Archive for category: Blog

Six Steps to Improve New Employee Onboarding

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Have you ever seen a new employee leave after just one day of work? What was your first thought when that happened? Probably somewhere along the lines of “Wow, it must have been bad”.

Unless there was some type of unexpected challenge or emergency, this is not a good sign for a company. And it must be addressed because the result is unnecessary monetary loss. Turnover is costly, but new employee turnover is particularly troubling, because you have just wasted all the time and money you spent to hire them.

Don’t give up right away! Feedback is critical. A quick phone call and some soft questions to this former employee may help you identify key areas for improvement, repair your company’s image and set the stage for changes to current processes.

New job opportunities, family emergencies or changes in personal circumstances are not always the reasons why new employees don’t return. Generally, they leave because they did not like the way they were treated. They would rather go home and look for another job than to work in an environment where they know they will not be happy, appreciated or productive.

How can you make sure your new hires return to work feeling comfortable or, better yet, enthusiastic about returning to work after their first date of employment? How can the company improve new hire onboarding? (a.k.a. new hire orientation and the probationary or introductory periods)

According to an online source, “Onboarding, (organizational socialization), refers to the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective organizational members and insiders.”

Here are six simple steps to improve your company onboarding process.

1. Organization

Prepare, right away. This includes preparing and mailing new hire orientation packages, or referring them to your intranet system to obtain necessary forms, policies, procedures and other paperwork, and request that they return this information to you no later than their first date of hire. Coordinate a company tour, order business cards, organize their work station, order supplies and make sure their equipment (including their computer and other technology) is working properly.  Is training material current and relevant? Has a comfortable and productive location for training been secured?

2. Communication

Greet new hires on time; be confident, professional and friendly. Communicate with new employees by name. Answer their questions and follow up with them to make sure they do not need further assistance. Make sure they have contact information for various personnel and departments within and outside of your company. In other words, provide outstanding customer service to them while they get acclimated to the company, practices and procedures. Remember to demonstrate this same service throughout the new hire’s tenure with the company.

3. Appreciation

After accepting the offer, have the hiring manager place a welcome call. Make the new employee feel appreciated by inviting him or her to lunch on their first day. Introduce the new hire to their team, customers and others. Answer any questions he or she may have about the unit, department or the company.

4. Education

Use your employee handbook! Teach them about the company’s history, mission, and vision as well as the accomplishments and challenges, and goals and objectives. Explain how their skills and their role will help the company meet and exceed department and/or company goals and objectives. Inquire about personal goals and objectives. Give the new hire information about the company’s training and development offerings, such as webinars, offsite seminars, certification classes, etc. Review an education assistance benefit program if one exists.

5. Dedication

Do not give into “sink or swim”. Schedule follow up meetings! Hiring managers or mentors should be meeting daily during the first week of employment and at LEAST weekly after week one through first 90 days. You should also consider having the employee meet with and be accepting of feedback from one or two top performers and/or long term employees. Schedule some time for the new employee to meet with the president and/or one of the executive team members to learn more about the company from their perspective. Make sure the executive team is also interested about the employee’s career path, goals and expectations.

6. Expectations

Use the job description! Does the employee know what is expected? When conducting employee development meetings during the new hire period, the manager should be reviewing and discussing the job description. It should be clear how the job description fits with individual, team and company goals. Regularly discuss individual goals and objectives. Be open to feedback regarding work related challenges and obstacles. Schedule regular employee development meetings; emphasizing an open door policy. The new employee should always feel that the can easily access their manager when questions or concerns arise. Lastly, the manager should make sure the employee is aware of the standard steps to be followed for a 90 day and annual review.

After three months, the company should send a survey to the employee to obtain feedback about the organization’s customer service, quality of service and processes, and request any suggestions for improvement. The company should address any problems or concerns immediately so they are able to attract and retain top performers and continuously improve the company’s image, performance, processes and reputation.

Are you prepared to cut the cost of unnecessary turnover and obtain a greater ROI on your new hires?

