HR Blog


15 Dec, 2021
Today I want to spend a few minutes looking ahead into 2016 and what your obligations will be in the new year. I’m going to break this down by quarters so that it’s easier for you to tie it in with your normal quarter-end preparations in Human Resources. As you kick-off each quarter, you can reference this list to know what to focus on! FIRST QUARTER This quarter is all about wrapping up the previous year, getting ready for the new year, and making sure that you’re up-to-speed on any new government regulations that are rolling out. So make it a point to run down this checklist. And since this isn’t an all-inclusive list, you should consider creating your own checklist of additional items that you know you need to do internally. Make sure that you are following state and federal guidelines for minimum wage and minimum wage for exempt employees at each of your locations. (the minimum for exempts is projected to increase significantly in 2016, so make sure you’re ready for it!) Confirm that your internal systems are updated to reflect 2016 limits and reporting requirements. Finalize your budgets and staffing plans that you should have started preparing before the new year. Post your updated compliance posters. Update your employee handbook and make sure it’s fully compliant. Check out our guide for 2016 changes: http://blog.ebs-consulting.com/stay-legal-update-your-employee-handbook-for-2016 Update employee literature with up-to-date wage information in necessary. Wrap up 2015: Distribute W-2’s and 1099’s in January Distribute 1095-C forms for ACA reporting in January Prepare your OSHA Form 300A with a record of all reportable injuries and illnesses that occurred within the past year. SECOND QUARTER Now that you have the old year successfully tucked away and you’re in full swing for this year, it’s time to start focusing on internal improvements. Do you have any software that is due for an upgrade? Now is a good time to finally tackle that and get it wrapped up. Take a look at employee training programs. Do you have those scheduled and have a list of which employees need to attend? This includes OSHA Required Safety training as well as internal training on software and processes that you need to do with your employees. Harassment training is a key part of this. You can keep your litigation costs drastically by adding it to your training program. http://blog.ebs-consulting.com/4-reasons-to-talk-about-sexual-harassment-at-work Are there any hiring gaps that you need to take a look at? Do you have positions that you need to fill? Spend some time identifying internal productivity bottlenecks. Make some notes and prioritize the list so you know where the largest areas of improvement are. Review your I-9 forms and see if any are expired. Renew or dispose of ones that you don’t need to continue to retain. Review your company policies and see if any of those need to be revised. Update literature in print and online as needed. THIRD QUARTER Going into the second half of the year and third quarter, it’s time to get some of the government reporting done and implement some of the changes you identified last quarter. ERISA Annual Report (form 5500) – not all companies have to file this, but if you do, then you have to have it filed each year by the last day of the 7th month following the end of the plan year. Summary Annual Report has to be sent to participants 9 months after the close of the Plan Year or 2 months after the due date for Form 5500. Federal contractors have to submit the VETS-100 by September 30th. If you are part of the VETS-100 database, you will receive a Notice of Filing Obligation with the information you need. If you have more than 100 employees or are a federal contractor with more than 50 employees, then you have to file an Equal Employment Opportunity Report (EEO-1) by September 30th for the current year. Spend some time working on minimizing the largest bottleneck that you identified in the second quarter. Make any changes to your employee training that you identified in the second quarter. FOURTH QUARTER Now it’s time to get ready to wrap up this year and get ready for the next one. Before Oct 15, your Medicare Part D reporting is due and credible coverage disclosure notices must be sent to Medicare-eligible participants if you provide prescription drug coverage. Review time off rules and accruals and communicate holiday and inclement weather policies to employees. Audit all personnel files and records to ensure that they are all up-to-date. Prepare ACA 1095-C Reporting forms and 1094-C Transmittal forms for the current tax year. Plan for the next year’s budget and staffing needs. Strategize ways to reduce more of the company bottlenecks. Develop an upgrade plan for company hardware and software so you’re not surprised by things in the new year. THE TAKEAWAYS… This list is not all-inclusive, but it should, at least, give you a good baseline for what you need to focus on each quarter for reporting and keeping your company on track. Makes sure to add your own goals and company needs to this list and spend time each quarter reviewing and planning ahead.
