly turn in to an unexpected workplace liability.
One (casual) day, your assistant – who handles all your client email correspondence – notices some equipment that’s in the way and decides to move it. He wasn’t trained for it, but he’s always around, so it makes sense. 2 days later, he’s moving some things again, and one of them tips over and falls on the freelancer who’s sitting close to it.
Now what? The freelancer wants you to cover their medical costs, but you’re not sure if that’s your responsibility or not.
You weren’t there; there was no supervisor; there’s no report of the accident; and you can’t even tell who (if anyone) asked the assistant to move the equipment in the first place.
If you’re feeling awkward, you should know that that’s the least of your issues right now.
Key Takeaways on Informality
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What Do You Do When Nobody Seems to Be Clearly Responsible?
If you have a small team, then everyone has to be flexible because there’s no other choice. Flexibility is strength, and you appreciate that everyone pitches in when you need them to. The work gets done, and that’s all that matters.
Except it isn’t.
When something goes wrong, who is supposed to handle that very task? What does the contract say? Is there a contract that even mentions it?
When you have employees doing things that don’t fall within their normal duties, you might see that as a plus, but in truth, that’s liability. Yes, it’s great that the assistant is willing to move those heavy boxes, but if they haven’t had any training for it and they get hurt, you could be in trouble.
There are 2 different kinds of responsibility you should be aware of: implicit and assigned.
An example of implicit responsibility would be when you don’t take notes (don’t write everything down), meaning you’re pretty much doing guesswork on what does what.
Assigned responsibility would be something that you can point to on paper. Assigned responsibility would be what would protect both you and your employees.
And after an accident, the only thing the law cares about is if you can prove who was assigned what; nobody cares about anyone’s assumptions.
Messy, isn’t it? What makes this even messier is that the consequences depend on where the incident occurred, i.e., what state/jurisdiction you’re in.
If the office is in Illinois, an injured employee can hire an Illinois job accident lawyer, but you need to know that the state uses a mandatory no-fault workers’ comp. The employee can’t sue you, but you have to give them benefits even if they can’t prove you did something wrong.
If you’re in a state such as Texas, you can end up in court because the state of Texas says you’re free to opt out of workers’ comp if you want, but your employees can sue you.
The ‘Small’ Things That Get Ignored Every Day via Informality
Here are all the things nobody bothers to pay attention to, but they lead to some pretty serious issues.
Everyone Just ‘Figures Things Out’
This person is willing to help, so they finish the task.
This goes on for a while. And while all that’s happening, it doesn’t cross anyone’s mind that we should (perhaps) check whether that specific person should even be handling that specific task. So, in a way, you’re normalizing risk based on a sort of routine.
This, of course, isn’t a good thing. You don’t question it because that would slow things down, and your employees don’t question it because… why would they if you aren’t?
Then what was supposed to be a one-time thing becomes routine, and you don’t even realize that the routine is risky every single time.
No One Writes Anything Down Due To Informality
‘Standard operating procedures.’
This might sound a bit like standard corporate lingo that’s basically a very pompous and complex way of saying something extremely simple. And because of this, lots of people ignore/skip it.
The result?
The way you do literally everything now depends on memory and quick explanations you do over morning coffee. When you hire someone new, they learn their job by watching what their colleague is doing for 20-30 minutes, and off they go.
After a bit, what happens is that you just can’t tell if this is how you’re supposed to do things. There just isn’t anything that explains ‘the right way’ of doing that specific task. But who has the time to write things down these days, eh?
You Mention Problems (You Don’t Record Them)
You’re fully aware that there’s a wobbly cart right over there. And the only reason you know that is because a couple of coworkers talked about it in your WhatsApp group.
So, pretty much (almost) everyone’s aware it’s there, and everyone moves from it. So the only ‘log’ is a fully informal one. No authoritative person (e.g., a supervisor) has been made aware of that, so nobody’s been assigned to fix it.
Then that cart tips a few weeks later, and you’re all shocked at what happened because someone was supposed to take care of it.
If only you had a record that showed there was a problem to begin with, maybe someone would have fixed it.
Safety Falls on One Person, Not the Entire System
There’s that one employee who’s just a careful person, and they double-check everything. There’s also another one that’s the complete opposite, who never thinks twice before they do something. In this type of environment, safety is just personality.
You have no standards, and what’s safe depends on the mood.
This causes you to have blind spots, and you’ll only see them after someone’s had an accident, and you’re the one dealing with the aftermath.
You Think You See Everything
You’re the owner and the founder. The big boss. You see everyone and know everything.
That’s a very dangerous way of thinking because it’s simply not true. You assume that, if there are problems, you’ll see them, which is nothing more than an illusion of safety.
The bigger you grow, the worse this problem becomes, and sooner or later, you’ll have a serious incident on your hands. And by the time that has happened, you’ll have a bunch of small issues hiding in plain sight for months on end.
It’s easier to take notice and deal with everything ASAP, instead of not doing checkups and then having to deal with dozens at once.
Conclusion on Informality
It’s great when you’ve got great in-house communication and a great atmosphere. Someone’s scrappy, someone else is in a great mood. The overall office vibe – it’s just amazing; informal AND friendly.
Who wouldn’t want that?
Well, while this certainly IS a great thing, when someone twists their ankle on a Wednesday, and then you’re left not knowing what to do.
How did it happen? Who’s responsible? Could we have prevented that?
Oh yeah, there’s nowhere because you never write anything down, and your team is used to winging it.
You can still keep the great vibe, but you can also protect yourself and not have your business become a corporate nightmare. Start writing things down, and start paying attention to the rules. It’s kind of like cheap insurance.
Frequently Asked Questions on Informality in the Workplace
Does informality lead to workplace liability?
It can, yes. If the informality removes (or weakens) boundaries when it comes to roles and procedures, then there’s a much greater chance of liability. This happens because, when something goes wrong, there’s typically no (or improper) documentation or structure on who’s responsible, or whether set procedures have been properly followed.
What’s the difference between implicit and assigned responsibility?
Implicit is based upon assumptions and expectations. Assigned is based upon clear definitions and documentation.
Can employees who operate outside their assigned task create liability?
Yes. Whenever employees perform tasks they weren’t trained for there’s a higher chance/risk of injury or mistake. If an injury happens, the employer (or the supervisor/manager) is usually held accountable.
2 Interlinking Opportunities:
From https://www.smallbusinesscoach.org/how-to-preserve-employee-safety-in-your-business/ with anchor essential routes to ensuring staff safety are ill-defined
From https://www.smallbusinesscoach.org/workplace-compliance-why-it-matters-and-how-to-get-it-right/ with anchor maintaining legal adherence and responsibility