Click the link to view our recent blog: The Three Most Common Job Offer Mistakes or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

 

The Three Most Common Job Offer Mistakes

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Have you ever heard “be careful what you put in writing?” This phrase is especially true when making written offers of employment. Perhaps you were lucky enough to find ideal candidates to fill unique positions; some of which may have been difficult to fill in the past. While this is good news, these sharp candidates have a keen eye to quickly identify operational errors, wage and hour law missteps and inappropriate activity. Their ability to do so can prove to be very costly for a small business.

So, before you or one of your supervisor’s makes an offer to that ideal candidate, make sure you understand the three most common job offer mistakes.

1. Promising a long term employment relationship

In nearly every state, unless a formal contract states otherwise, employees are hired at-will. “At-will” means that there is no legal binding agreement between the company and employee you hire for a guaranteed period of time. It also means that the company OR the employee has a right to end the employment relationship at any time, for any reason, so long as it is not an illegal reason. Finally, “at-will” means there is no guarantee of employment terms, conditions or benefits except those that are made in writing by the owner or a designated and authorized executive level manager. Simply put, it means there is no guarantee that the employee will be promoted quickly, given a raise at a particular time, will always report to the same manager, always have the same health care, etc.

It is considered a highly encouraged best practice to include “at-will” and it’s meaning in written offers of employment and to reinforce that standard in the company’s employee handbook. It is equally important to remember that all verbal and written communication with your employees should be consistent with an at-will employment relationship. It is recommend that you avoid language in an offer letter such as “we look forward to a long term working relationship” or “we will guarantee a promotion after you meet or exceed our expectations in this role”.

We never want to believe that the person we have chosen to hire will end up becoming someone who legally challenges the company. Nor do we want to think they we will ever have to terminate them. But there are no guarantees. Not for the employee and not for the company.

When you decide to change benefits plans, who is to say a current employee won’t use a poorly worded promise of specific benefits against you? What about the employee that could end up becoming a poor performer or a policy violator? Don’t let promises you have made in writing in the offer letter interfere with your right to terminate the employee with as little risk as possible.

2. Not knowing the FLSA classification

As a small business owner, do you understand the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)? Do you know what it obligates you to do? Another common mistake when making an offer of employment is not identifying if an employee should be exempt (is not eligible for overtime wages) or non-exempt (must be paid overtime). Under the FLSA, each job in your company must be classified as exempt or non-exempt. Employees who are classified as non-exempt are entitled to overtime pay after they physically worked more than 40 hours in a standard seven day period (a.k.a. work week). Employees who QUALIFY to be classified as exempt are typically paid a salary are paid to get a job done, not for their hours worked – so, no overtime payment is required.

Employers who improperly classify an employee as exempt, and do not provide payment for overtime, run the risk of costly wage and hour fines and violations, including back wages. According to the Department of Labor, “willful violators may be prosecuted criminally and fined up to $10,000. A second conviction may result in imprisonment. Employers who willfully or repeatedly violate the minimum wage or overtime pay requirements are subject to civil money penalties of up to $1,100 per violation” .

So before you extend a verbal and written job offer, we recommend you make yourself familiar with the Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor. In order to minimize risk, identify the correct job classification as exempt or non-exempt in the new hire’s offer letter and in the job description. Be prepared to explain the classification decision, and make sure the employee Handbook clearly defines these categories. Finally, determine if your employees are properly set up in your payroll system; the job title and the exempt or non-exempt classification. Above all remember, just because you pay the person a salary DOES NOT automatically make them exempt.

3. Not following up on required paperwork

You just hired a new employee, and today is their first day. Great news. You know they need to complete Form I-9; a form required by immigration to prove the employee is authorized to work in the United States. But, the new hire forgot their identification. What now? That’s fine. They must be provided no more than three business days to provide it and complete the form. Off to work they go. But who is following up on that three day requirement?

Picture this. It has been six months, and you still have not received the employee’s documentation. Did you know under The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 there is federal penalty that ranges from $375 up to $16,000 per worker for this or a related type of action(s)? What were you supposed to do after those first three days? Suspend the employee from payroll until they satisfy form I-9 requirements? To not do so is a willful violation of this law.

To avoid this risk, use the written offer letter to remind your new hires of the importance of providing their documentation to your company on the first date of employment. Emphasize if they do not provide this information on their first date of employment, they will have up to three business days from the date of hire to provide this information or they will be suspended or terminated from your company. This policy should be reinforced with the immigration law compliance policy for in your employee handbook.

