Whether you’re a business owner, a manager, or an HR professional we all have a love – hate relationship with Compliance regulations. You may have even cringed just reading the word!

With all the regular demands of a fast-growing small business on your plate, the mountains of compliance paperwork you have to tackle each year can easily drain your energy and your patience.

But, as much as compliance seems like just one more thing you have to find time to address, adhering to state and federal employment laws protects your business, your team, and you!

It is essential for employers to monitor Employee relations within their workplace environment to ensure compliance with important employer laws.

Below you’ll find an introductory employment lifecycle checklist to help you stay on top of your HR business needs. Compliance should be one of your top priorities for 2018, and we hope this checklist helps you become organized and successful this year.

Would you rather put your energy into your business instead of exhausting yourself over compliance issues? We’d love to give you peace of mind and time for what you truly love – your team!

Give us a call at 502.753.0970 or contact us here to chat about how we can help you achieve a compliant, successful year!

Compliance Checklist:
5 Key Employment Areas In 5 Minutes

Our Employment Lifecycle Compliance Checklist is organized by the five lifecycle stages of employment, including:

1. Hiring: recruitment, selection and onboarding
2. Compensation & Benefits: salary equity, wage and hour, merit increases, commissions, health and welfare, and fringe benefits
3. Performance Management: performance reviews, discipline, development, and employee relations
4. Safety and Health: OSHA
5. Separation: resignations, termination, reduction, and unemployment

All of these areas are governed by state and federal laws that can cause issues for employers if not monitored.

Examples of these laws include:

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
• The Americans with Disabilities Act
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
• The Fair Labor Standards Act
• The Family Medical Leave Act
• The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
• Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

The yes/no questions below are a starting point to help you evaluate your business’s employee relations and to gauge your HR needs.

1. Hiring

– Do job postings include EEO or ADA information?

– Has an analysis been performed on correct FLSA classifications?

– Does the application ask for birth date, social security number, or if any employee has been arrested?

– Are reference checks completed for all former or current employees with consent?

– Are you allowed to ask about criminal convictions at all, prior to interview, or after interview process?

– Does management know what questions can be legally asked in an interview? What not to ask?

– Is the I-9 form and relevant W-4 form explained and completed for each employee?

– Are Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations considered when hiring individuals?

2. Compensation & Benefits

– Are local wage surveys conducted to determine if the employer’s wages are competitive for employees?

– Has a recent benefits survey been conducted to determine if benefits are competitive?

– If there is a merit increase system, do employees have control over factors that influence their pay?

– Is there a written policy on seniority and length of service, benefits, and how it is applied within job class or department?

– Is there a written explanation of all employee benefits for employees (e.g. Summary Plan Description “SPD”)?

– Are military leave or other medical leave of absences communicated upfront so employees are well informed of their rights?

– Does the organization have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?

– Do you know if the company must comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements based upon the number of Full Time and Full Time Equivalent employees?

3. Performance Management

– Does the business have an employee handbook? If yes, has it been updated in the past 12 months? Is there a signed, dated acknowledgement of receipt for the handbook in each employee’s personnel file?

– Is there a written procedure for promptly resolving employee complaints?

– Is there a written policy promoting diversity and equal opportunity while prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and retaliation with a specific complaint reporting procedure?

– Is there a progressive-discipline policy enforced consistently? Are employees given copies of all written discipline?

– Does management provide performance evaluations (written or verbal) at least annually?

– Are there job descriptions for each position and are they provided to the employee? If yes, has management reviewed the job descriptions in the last 12 months?

– Are periodic, confidential opinion surveys conducted to assess how employees feel? If yes, is timely feedback provided to employees with a summary of results and actions to be taken?

– Are the EEO-1 and VETS-100 Forms completed and submitted annually?

– In the last 12 months, has an expert trained managers and employees about the organization’s EEO, no harassment, no retaliation, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) policies?

4. Safety & Health

– Are employees required to wear identification badges/name tags?

– Are all doors, other than the main lobby, locked and access restricted?

– Has the business conducted a “security audit” on the physical facilities within the last 12 months?

– Is there is a manager assigned for the responsibility of safety and health compliance? If yes, have they been trained on how to handle an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) inspection?

– Do employees receive regular training about safety matters for injuries and emergencies that occur naturally or man-made?

– Have all supervisors and managers been trained about how to respond to unwanted visitors on the property?

5. Separation

– Are exit interviews conducted for all voluntary terminations? Are resignation notices/forms signed by the terminating employee?

– Is there a witness present for termination meetings?

– If required by state law, are the necessary state termination forms presented to the employee? If applicable, are unemployment insurance and health insurance continuation (COBRA) benefits communicated?

– When an employee is terminated, is access to computers, phones, and private property areas restricted?

– Are files stored properly and retained for the appropriate time-frame after termination?

Compliance, Check It Off!

Ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations is a primary way to help your business and your team succeed. We hope this checklist helps you to gauge your business’s HR needs and get organized in 2018.

If you would rather put your energy into your business instead of exhausting yourself over compliance issues, reach out to us. We’d love to give you peace of mind and time for what you truly love – your team!

Give us a call at 502.753.0970 or contact us here to chat about how we can help you achieve a compliant, successful year!

The post Compliance Checklist: 5 Key Employment Areas In 5 Minutes appeared first on Integrity HR.