HR Solutions Weblog

Employees will separate from your employment for a number of reasons:  Resignation, Termination and Lay-off.  If it is a termination and they attempt to get you to pay them more to stay, I’m not a fan of considering this option.  If they are not happy….let them go.  All the money in the world is not going to change their happiness level.

You should have a plan for exiting your employees.  Here are a few thoughts to consider:

• How will you immediately take back company property; i.e. keys, laptops, cell phones, building swipe cards, and very importantly removing their access to computer files. etc.  Who is responsible for these items?
• If an employee quits and provides one or two-weeks notice- what are the pros and cons of letting them work that time?
  • Pros – If needed, gives you the chance to ensure you have pulled any critical data that is either in their head, to understand their files, either paper or computer and to allow you to transition any open-ended projects.
  • Cons –
    • An employee that is quitting can cause disruption in the workplace.  Often times they are spending more time discussing with co-workers “how wonderful their new employer is and perhaps those employees should considering applying with that company” or worse they are talking about the new employer while bad-mouthing your organization. 
    • Are you concerned the employee is in a position to steal critical data or inventory?
    • Are they physically there, but mentally already checked out?

Are you feeling the pinch from having the wrong employees in the right job?
 
Did you hire someone into a position to help in an emergency and now you don’t know what to do with them since the emergency is over? 

Did you know HRSolutions, LLC can help with an audit of your employee(s) skills sets, assess and write a performance management plan for an employee, or evaluate a  termination need?

Give us a call to discuss!

We often see small businesses that started with just a few family members or friends and over the years the business grows, employees have doubled or more and suddenly they realize that there is no rhyme or reason to rules.  There is no structure to how they are being enforced and most importantly the lack of consistency is making them vulnerable to discrimination issues.

What to do? 

Start by reviewing your current policies and procedures.  HR Solutions suggests Employee Handbooks or Policies should be reviewed at a minimum every 3 years. 
Do these policies, that may have at one time been viable, still meet all of your business needs? Do your policies meet all Federal, State and local legal requirements? 
If you can comfortably answer “yes”, you need to reiterate your business expectations to your employees through the handbook. 
“Re-Issue” the handbook and have your employee’s sign-off that they have received.

If you don’t have a handbook, now is the time to consider starting one. 
 HR Solutions, LLC can assist by reviewing your current structure, employee status, and needs to assure you are running a fair, consistent, and compliant organization.

Employment law is a constantly changing field and your policies and practices must stay current to be compliant with those legal changes. Although a complete HR Audit is critical to all of your polices and practices, many lawsuits can be traced to four key practices in employment areas:

• Hiring
  • Does your organization have solid and compliant job descriptions?
  • Do you use up-to-date job applications?
  • Do you ensure all applicants fill out an application?
• Employee Evaluations
  • Does your organization have and follow a written schedule for performance evaluations?
  • Do performance evaluators receive proper training?
  • Does your organization ensure performance evaluation changes have proper documentation?
• Employee Discipline
  • As part of your Employee Handbook, is there a standardized disciplinary system?   What do you do to ensure it is followed consistently?
  • Prior to an employee discipline action, how do you ensure the violation has been properly investigated?
• Terminations
  • Has the termination decision been compared to other terminations?
  • Can you assure the termination is not a retaliation?
• Are you comfortable that you have proper termination documentation?

The best way to avoid potential employee lawsuits is to conduct a regular audit – HR Solutions, suggests at least every 2 years an audit of all of your policies and practices should be conducted. 

Give us a call at 443-356-4352 if you are concerned that you might need a Human Resource Audit.
  

What Can An Outside Human Resources Company Do For My Organization?