In order to avoid losing valuable time and incurring unnecessary losses, before writing an offer letter, ask yourself these questions:

1. Does the offer letter imply a long term relationship between my company and the employee?

2. Does the letter imply any other promises that the company may not be able to deliver?

3. Do I have any language in the letter that may imply that the employee would have a right to remain at my company even if his or her performance or behavior do not meet or exceed the expectations for this role?

4. Do I have a job description for this new hire (and for each job in my company) and does it have the correct FLSA classification?

5. Does the offer letter include information about the immigration law compliance?

6. Did the company fully complete form I-9 for the employee, including proper notation of the identification presented by the new hire?

7. Does the company have completed form I-9 for all current employees and recent new hires, including signatures in all required areas?

8. Does the company have an employee handbook that defines an at-will employment, exempt and non-exempt classifications, and the immigration law compliance?

As a small business owner, do you have all the tools and resources in place to minimize risk and protect your company’s P&L?

Click the link to view our recent blog: PEO for HR Support and Peace of Mind or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Original Source

 

PEO for HR Support and Peace of Mind

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Doctor Z.  Poor Doctor Z.  Three months later he still has mass anxiety about another wage and hour investigation. Last time the end result was more than $30,000 in back wages, back taxes and fines.

How?  It only takes one unhappy current or ex-employee to start an investigation, and the results are usually unfavorable.  Doctor Z really believed he was doing the right thing. After all, if you do the right thing, your business should run well, right?  Not if you consider what state and federal laws require of even the smallest businesses. In Doctor Z’s case, it was a medical practice with around 20 employees.

Where did Doctor Z go wrong?  In the words of Thomas Edison, “Vision without execution is hallucination.”  Where is the hallucination in the small business world? Lack of understanding when it comes to employment laws.  Federal laws, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, and state specific wage and hours laws (meals, breaks, deductions, final paycheck, etc.) will trip those who lack understanding right into a complaint and possible fines.

Doctor Z had no one in a trained administrative role to tell him that some employees were actually non-exempt and due overtime.  Doctor Z had no working knowledge of what constitutes hours worked and when deductions from pay are permitted. He also didn’t know that you can’t hold a final paycheck for failure to return property.  Result?  The last employee he had good cause to terminate wanted to get even.  But she was within her right to do so.

Doctor Z had been paying her an average “market rate” salary, but working her 50 to 60 hours per week, without overtime.  Her position did not qualify her to be exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  She was not a supervisor, not an executive, nor did she have any type of high level authority with the company.  When her performance deteriorated, Doctor Z felt there was good reason to terminate her and move on.  The employee was upset.  But, there was something else Doctor Z did not know…

Even though Doctor Z was not requiring any employee to keep time sheets (he was just running all as salary, regular each pay period), this employee was tracking her time.  With what?  The Department of Labor’s handy timekeeping application on her smartphone.  She had the proof to show she was due back wages. Doctor Z didn’t have any records of his own to defend himself.  Doctor Z also had no defense for taking an unauthorized deduction from her pay when she was blamed for damaging a printer.  He also had no defense for holding her last paycheck until she returned company keys.

Too many red flags for the wage and hour department to overlook.  They interviewed former co-workers and found there were others, beyond the person who complained, that were non-exempt and also due back wages for overtime worked.  Remember that $30,000?  That represents two to three years in back pay, plus applicable payroll taxes and fines.

What steps can a business owner reasonably take to make sure this does not happen? Surely, they don’t need a full time, and expensive, HR manager.  The bottom line is that there is no easy crash course for a business owner to learn all of this.  So what’s the best option for future peace of mind?  Consider outsourcing to a professional employer organization (PEO).

What is that? A one-stop full employee administration service. Every time you run payroll, you are charged a fee that covers human resource management basics. The good PEOs provide clients with an HR service representative or team that is on call for questions, communicates employment law compliance information and offers employee management best practice suggestions.  The great PEOs even add to that.  They provide employment law posters, assist their clients with employee handbook customization and have a multitude of employee management documents and templates that can be customized specific to client needs.

