2011 HR challenges

At the end of the 2010 a survey of HR professionals was taken to determine what the top challenges facing employers in the area of human resources in the new year of 2011.

Of course, with the U.S. Supreme Court considering a number of employment related cases this year, the list of challenges may change, but it appears that there is a consistency in what will be keeping HR professionals awake at night, and those same issues will serve to trip up the unprepared business owner.

Some of the top items that showed up on the list are not generally under the control of business leaders.

The number on issue on the minds of top level HR professionals: Healthcare Costs and Regulations. While the regulations are still being understood, businesses are struggling to comply with regulations which are confusing and sometimes contradictory. Health benefits are raising the cost of business operations or forcing employers to reduce or even eliminate benefits for their employees. When trying to increase employee engagement and loyalty, such moves can damage the employee/employer relationship.

Second: FMLA and leave administration. More and more cases are being filed in court over leave policies and practices. As the law becomes more confused and court decisions continue to confound HR practitioners, mistakes leading to expensive lawsuits are becoming even more prevalent.

Third: Increasing administrative investigations into complaints by the EEOC, Dept of Labor, OSHA and the IRS.

Fourth: Social media and blogging use by employees. Last week, I discussed this issue in more detail. http://gjconsultants.blogspot.com/2011/01/social-networking-and-business-part-ii.html

And…fifth: FLSA and wage and hour issues, including the classification of employees.

The list is really not a surprise. We have been seeing these issues continue to confound businesses and show up in numerous court cases. With the exception of Healthcare laws and regulations, each of the issues is either controlled by the employer, or mitigated by proactive actions by the business leadership.

I am continually amazed that smaller business owners tend to stick their heads in the sand and hope that employee issues will go away. If anything, ignoring employee issues causes the most employment litigation. If the employees don’t get fed up and attempt to right the “injustice” they believe they have been subjected to, invariably the government will find something during an investigation.

2011 is the year to face the top HR issues head on and not only improve your employee relationship and productivity, armor yourself and your business against preventable fines and penalties being assessed by the government. If you need help, hire professional assistance…assistance which includes HR experience as well as understanding of the legal issues. Your business deserves it, your employees deserve it and most of all you deserve the peace of mind of knowing that your business can withstand any employment challenge.

Glenn Brown is the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board and Chief Legal Officer of G & J Consultants, LLC. In addition to having directed the HR Department of a health care services company, Glenn is an attorney with 15 years experience assisting businesses of all sizes and industries in complying with employment and labor legal issues. G & J Consultants specializes in providing small and medium sized businesses with traditional HR services as well as compliance with employment laws and regulations.

Social Networking and Business... part II

Yet again! No matter how many times one this problem is discussed, it seems to re-occur without fail. Just yesterday, the news reported on a nursing student who was suspended from school because of inappropriate use of Facebook. It was another reminder that for all the good social networking can be, it’s also a real opportunity for people to harm their professional lives.

For the current generation social networking is as second nature to them as breathing, it’s how they stay in touch. It’s how they communicate. Unfortunately, employers find social networking as unfamiliar as our parents find the internet. As more and more employers use Facebook and other social networking in a negative way, doing so is becoming extremely dangerous.

In addition to hindering the natural way in which most of the newer and younger workforce communicates, federal regulators are beginning to address social networking as an employment issue and looking to protect employees who use Facebook in the workplace. As an employer, what are you to do? The government is likely going to make disciplining an employee who uses Facebook or other social media to complain about their employer, or disclose confidential information, to their friends, illegal. The National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) prohibits such actions as violating Section 7 of the act. (By the way, Section 7 applies to ALL employers, not just ones with unions).

Despite the warnings, people continue to post unflattering pictures of themselves and bragging about those nights of drinking which cause concern for potential employers, employees continue to use social media to complain about how bad their bosses are, and in more and more cases disclose (inadvertently) confidential information and company trade secrets. How can employers protect themselves when doing so, might subject them to being sued?