15 Dec, 2021
2015 is winding down and your year-end to-do list is getting longer and longer and longer. It can be easy to overlook your employee handbook in the midst of all of the other craziness going on. But it’s important that you take a few minutes and read and review it to make sure you aren’t leaving yourself open to legal issues that could cause bigger headaches in the new year.  So let’s take a quick look at what you need to do to update your employee handbook for 2016 and the changes that are coming. EMPLOYEES HAVE THE RIGHT TO DISCUSS WAGES WITH CO-WORKERS The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a report earlier this year that stated that employees have the right to discuss wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with management, fellow employees, non-employees, and third parties such as the media. You can still state that employees are not free to disclose confidential information or company secrets. You just need to be very careful about how you word those statements. For example, this would considered unlawful by the NLRB: Employees are not free to discuss employee information, such as phone numbers or addresses, outside of work. This would be considered lawful by the NLRB: Employees are not authorized to discuss business secrets or other confidential information outside of work. It’s a small change in the verbiage that keeps you legal and maintains your confidentiality arrangements. EMPLOYEES CAN TALK ABOUT BAD WORKING CONDITIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA Under the same NLRB report, employer’s are prohibited from limiting an employee’s rights to discuss their terms and conditions of employment on social media. You also cannot ban them from posting photos, commenting on blog posts, writing blog posts, offering comments or statements from coworkers or managers that demonstrate substandard working conditions. THE MINIMUM WAGE TO QUALIFY AS EXEMPT IS GOING UP The DOL (Department of Labor) is pushing through a proposal that will force employers to move anyone making less than $970 a week to non-exempt status. This means that more of your workforce will qualify for overtime pay. While a final decision hasn’t been reached yet, it’s looking very likely that the ruling will pass. So it would be good to consider the implications for your handbook. This could include things like: Clarifying guidelines for overtime and if it requires prior approval from management Clarifying expectations for off-duty work – such as checking and answering email on a personal device Amending your definition of exempt and non-exempt status if it includes any statements concerning a minimum wage to qualify as exempt If you want to read more on that, check out our article that goes into more detail at: http://blog.ebs-consulting.com/exempts-are-getting-a-raise-what-does-that-mean-for-you SAME-SEX BENEFITS AND EQUALITY With the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year allowing same-sex marriages, many companies need to revise several of their policies to reflect the change. This can include provisions concerning: Policies and procedures that ensure the same rights extended to married employees will apply to same-sex couples. Any verbiage in your FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) that includes spousal leave for bereavement and medical situations. Make sure the documentation and processes are the same for same-sex or opposite-sex couples. Your anti-discrimination policy should reflect the ruling too.
15 Dec, 2021
Fortunately, for many businesses, they leave the hiring to Human Resources, which may be responsible for designing and creating job descriptions. These professionals have the training and expertise to design job descriptions, which are essential to hiring processes and often used to protect the company when it comes down to legal issues. If you don’t have the luxury of an HR department, learn more about why you need job descriptions and how invaluable they can be to your small company. THE IMPORTANCE OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS  When you consider various job descriptions you have read in the past, you probably remember reading a title, a summary of the job, duties or more detailed information. In essence, job descriptions are primarily designed to advertise jobs to job seekers. However, they also provide many other important functions. Well written descriptions entice the most qualified people to apply for jobs. They are frequently used as management tools when dealing with employees, and they might help to protect companies from legal problems when hiring employees. Job descriptions certainly aren’t a legal requirement when running a business, but once you understand why you should create job descriptions, you’ll understand the importance of using them. HIRING THE MOST QUALIFIED PEOPLE FOR JOBS We’ve all read vague job descriptions at one point or another, and they are often written so poorly that we come away wondering what the job really entails. Consequently, many qualified applicants don’t bother applying. Then of course, a well-crafted job description defining qualifications can have far different results. It’s not unusual to have very specific qualifications in job advertisements for different industries or companies with the same job title. To get the most qualified candidates, you might list qualification requirements pertaining to the number of years in the field, a college degree in a specific area or some sort of certification. These types of qualifications help to eliminate those candidates that don’t meet your criteria and couldn’t perform jobs satisfactorily. By taking the time to analyze the responsibilities