Today, Doctor Z finally has peace of mind.  He decided to hire a non-exempt administrative assistant who is very open to building a great service relationship with the HR team of the PEO he chose to work with. They are providing his business with a full spectrum of services including payroll processing, tax administration, workers’ compensation insurance and human resources consulting designed to minimize employment management risk and cut employee termination costs.

Click the link to view our recent blog: Got Employees? 10 Mistakes Not To Make or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Original Source: http://inspiringhr.com/peo-for-peace-of-mind.html

 

Got Employees? 10 Mistakes Not To Make

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As you review your profit and loss statement (P&L), are you wondering why revenue is down… or why are costs up? A single employee termination could be to blame.

Employees who are fired or voluntarily resign cost a company at least one times the annual salary. Don’t believe it? Here is what adds up: lost productivity, overtime, temporary help, advertising, time to find candidates, time to interview, new hire training expenses and a rising unemployment tax rate, to name a few. You may want to measure how lower morale has damaged productivity.

What can be done to avoid this? Hire right! Here are 10 mistakes to avoid with employees.

  1. No Job Description. Do not hire without one. How do you know what to ask of the applicant if the job isn’t defined? Ask those who have done the job and supervised the job. Is the role is exempt or nonexempt? Identify the knowledge, skill, abilities, qualifications and physical requirements.

  2. Poor Resume Review. Time is money. Why bring an under-qualified applicant in for an interview? Use the resume to look for red flags. Look for grammar errors and misspells. Are there gaps in employment? Do they have relevant experience? Do a phone screen first.

  3. Asking Potentially Discriminatory Questions. The basic rule is that ALL interview questions should be relevant to the candidate’s ability to perform the essential duties of the job. Before you ask the question, ask yourself: “Is this relevant?”. Married, have children? Not relevant! All you need to know is if they are they able to work the required hours.

  4. Ineffective Interviewing. Dig deeper into potential red flags. Ask behavior based interview questions: open ended and job specific. Prepare ahead of time and follow a consistent structure. Follow the 70-30 rule. Candidate should be talking 70% of the time. Let them talk so you can hear the red flags.

  5. Dismissing Red Flags. They will not go away. Past behavior is the best predictor of future performance. Have you identified how the candidate approaches major decisions or how they would resolve a customer complaint? What do they exhibit enthusiasm over? What do they avoid talking about?

  6. No Pre-Selection Processes. Check references! Can’t get the information you need from a former employer? As the applicant to sign a release of liability that you can send over. Conduct background checks and drug screens. Schedule a second or third interview to be sure of your decision.

  7. Overpaying for Talent. A small business operates on a very limited budget. Before you offer a big salary, make sure it is a necessary expense. Find out what the market rate for the position is. Do competitor research. What does your company offer that others can’t? Becoming an employer of choice may help you keep salary costs down.

  8. Passing Over the Inexperienced. Otherwise known as the green candidate. If you can give them great training up front, it could be a worthwhile hire. Greener candidates tend to carry less baggage and are more motivated; have a better attitude; are usually more affordable and are easily mentored. Have you heard the phrase: “Hire for attitude, train for skill”?

  9. Offers of Employment Gone Bad. Before you pick up the phone, is everyone on the same page? Is there an understanding of pay and benefits by both parties? Making an offer, verbal or written, is not the time for surprises. If everything hasn’t been covered yet, why not call with additional questions and an “initial” offer. Be prepared to negotiate and stay enthusiastic. The last thing you want to do is de-motivate a new hire. A de-motivated new hire will never produce what you expect or need.

  10. No New Hire Orientation Processes. If your model is to let them sink or swim, the new employee will likely sink. That will lead to a turnover cost. Which is what you wanted to avoid in the first place. You only have one chance to make a first impression. Before the new employee starts, figure out what day one, week one, month one and the first 90 days should look like.

Click the link to view our recent blog: News Article Analysis: McDonald’s Franchisee Pays Back Wages or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Original Source: http://inspiringhr.com/10-mistakes-to-avoid-when-hiring.html

 

News Article Analysis: McDonald’s Franchisee Pays Back Wages

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The Baltimore Business Journal recently printed an article about how a local Maryland franchisee of McDonald’s must pay more than $250,000 to 138 employees in civil money penalties for child labor violations.  This article is an example of how franchisees, even from the largest franchise brand in the world, could benefit from working with a PEO to correctly manage human resources issues. If this franchisee was working with an organization like Infiniti HR, this situation would have been avoided all together; saving the company money and media strife.