We receive so many calls and emails from small business owners tentatively questioning what we can do for them.  HR Solutions LLC is a full-level service resource.  Here are just a few examples of how we can assist your business with employee issues:

• We like to start with a Human Resource Audit.   We do a complete review of your compliancy for proper HR law posters, handbooks/policies, job descriptions for FLSA, EEO, FMLA, ADD Compliancy, Employee Training and how you keep your employee files.
• We can help you develop a handbook that is specific to your organization’s needs.
• HR Solutions, LLC can assist you with properly handling employee performance issues to ensure you are proceeding in a non-litigative manner.
• Benefits Administration – to take the administrative aspect off owner’s desk.
• Recruiting and Retention – How to ensure you are hiring the right fit from the beginning.
• Employee and Management Coaching/Training.

The above is a small sampling of what we can perform for your organization.   We can perform any of these a full outsourcing or can be a simple phone call resource – you decide on the level of assistance you need.  There is no level of assistance too small or too large for us to help.

Are you questioning your compliancy for Federal Laws?  Are you hesitant to call for fear of what you don’t know?  Don’t be!  We make this process easy, friendly and on a personal level to benefit you and your organization.

Give us a call and stop wondering!

It is that time of year where we really start to notice all the gambling going on in the workplace….think it isn’t happening in your workplace…think again!  Gambling is illegal without a gambling license…period!  However, we see everything from football pools, to March Madness basketball brackets, lottery pools, Texas Hold’em games at lunch or breaks, the list goes on.

Take note of the statement above, gambling of any kind, without a gambling license, is illegal.  It is critical that you not only have a policy but that you are keeping your eyes and ears open to ensure it is being enforced.  Here is why:

We just discovered a group of employees who for the past 5 years have been doing a daily Lottery Pool.  Every day, yes, I said everyday, one employee was collecting $5.00 from 22 other employees during the day, going out at lunch and buying the tickets, coming back and all during the rest of the working day, making 22 copies – on company equipment – and passing out these copies to all the participating employees.  Once he was monitored, it was calculated that his time alone, was costing the company 1.5 hours of time per day. Can your company afford this behavior?

As we moved through 2010 Facebook has been a major subject of contention in the workplace for a number of reasons:

• Employees addicted to posting and reading even during working hours – Average number of hours people spend on Facebook during working hours is 2.5.
• Workers “friending” each other and then using Facebook information against each other at work.
• Company owners “friending” their employees (always a bad idea) and then discovering discriminatory remarks and beliefs that have the potential to be abrasive in the work place.

These days, bad employee behavior is no longer confined to cubicle walls.  Some workers are now sharing disparaging opinions and even proprietary information about their employers on social media – Web forums that in many cases can accessed by anyone, including a company's clients, investors and competitors.

Business owners may be able to protect themselves by instituting a written policy outlining what kind of content is and isn't acceptable to post on social media.

The key to stopping absenteeism abuse is to have an attendance policy that clearly defines not only what absences are allowed, but also what is unacceptable and will be subject to discipline. 

We are often asked:  “Is there any type of incentive I can use?”  It has been proven over and over again – cash incentives do not work!  However,  there are a few options that have had some success, but as a rule of thumb;  rewarding good attenders with cash bonuses generally has been ineffective. Sick-time abusers value time away from work more than money, so they are not motivated to modify their behavior.  Employees either have a good work ethic or they do not.  That is why a solid absenteeism policy won’t necessarily cure the employee but will allow you to discipline them out the door and bring in someone new with a better work attitude.

Absenteeism not only impacts your overall productivity numbers as an organization, but also breeds dissent in the workforce.  It is critical not only to have the policy but to insure it is enforced consistently.  Experience shows that better attendance is synonymous with better quality, lower costs, and greater productivity. 

New employees can be scary!  How can you be sure they have the skills they claimed on their resume?  What if they don’t fit into your organization?  What if they turn out to have attendance issues?  What if their performance is sub-par? 

The surest way to protect yourself is to ensure you have a solid handbook that includes a policy on an Introductory Period.  Even more importantly is to ensure you mark your calendar at least 1 week prior to the introductory period being over so you can assess this new employee’s ability to be successful in your organization.