Plan for a New Year

The beginning of a new year is a good time to review your business practices and plan for the future. Do you have someone “doing HR” or a Human Resource professional who knows how to help you stay legally compliant?  Most small business owners are handling HR themselves or have an administrative person who is doing the best that they can along with all of their other duties. Having a trained and experienced HR professional “on call” can help you with the following HR issues:

Employee Handbook

Employment laws change frequently and your policies need to be updated.  If you don’t have an Employee Handbook, you need one to document your policies and procedures so that employees know what is expected of them and so that you are consistent in how you handle situations.

Employment Policies

• Do you have an “at-will” employment statement?
• Are you penalizing employees for not giving adequate notice when submitting resignation from employment?

Preventing Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation

Do you have policies preventing discrimination, harassment and retaliation? Without written policies, complaint procedures and training, you may not have an “affirmative defense” if a claim is filed against your company.

Essential Workplace Policies

• Do you have policies on code of conduct, social media and workplace violence?
• Is your Employment Application legally compliant? Are you asking for protected information that could result in discrimination claims? What questions can you legally ask in order to make good hiring decisions?

Background Checks and Drug Screenings

Are you conducting background checks and/or drug screening once you make a job offer? Are you complying with legal requirements in these areas?

Form I-9 Compliance

Do you have a correctly completed Form I-9 for every employee?  The Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is conducting more I-9 audits and worksite raids.  Civil penalties for knowingly employing unauthorized immigrants can range from $539 to $21,563. Form I-9 paperwork violations carry a penalty of $216 to $2,156 per worker.

Job Performance

Do you have written job descriptions that can be used to manage job performance? Do they include “essential job functions” that meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act?

Paying Employees

• Are jobs classified correctly as exempt or non-exempt from overtime?
• Do you have employees or independent contractors?

Legal Compliance with Payroll Deductions

Are you making illegal payroll deductions for company equipment, etc.? What kind of payroll deductions can you legally make?

Paid Time Off and Legal Requirements

• Do you provide your employees with paid time off?
• If so, are you paying earned but unused leave upon termination of employment?
• Are you complying with State law on paid time off for jury duty?

Affordable Care Act and Family Medical Leave Act

• If you have more than 50 employees are you complying with the Affordable Care Act?
• Do employees who decline coverage sign a waiver?
• If you have more than 50 employees in a 75-mile radius are you complying with the Family Medical Leave Act?
• If you have less than 50 employees are you complying with leave requirements of the Louisiana Fair Employment Act?

How an HR Professional Can Help

An HR professional can help you with all of your human resource needs, from hiring the right employees, running background checks, creating employee handbooks that include anti-harassment policies and procedures, managing employee performance, staying legally compliant, automating employee records, and anything else you need to create an environment where employees can provide the services that you need to run your business.