Click the link to view our recent blog: Announcing Infiniti HR’s HiringThing Partnership or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Annapolis-based McDonald’s Franchisee Agrees to Pay Back Wages
Baltimore Business Journal
Ryan McDonald Digital Producer
Apr 8, 2014, 12:44pm EDT

An Annapolis-based McDonald’s franchisee has agreed to pay more than $250,000 in back wages and damages to employees as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Gold Hat Inc. and Gold Hat II Inc. violated the minimum wage, overtime and child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act at nine of the franchisees’ restaurant locations throughout Maryland, the U.S. Department of Labor determined.

In total, the franchisees will pay $252,224 to 138 employees. The employer has also agreed to pay $4,300 in civil money penalties for child labor violations.

Gold Hat Inc. operates four McDonald’s restaurants, and Gold Hat II Inc. operates another five. The Labor Department claims that when employees worked at more than one location for the employer during the same workweek, the hours they worked at the different locations were not totaled to determine if overtime was due.

Additionally, the federal agency says that 14- and 15-year old employees worked outside of the hours permitted by federal child labor regulations.

Original Source

 

Announcing Infiniti HR’s HiringThing Partnership

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We are excited to announce our recent partnership with HiringThing, recruiting software that helps small and medium businesses post jobs, manage applicants and find great employees.

We pride ourselves on providing our clients with the highest quality of service. We believe that HiringThing will be a powerful tool for companies like yours as you look to hire great employees.

We’ve used HiringThing ourselves to fill positions and we find their software easy to use. And it’s definitely saved us time and money in the hiring process.

The first 14 days are FREE! Click here to get started.

With HiringThing you can integrate directly with HRPyramid and much more:

● Easily post jobs to online job boards and buy premium job placements
● Pass resumes to other managers and keep notes
● Manage employee referral programs
● Run awesome applicant analytics reports, so you can see where your job applicants are coming from
● Order background checks for potential hires

HiringThing’s support team is eager to answer any questions you may have. And they can also provide live demos and on-demand videos.

As our clients’ needs grow, we want to be there to support you, offering services that will make running your business easier – and save you time and money. We are excited to work with HiringThing and we know that this partnership will provide our clients with a new opportunity to streamline your HR function.

Sign up here for a 14 day free trial. Plans start at $39 a month – and you can cancel at any time.

Click the link to view our recent blog: Five HR Basics for Any Small Business or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

 

5 HR Basics for Any Small Business

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We often hear about the Department of Labor trying to combat “catch me if you can”. All those small business owners that, according to them, just love to ignore or avoid employment laws. While there may be some out there, the vast majority just don’t know these laws exist. And if they do know they exist, we can thank our government regulators for making these laws way too complicated for the average business owner to even understand.

If federal or state labor law agencies want to minimize the amount of business owners who are violating employment laws, it is time to simplify! Many business owners really do want to do the right thing and need to be educated in a manner that is sensible. Education starts with basics. A basic understanding of labor law compliance will help a business create sensible and compliant employee management systems and processes.

So, where do the basics start? Here at the top five HR basics for any small business:

