Hey FIU alumni! The PEO Group is back at you with a catchy article we came across. Many people completed this in the first quarter of 2016. If you haven’t or have questions, we are here to help. The PEO Group can broker a PEO for your business that is able to assist in HR functions such as these in the article listed below.
1. Update Your Company Handbook
Often neglected but oh-so important! Review and revise your handbook as necessary this year and every year. Laws, regulations and workplace procedures change. If you find sections that are no longer relevant or unclear, rewrite the sections to clarify or change the policies. Every time your handbook is updated, redistribute copies to employees and require signatures acknowledging the updates.
2. Schedule Trainings
What good are policies if managers don’t know how to enforce them? Effective workplace training can help employers avoid employee lawsuits, workplace injuries, and violations of laws and regulations. Provide manager training sessions to review workplace policies and their roles in consistently implementing with employees. Also, an all-employee session to introduce any policy revisions and remind your workers of your rules is highly recommended.
3. Distribute Policy Reminders
If handbooks and workplace guidelines are up-to-date, it is still good practice to reinforce the importance of your critical policies by distributing and having all employees sign an acknowledgment of receipt (or demonstrate electronic receipt). Most employers consider their discrimination-harassment-retaliation policies to be of utmost importance, but you can also select any areas that might need emphasis in the New Year.
4. Audit your Files
Review all employee personnel files for consistency. Confirm you have a signed copy of each and every necessary document in each and every file. Don’t wait until an HR or Compliance issue comes up to learn that the signature on a key document is missing. Ensure you have 100% signature rate now!
And don’t forget – Make sure that any medical information is kept in a separate file from the personnel file. Under medical privacy law, such documentation can’t be intermixed with standard personnel records. Medical information must be kept in a secure location only accessible on a genuine need to know basis.
5. Review Independent Contractor Status
If your business retains any workers as independent contractors, you should review their status to ensure they are truly considered independent contractors in the eyes of the law. This area has evolved in recent years, you should resolve to review these relationships with a fresh eye in 2016.
6. Examine Exemption Status
Titles are not everything. It is important to remember that titles are not determinative of whether an employee is exempt from the provisions of the FLSA. Revisit and carefully review the duties and compensation of workers you have classified as exempt from overtime requirements to confirm they still quality for this status.
Stay tuned, we will be back with another article soon. Until then, we will provide PEO brokerage services to all types of businesses and are happy to speak with you.
Learn more at thepeogroup.com/fiu.