and duties for a job, you can craft impressive job descriptions that attract qualified people with the credentials you’re looking for to become trusted employees that add value to your company. USEFUL MANAGEMENT TOOLS As a manager, responsible for employees, you may think you need an arsenal of tools to encourage productivity, resolve employee issues and clarify job duties. Yet, a simple and effective job description may be all you need. The details contained within a job description for a manufacturing company for example, may specify each job duty to be performed, defines how many products must be made per shift and may state the answers to common questions about job performance and hiring practices. By stating the requirements within the job description, both the employee and the manager have a clear understanding of what is expected of the employee. This can eliminate a number of questions and resolve confusion. When managing employees, managers can use the terms listed in the job description to determine whether employees met or exceeded the requirements of the job when writing up performance appraisals. It also comes in handy if you need justification for taking corrective actions against an employee who is performing poorly. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS Some managers that are not familiar with many human resource issues may not realize the importance of how a simple document like a job description can be used when legal issues arise concerning ADA lawsuits, discrimination claims or classifications of nonexempt and exempt employees. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS Listing the essential duties or functions in descriptions may help companies facing ADA lawsuits. In some instances, ADA claimants are hoping to prove they can perform essential functions for the title even though they are disabled. By listing the functions within a portion of the description, a claimant may have no legal standing for a lawsuit. In some situations, it may be up to the court system to interpret the situation when functions aren’t listed. DISCRIMINATION It is unlawful for employers to discriminate against job candidates based on age, mental disabilities, physical disabilities, national origin, religion, gender or race. Nevertheless, these types of lawsuits still come into play frequently. However, by listing job qualifications in job descriptions, you may not have to deal with discrimination issues. If you can prove the applicant didn’t have one or more of the job qualifications, discrimination may not be a viable lawsuit. CLASSIFYING EMPLOYEES The Fair Labor Standards Act is still in place today. A portion of this law determines whether employees are classified as non-exempt or exempt for overtime. The duties and job summaries within a job description can be used to determine whether overtime laws apply to certain employees. ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD JOB DESCRIPTION Job descriptions may vary somewhat depending upon the company and job title, but these tips might provide you with some of the basics needed to get started. Job Title Job Summary. Summaries describe the purpose of the job and how, when and where it’s conducted. Responsibilities and Job Tasks. This list comprises all duties required when performing the company job and what your responsibilities entail. Job Qualifications. Qualifications could include required licenses, special knowledge, training, physical abilities previous experience or general skills. Work Environment. The work environment may specify a work at home job or a specific location or city where you’ll report to work. It may also indicate who you’ll be reporting to. Benefits and Salary. Some descriptions may include benefits like health care, life insurance, vacation time and so on. Many organizations prefer to discuss salaries during the interview process. COMMON MISTAKES WHEN DRAFTING JOB DESCRIPTIONS If you don’t have human resource skills or are new at designing job descriptions, it’s a smart idea to get co-workers or an employee who currently performs the function to read over your description for the job. You might be somewhat surprised at the things you overlook or leave out. Writing Skills Job descriptions should be short and on target. They should highlight the job, requirements, skills and qualifications. Don’t go in to long, detailed descriptions, which frequently confuse applicants. Use simple words everyone can understand and keep sentences short. Describing the Job Stick to the basics of the job requirements and skills. Don’t write the description based on how the previous employee may have performed the job. Vague Descriptions Provide enough detail about the job that applicants can easily understand what is required of them. Vague or poorly written job descriptions often result in unqualified candidates applying for the job, which extends the hiring process and wastes time. BENEFITS OF WRITING JOB DESCRIPTIONS Job descriptions can be helpful for determining interview questions and creating job ads. They may provide legal documentation needed for lawsuits. By defining job duties within the job description, you’ll have a better understand of training requirements for new employees. Detailed job descriptions can be used to decide on how employees should be compensated for the job and whether potential bonuses come in to play. A useful resource for managing the performance of employees. Remember, small businesses only stand to benefit from writing job descriptions. By writing job descriptions before hiring, you may avoid confusion, unqualified applicants and potential lawsuits.
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