  1. Employment law posters. Put them up! They must be displayed in a common employee area  such as a break room. Make sure they are current. Yes you can print them from various web pages. But why would you do that when there are a ton of vendors out there that will put all your federal and state required postings on one single laminated sheet from $30 or less plus shipping?
  2. Fair Labor Standards Act. This is a federal law that most small businesses get wrong. It regulates minimum wage, OVERTIME and child labor. Here is the thing about overtime. Unless a position is clearly exempt, according to defined Fair Labor Standards Act exemption categories, it is non-exempt and all hours physically worked over 40 MUST be paid at one and 1/2 times the employee’s hourly rate. Just because a job has supervisor or manager in the title, or just because you choose to pay someone a salary DOES not make them exempt from overtime.
  3. Wage and Hour laws. There are federal and there are state. If state law is more generous than federal law, the business should follow the state law that is applicable to where the employee works, not necessarily where the business is located. If a business operates in Virginia, but also has Maryland based employees, then the business must comply with both sets of state laws.Wage and hour laws include regulations on when you are permitted to take deductions from an employee’s pay, meal and break periods and when final wages must be paid. When you are trying to determine your state’s wage and hour laws a simple Google search will usually land you right to the FAQ page of your state Department of Labor web page.
  4. Immigration Law Compliance. In other words, form I9. A new one was just released. It expires in 2016 – refer to top right corner. Start using it ASAP and do not use old forms past May 1, 2014. This form verifies the employees you have hired are legally authorized to work in the United States, not that they are a citizen. This form should be filled out in full, identifications should be witnessed and noted in section two, and section two must be signed. If immigration chooses to audit your files and finds missing or incomplete I9s, there is a high likelihood you will be fined. An I9 is required for every employee hired (put on payroll). A new employee legally has up to three business days to produce the documentation required for this form. After three days, if no identification is presented, suspend them from work until they do. Continuing to allow them to work past the three days is a willful violation of the law.
  5. Anti-Harassment and Non-Discrimination. Get a policy in place immediately. It would normally be found in your employee handbook and should clearly state zero tolerance for harassment in the workplace and clearly outlines for your employees how to report potential violations of the policy. Going without an anti-harassment policy in your business carries significant risk as the company will likely be without an effective means to defend itself if accused of not responding appropriately to a claim.

There is no need to fear or run from HR. Look for simplicity and start with the basics.

Click the link to view our recent blog: We Have an Employee Handbook, Now What? or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Original Source: http://inspiringhr.com/5-hr-basics-for-any-small-business.html

 

 

We Have an Employee Handbook, Now What?

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Congratulations on even having an employee handbook! Many small businesses try to go without, which ends up being a mistake. A current and labor law compliant employee handbook is an ASSET. It welcomes new employees, answers commonly asked questions and establishes standards for consistency and accountability; it proves what the employee should have known when you must correct their actions or are forced to terminate. It also minimizes risk in key areas such as harassment claims and wage and hour law compliance.

Make sure your handbook is current! There were at least three labor law and best practice changes in 2012 alone that created a need for existing handbook updates; ADA amendments; FLSA Safe Harbor and NLRB social media/blogging guidelines.

But it is not good enough just to have one. Any kind of employee management document or tool is only as good as how it is used. Once you have an employee handbook ready to go, follow these steps to maximize effectiveness:

  • Plan for distribution. Will you take the handbook to a printer and have a bound copy created for each employee? That works great in a small office but can get expensive the more employees you have. How about printing a single copy for each employee to reference in their primary office location and saving a copy of the PDF version of the handbook? Better yet, is there a shared drive or an intranet it can be saved to? This way you only have to print the Acknowledgement page, typically the last page of the handbook, for each employee to sign.
  • Execute a company wide roll out. This can include a single event or mini group meeting, perhaps by department or team. Make the roll out sessions as positive as possible. Sell employees on why the company needs the handbook and why it is of benefit to them. Establish a script or checklist to follow ahead of time. Identify 5-7 key policies or areas of concern to review with the group; cover zero tolerance in your anti-harassment policy and how to report a potential violation.
  • Collect signed handbook acknowledgements. This document alone is what makes the handbook a true company asset. If you want to be in a position to effectively defend the counseling, disciplinary action or termination of an employee, you need look no further than their signed handbook acknowledgment. It proves what they “should have known” they were being held accountable for. During roll out, instruct employees to sign the acknowledgement and return it to their supervisor or other authorized representative of the company within 2-3 business days. Keep track and make sure all are returned and placed safely in each applicable employee file.
  • Incorporate employee handbook review into your new hire process. Even companies with a loose new hire training process sets aside time for employees to complete payroll paperwork; form I9 and tax forms. Use that time to review the employee handbook briefly with them. You can even follow the script of key points you used for the roll out meetings.
  • When updating an employee handbook, notify employees properly. This usually entails re-issuing the entire handbook (painful) to every single employee and collecting new acknowledgements. Or, you can post and distribute a company wide memo that advises of the key changes, where to locate the latest employee handbook and requires a signature per employees. Remember, anything signed by an employee that can be used to prove what they should have known needs to make its way into the employee file.