It is now, more than ever, when every employer must ensure that they have a policy on social networking in place and communicated to their employers, which make it clear what type of social networking is acceptable and whether it is acceptable to use social media in the workplace, on work provided computers. Developing such policies is often difficult because you have to match legal restrictions with employee productivity.

If we have learned anything, social media is here to stay. Putting our heads in the sand is not the solution. Figuring out a way to integrate social media and networking into our employment processes and operations. Failure to consider this issue could really have a costly impact on your business. The challenge is to use social media in ways to enhance productivity and employee engagement. Professional assistance is available and you should strongly consider utilizing such assistance in crafting your social media policy.

Glenn Brown is the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board and Chief Legal Officer of G & J Consultants, LLC. In addition to having directed the HR Department of a health care services company, Glenn is an attorney with 15 years experience assisting businesses of all sizes and industries in complying with employment and labor legal issues. G & J Consultants specializes in providing small and medium sized businesses with traditional HR services as well as compliance with employment laws and regulations.

The Cost of Misclassified Employees

This week the press had tons of stories about how hiring was up and the economy was on the rebound. I stumbled on a story that talked about how few people had filed for unemployment over the last month and discussed how temporary employees were increasing. Reflecting on those articles I realized that contract employment was on the rise as well.

It made sense. An employer could save some money by utilizing temporary and contract employees due to the employee cost being reduced making getting ramped in staffing more affordable. After all contract employees don’t require employee taxes (unemployment and work comp premiums) be paid.

BEWARE!!! Both state and federal governments are cracking down HARD on employers who incorrectly classify an employee as a contractor. The back unpaid income taxes, unemployment compensation and work comp premiums owed for misclassified employees will eat up any savings the practice may have provided the employer. Add to the fact that there are fines, and potential back wages, and the impact of misclassification of employees could cost a small business …everything!

President Obama has sought additional funding to target businesses who misclassify employees and the state governments are not far behind. There are more that 300 new investigators targeting businesses just looking to find misclassified employees. The fines and back wages often run into six figures.

Unlike so many other employment related issues, obtaining protection from the expensive risk of being caught with misclassified employees, is very easy and cost effective. If your business is in the area of Trucking/Transportation, Construction, Manufacturing, IT or Home Health Care, your industry is being looked at very closely. If your business is not one of these industries, you are not immune. Investigators are looking everywhere. When government budgets are so tight, any chance to recoup unpaid funds is high on the government’s priority list.

When was the last time you evaluated how all your employees were classified? When was the last time you reviewed the differences between and employee and independent contractor? When was the last time you thought about your employee hiring practices. 2011 is the year to get it done. Delay and the government just might do it for you at a very high cost, maybe the cost of your business. The cost of a professional independent review of your hiring practices is a fraction of the impact of fines and potentially the loss of your business.

Happy New Year!

Glenn Brown is the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of G & J Consultants, LLC. In addition to having directed the HR Department of a health care services company, Glenn is an attorney with 15 years experience assisting businesses of all sizes and industries in complying with employment and labor legal issues. G & J Consultants specializes in providing small and medium sized businesses with traditional HR services as well as compliance with employment laws and regulations.

Will it be a happy new year for your business?

I recently heard that the federal government was hiring more investigators. In addition to those employers who have mis-classified their employees and failed to pay overtime due, the government is looking for employers, who have been lax in their handling of I-9s documenting their employee’s legal right to work in the U.S, who prevent employees from exercising their employment rights, or ignore their employees’ well being.

Just last month the National Labor Relations Board weighed in and is watching how employers handle employees who use social networks to complain about their work, co-worker, bosses and working conditions.

It appears to me, also a small business owner, that unless you are paying close attention to managing your employee relations, the chances of running afoul of any number of regulations, laws or practices is growing easier by the minute. The really frustrating thing is that I seem to spend more time managing my HR than growing my business. HR and employment issues impact every aspect of my business and if you think about for more than a minute, I bet that you can (and do) say the same thing. Thank goodness that I know exactly what I need to do to solve my HR issues. It is my job to keep fully abreast of legislation, court decisions and regulatory adjustments, so I am pretty sure that no “surprise” inspection will cost my business any part of my hard earned income.

