Your HR to-do list

With a more aggressive federal regulatory stance, it is critical that you are proactive in your efforts to protect your organization. The following is a list of action items that should be priorities for every organization:

• Update your company FMLA policy. The Family and Medical Leave Act impacts most organizations with 50 or more employees. Although changes in the policy went into effect in 2009, many organizations have failed to update their policy to reflect those changes. 
• Review your organization’s harassment policy. During the next staff meeting, ask each supervisor to read and discuss the company’s harassment policy with all employees. Specific prohibited behaviors should be discussed along with penalties for failure to comply with the policy and avenues for reporting harassment. Dates for annual harassment training should also be set.
• Get to know GINA. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act which became law in November, 2008, prohibits among other things, employers from collecting genetic information or engaging in any type of employment discrimination based on genetic information. As a result, it is critical that you review your wellness programs, your physical exam practices, your hiring procedures to ensure that prohibited data is not collected. It is also critical that EEO, discrimination, and harassment policies are revised to reflect a prohibition of discrimination or harassment based on genetic information.
• Audit your I-9 files. Review your I-9 documents and procedures to ensure you are complying with the law. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has recently announced that it will significantly increase I-9 audits. Failure to comply with the regulations may result not just in stiff monetary penalties, but could also result in jail time for company managers.
• Review the exemption status of each employee. Re-familiarize yourself with the Fair Labor Standards Act and review the exemption status of each exempt employee to ensure the exemption is appropriately granted. REMEMBER, YOU CANNOT JUST PUT AN EMPLOYEE ON A SALARY AND THEN EXPECT THEM TO WORK OVERTIME WITHOUT COMPENSATION. The law requires that all employees who are exempt from overtime pay meet a series of very strict rules. Failure to comply may result in costly litigation and stiff fines.
• Update your technology resources and social media policies. Ensure that these policies clearly inform employees that they have no ownership of emails, text messages, voice mails, or other media using company equipment. They should also limit the employees’ ability to share confidential or proprietary information on blogs, postings or through other electronic means. Finally, the policies should clearly state that the employee should expect no right of privacy with regard to the workplace and work-related activities.

While this list of action items is by no means comprehensive, it does provide a starting point for protecting your organization’s investment in its human capital.

If you have questions about any of these or other issues impacting your organization, feel free to call BAI consultant Allen Miller at 801.444.9919.