You have invested time and money into creating an employee handbook. It is the backbone of all the employee systems and processes you have in place or will create. Don’t delay your return on investment. Now is the time to put it to effective use.

Click the link to view our recent blog: Five Tips for Successful PEO HR Services or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Source: http://inspiringhr.com/we-have-a-handbook-now-what.html

 

5 Tips for Successful PEO HR Services

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Congratulations!  You have chosen to work with a professional employer organization (PEO) to make your payroll, benefits, workers’ compensation and human resource management life easier – all at a one stop shop and price.

There are many advantages to using a PEO.  Many of them were likely presented and discussed during the sales and enrollment process.  Now that you are anticipating the service relationship beginning (or perhaps it has already started, you might be having a hard time making sense of what HR service you should be accessing and when.  Here are five tips to get you started.

1.     Determine Who Internally Can Implement Delivered HR

a.     A PEO HR specialist is there to help you solve and implement HR.  They need a partner at the client location to get that done.  Typically this partner or point of contact(s) would be the person most likely to request HR support, call the HR specialist with questions and would be the person the HR specialist would provide consult to if there are products or services that would be of benefit to your company.  For example, a PEO HR specialist can create an Employee Files Guide, but it is typically up to your internal contact to receive it and use it.  A PEO HR specialist is also there to guide decision making when it comes to employee corrective action measures.  But they still need that internal contact and/or the employee’s supervisors to execute based on the guidance provided.

2.     Ask for an Overview of Options; Typically Referred to as the “Basics”

a.     It is reasonable to expect that the PEO you are working with has a dedicated HR specialist or an HR service team member to explain in as much detail as you need, how the platform will support your business’s human resource management needs.  If you have the time and are inclined to participate in a collaborative discussion, ask your HR service representative to conduct a labor law compliance and HR best practices audit.  In doing so, you can gain a better understanding of where the “holes” may be and how the HR services being offered can fix that.

3.     Get Your Employment Law Posters Ordered

a.     Some PEO’s will do this automatically once the service agreement is signed.  Some will ask the HR specialist assigned to your account to evaluate if you need them, for which states and how many.  This is a labor law compliance basic requirement and unless you recently ordered federal and state labor law posters that are current, you have a right to expect that your PEO will provide you with a new set and will keep their eye on when you need a new set due to labor law changes.

4.     Get Your Employee Handbook Done

a.     A good PEO will have a template, based on federal law, ready to use.  You have to request that you want a handbook and the HR specialist should take it from there.  Usually that means answering a few basic customization questions and the HR specialist researching applicable state labor laws.  The PEO will create as many handbook drafts that you need for review and the convert the document to final when all content has been ironed out and is ready for employee distribution.  You can also ask for guidance on the best path for handbook rollout, collection of signed acknowledgements and how your supervisors can use the handbook to their benefits.  You get a copy, the HR specialist (HR service team) retains a copy and the HR specialist will keep you posted if a labor law change at the federal or state level requires a handbook update.

5.     Request Standard Employee Management Forms

a.     As your “partner”, the PEO HR service specialist/team is there to help you build up your HR/employee management foundation.  You can’t do that without implementing some standard forms and processes into your workplace.  Those include an employment application, deduction authorization forms, employee counseling forms and performance reviews.  You should expect these to be in MS Word format so they can be customized to suit your specific needs, but PLEASE make sure you lean on your assigned PEO HR specialist for guidance on how to customize; particularly when there may be concern that content being added is creating liability or violating a labor law.

There is so much more than can be offered by a PEO to support the creation and evolution of your internal HR/employee management functions.  What you have access to largely depends on the price you pay and the sophistication and structure of the PEO’s service team.  Whether you are paying a discounted rate to a smaller PEO or a larger price with a PEO that has a huge HR service offering remember this: if you think you need it, it never hurts to ask!

Click the link to view our recent blog: Before Promoting to Supervisor There are Five Key Trainings or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

 

5 Key Trainings Before Promoting to Supervisor

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As a small business owner it is great to identify high achieving employees that are being groomed to become a manager or supervisor.  This means your business is growing and you are in a position to lighten or re-distribute your load by trusting a supervisor to make a certain level of operational and leadership decisions on their own.