Our company employee handbook is up to date and fully compliant with all federal, state and local laws that apply to me and my business. We have in place standard policies and procedures for handling all types of employment issues that may come up. Our paperwork and employee files are current and accurate, our leave policies are consistent and comply with all the leave policies required by the FMLA, ADA and Work comp.

Of all the things that can impact my business I am in control of my employee relations and fully compliant with every law and duty I have to obey as a business. I am ready for 2011. I hope you can say the same thing. Happy New Year!!!

Glenn Brown is the CEO of G & J Consultants, LLC. In addition to having directed the HR Department of a health care services company, Glenn is an attorney with 15 years experience assisting businesses of all sizes and industries in complying with employment and labor legal issues. G & J Consultants specializes in providing small and medium sized businesses with traditional HR services as well as compliance with employment laws and regulations.

I-9 Audit gets cooperative company a million dollar fine

Recently a $1,047,110 fine settlement was reached against a large clothing retailer for violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act. In 2009, the U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigations put together a plan to reduce the demand for illegal employment opportunities. This has created the greatest number of penalties, both civil and criminal, imposed by ICE in the past year.

The case involved how the clothing company verified the employment eligibility of its employees. The retail store in Michigan had been using an electronic system to verify I-9 information. The investigation found many deficiencies, mostly technology-related. The company was cooperative and have since changed their compliance program. Fortunately, no instances of knowingly hiring someone unauthorized were found, however the company still received over a million dollar fine.

PTO and the upcoming holidays

Time Off and Pay Requirements on National Holidays

As the holidays approach, ten national holidays are authorized by federal law. A private company is not required by law to observe national holidays by providing the day off to employees. There are several matters of law to keep in mind, however:

• The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require companies to pay non-exempt (hourly) employees for time off on national holidays, but companies may do so. Exempt (salaried) employees who are given the day off, however, must be paid their full weekly salary (assuming they worked or took paid leave during the week in which the holiday falls).
• One of the national holidays — Christmas Day — is a religious holiday, but there are many other religious holidays and observances during the year that are not nationally recognized. Employers are obligated to provide reasonable accommodation for the religious practices of employees. A reasonable accommodation might be allowing an employee to take unpaid leave, personal leave, or paid vacation time for a religious observance that falls on a regular workday. Another option is to offer a “paid floating holiday” so that employees can choose a religious holiday to observe by taking paid time off.
• Paid or unpaid time off may be specified in government contracts covered by the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act or the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, or by union contracts.
• For federal government workers, the national holidays are called “federal holidays” and all ten holidays are paid days off.

For reference regarding the FLSA, click the link below.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/holiday.htm#doltopics

OSHA News Release

Statement of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis on reported decline in workplace injuries and illnesses

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics today announced that nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers declined in 2009 to a rate of 3.6 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, down from a total case rate of 3.9 in 2008. BLS also reported a decline in the total number of cases from 3.7 million in 2008 to 3.3 million in 2009. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement:

"While the reported decline in workplace injuries and illnesses is encouraging, 3.3 million workplace injuries and illnesses are 3.3 million too many. No worker should fear being injured or made sick for a paycheck.

"Complete and accurate workplace injury records can serve as the basis for employer programs to investigate injuries and prevent future occurrences. Most employers understand this and do their best to prevent worker injuries, but some do not. That is why my department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is aggressively working to ensure the completeness and accuracy of injury data compiled by the nation's employers. We are concerned about the widespread existence of programs that discourage workers from reporting injuries, and we will continue to issue citations and penalties to employers that intentionally under-report workplace injuries.

"Too many Americans suffer each year from preventable injuries or illnesses they received while on the job. Even in these difficult economic times, we must keep in mind that no job is a good job unless it's a safe job."