PLEASE—document employee discussions

For years we have regularly encouraged you to carefully document your discussions with employees. While there are a variety of practical reasons to document employee discussions, the bottom line is that good documentation is an integral part of good management whether you are dealing with processes, policies or people.

When documenting employee-related issues remember the following:

• Document your discussion in a timely manner. That means you should sign and date the document. (DO NOT back date a document after the fact.)
• Stick to the facts—the who, what, where and when of the issue.
• Focus on how the employee’s behavior relates to company policy. If the employee violated policy, state the policy that was violated and how the violation occurred.
• Avoid including your opinions or impressions.
• Avoid legal language or conclusions.
• Avoid inflammatory language or moral judgments.
• Avoid medical language or diagnosis.
• If performance changes are required, clearly identify the changes needed and the timeframe provided to achieve acceptable performance.
• If the discussion is disciplinary in nature, have the employee sign the document. Although this is not required, it establishes clearly that the employee was notified of performance deficiencies.
• Give the employee a copy of the document to ensure he or she clearly understands the issues discussed and the performance requirements.

Customer service is the name of the game
To be successful in today’s dynamic business environment, every member of an organization must understand who the customer is and how to address the customer’s needs. Keeping Contented Customers is a BAI seminar that provides a useful framework to help all employees identify and support their internal and external customers.

To learn more about this and other BAI services and workshops, call us today at 801.444.9919.

Surviving a visit by the Feds: How do handle the regulators and survive

Because the current administration is taking an aggressive stance to ensure compliance to these and existing rules, tens of thousands of new regulators are being added to the federal payroll.

As a result, the chances that your organization will be audited by one or more federal agencies are significantly higher than ever before.
If your organization is confronted by a federal regulator, keep the following points in mind:

• Beat the regulators to the punch. Conduct an annual self-assessment of your organization focusing on those areas where you might be the most vulnerable. Particularly audit FLSA exemptions, discrimination in hiring, pay, promotions and other employment benefits, and safety. Familiarize yourself and ensure compliance with new federal healthcare regulations as they are published.
• Get help. Your first act after receiving notice of a federal audit or having a regulator knock on your door for a surprise visit should be to call your attorney. In certain situations, it is better to deal with regulators through an experienced representative.
• Remember the golden rule. Regulators should be treated professionally and with courtesy. Rude or obstructive behavior will only come back to bite you in the end.
• Regulators are not your friends. They have come to your organization to ensure that you are complying with the law and will do what it takes to ensure your compliance.
• Document discussions and agreements. Do not assume the regulators will remember tomorrow what they agreed to today. Make sure any disagreements with findings, views, or processes are noted in writing and delivered to the lead regulator as soon after the event as possible.
• Understand the regulator’s options and your options. Make sure you are clear as to what the regulators can examine, how the examination may occur and what types of decisions the regulators might render. Understand your options in dealing with the regulator’s proposals. DON’T ASSUME ANYTHING.
• Work for a win/win solution. Understand that the regulators are not there to put you out of business, but to ensure your compliance. As a result, they may be willing to negotiate a reasonable conclusion that corrects the problems they identify while limiting the financial or administrative impact on the organization.

Business ethics: constancy in a world of change
Unprecedented change is affecting our business and personal lives. Does this mean personal and professional ethical values are changing too? The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) formed under the direction of the Treadway Commission (a gathering of public and private sector representatives asked to study fraudulent business activity) identified integrity and ethical values as a primary component of organization success.

Participants in this training program will understand the role of ethics in business dealings and gain a greater appreciation for strong moral principles that not only minimize corporate liability, but ultimately, maximize company profits.

To learn more about this and other BAI services and workshops, call us today at 801.444.9919

Pay overtime or pay up!

As we’ve mentioned in previous editions of The Employer’s Advantage, the US Department of Labor is significantly stepping up its oversight and regulatory enforcement activities. As proof, the Department of Labor announced that employers who intentionally or unintentionally fail to comply with federal regulations will be liable for back pay AND liquidated damages. In the past, liquidated damages were only assessed for intentional violations.

To support this increased regulatory intervention, the DOL has hired over 1,500 new compliance officers.

We cannot emphasize enough the importance of accurately tracking hours worked and paying overtime at one and one-half times the hourly rate for any work done in excess of 40 hours per week. Even if employees volunteer to work overtime without pay or work overtime without permission, THEY MUST BE PAID.

For private sector employers comp time unless taken in the work week in which it is earned is not permissible. While the public sector has enjoyed the flexibility of comp time for over two decades, federal law strictly prohibits private employers from doing so.

Paying employees on a salaried basis DOES NOT alleviate overtime pay requirements. ALL employees must be paid overtime regardless of whether they are paid hourly or a salary unless the employee’s specific job duties qualify for a federal overtime exemption.

For your protection, establish and distribute your pay policy to all employees. Ensure first line supervisors are particularly familiar with the policy and understand that violation of the policy may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including discharge.

Pay issues are coming to the legal forefront and they are costly in time and money. To avoid problems with the regulators, ensure you scrupulously comply with every aspect of federal wage and hour law.

The BAI employee opinion survey will let you take your organization’s temperature!

The BAI employee opinion survey process is an invaluable tool that secures and analyzes employee perceptions on a variety of critical business issues. Not only does it generate the hard data required to make sound decisions related to successfully managing employees, it helps identify training needs, potential discrimination or harassment problems, perceived salary inequities, possible union organizing initiatives and a myriad of other issues that cost organization’s valuable time, attention and money.

Ultimately, the BAI employee opinion survey process creates greater employee commitment to the organization and its ongoing success by giving employees an opportunity to share their opinions and perspectives in a meaningful way.

To learn more about this and other BAI services and workshops, call us today at 801.444.9919.