But please don’t overlook liability.  Keep in mind that “I didn’t know” is never a good defense and that a poor supervisor can create significant risk for the business you have worked so hard to build.

The person being promoted might be highly skilled at the technical aspects of work.  But do they know how to lead?  Will they do so in line with your expectations?  Do they understand basic labor law compliance so you can reasonably trust them not to create unnecessary liability?

Here are five key areas of employee management ‘education’ we encourage you to put in place for new supervisor training.  It is a good idea to cover this BEFORE they assume supervisor or manager duties.

  1. Employee Handbook.  Have them understand not just that the company has one, but why and how to use it.  Key Point!  The largest liability that can loom for an organization is failing to properly respond to a discrimination or harassment complaint.  First time supervisors need to understand what discrimination and harassment is, how to lead in a manner that curbs it, what your employee handbook states in terms of how to report a claim and, if brought to them direct, how the organization expects the supervisor or manager to respond and initiate an investigation.  Last but not least, first time supervisors should be reminded of the very real cost of a retaliation claim. Coming forward with a complaint of harassment of discrimination is a PROTECTED act. Don’t let a new supervisor double your liability by taking some form of retaliatory action against an employee who had the courage to come forward.
  2. Job Descriptions. Great for hiring, but also critical to supervisor success. How? A job description keeps the employee the supervisor is leading accountable. Make sure first time supervisors know why you have job descriptions AND how to use them. Job Descriptions can and should be used through the full employee lifecycle. They dictate how to craft an advertisement of a job opening, help you structure effective phone screen and behavior based interview questions, create documented accountability when signed upon hire and should be used as a basis for how employee performance is evaluated and measured.
  3. Contractor (1099) Versus Employee.  If you organization uses contractors as a part of your workforce, make sure your supervisors understand the difference between “managing” the two.  Since the IRS defines a very clear line between 1099 and employee, you need not let a first time supervisor unknowingly open your business up to the liability of back payroll taxes and fines. If a new supervisor is being trusted to oversee the work deliverables of contractors, they need to understand that they are vendors, not employees. As such, the supervisor needs to abide the by service agreement terms in place.  They should not be dictating hours worked, should not be reimbursing expenses, should not be offering employee like benefits and should not be formally evaluating work as if they contractor was an employee.
  4. Wage and Hour Laws. There are two to pay close attention to. (1) The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) – it regulates overtime, among other things.  Train a first time supervisor on the very clear difference between exempt and non-exempt.  Paying a salary is NOT how you qualify to be exempt.  Neither is putting supervisor or manager in the job title. Non-exempt employees who physically work more than 40 hours per work week (not per pay cycle) must be paid those additional hours at one and 1/2 times their hourly rate.  No exceptions.  Non-exempt employees are not legally permitted to “bank” overtime for future time off.  Nor are they permitted to voluntarily waive overtime wages. (2) NO unauthorized deductions from pay.  Outside of taxes and benefit plan elections, deductions from pay must be voluntary, specific, written and signed by the employee to be legal.  Don’t unnecessarily invite the Department of Labor in to audit your payroll records.  It is not fun and tends to not end well for the employer.
  5. Define a Good Manager or Supervisor. Here is how we break it down: a good manager is able to be a “reasonable person”, limits liability by handling issues fairly and consistently, understands when to seek higher level or HR assistance, has the courage to immediately counsel poor performers (and document such counseling), hires employees who fit the job requirements, provides documented coaching and feedback, leads by example (and not by fear), is approachable and accepting of diversity, discusses concerns privately, offers praise publicly, is not afraid to cut their losses and learn from mistakes. Last but not least, if trusting a new supervisor to interview and hire, train them on an effective and compliant process.  They need to know discriminatory versus non-discriminatory practices and how to look and listen for reference flags before an employee is hired.

The name of the game with new supervisors is risk aversion.  Otherwise, how will you gain a comfortable level with trust and delegating?  All it takes is some training on employee management basics, in a simplistic form that can be easily understood. You can groom their leadership effectiveness as they go along, but don’t overlook the risk of the untrained.

Click the link to view our recent blog: Don’t Be Held Hostage to Poor Performers or check back next week for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.

Source: http://inspiringhr.com/before-promoting-to-supervisor-5-key-trainings.html

 

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