Tis the season for holiday parties and the spreading of good cheer in the workplace. The holidays are a great time for companies to celebrate their achievements and show appreciation for their employees. One popular way to do this is through an annual holiday party. While these parties are a fantastic way for colleagues to come together, unwind and enjoy each other’s company, they can also be a liability if you aren’t careful. By providing rides home, limiting alcohol and providing activities you can limit bad behavior and cause for concern1. Have a holly-jolly holiday party that is packed with fun, while decreasing liability risks
How to Manage Leave of Absence Abuse
Many employers feel like leave of absence (LOA) abuse is difficult to stop because there are so many laws that protect employee rights. Typically, when employees request leave for family, medical, bereavement or other reasons, their requests are legitimate. However, on occasion some employees may try to take advantage of leave benefits. Fortunately for employers, there are several tools available to combat LOA abuse. Here are some strategies to help you prevent leave abuse. Require that employees complete a written leave request form for all absences. Although an employer cannot deny an employee leave of absence, by requiring them to complete a written leave request
5 Tips To Conduct Successful Quarterly Performance Reviews
For most businesses, performance reviews are used to support decisions related to career development, compensation, promotions and employee terminations.1 They generally consist of setting clear and specific performance expectations that would be addressed in the following years’ review. However, many companies are replacing annual performance reviews with quarterly performance reviews— and for good reason! Waiting a year to get feedback from your manager can sometimes cause the employee to get further off-track than they would be if they had a quarterly check-in. With more frequent reviews, employees can address mistakes and learning opportunities in real-time. In addition, managers can see how employees performed relative to
How to Classify Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Employees
You’ve probably heard the terms, exempt and non-exempt, but do you know how to classify the two? The differences between exempt employees and non-exempt employees can cause a lot of confusion for both workers and employers. Whether or not you are entitled to minimum wage and/or overtime pay for working more than 40 hours per week depends on your exemption status, as governed by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In order to adhere to FLSA, it’s important to correctly classify your employees as exempt vs. non-exempt. What’s the difference between these types of workers and the jobs they hold? Let’s take a look!
Ways to Improve Remote Worker Communications
A key to success in any business is great communication between an employer and its employees. Whether you are hosting a meeting, emailing back and forth, putting together a proposal or on the phone with a client, communication is at the forefront of everything. There is a big shift in employers offering their employees the option to work remotely or from home— it is the way of the future for a modern-day workplace. While this is a huge benefit for employees, it can often lead to new challenges for managers trying to engage and motivate their team. Even with the presence of advanced communication technology
What’s a Stay Interview and How Can It Save Your Business Money
As a business, it is important to know how your employees feel about their job and what improvements can be made to make not only them, but your business, more successful. If you are looking to improve engagement and retain key employees, there is one simple step you can take – a “stay” interview. Stay interviews are designed to engage employees before they become dissatisfied. But you have to do them correctly. It takes more time, money and resources to find or replace an employee than it does to retain them. That’s why conducting a stay interview is so important. To pull off a perfect
Staying Compliant with ThinkHR
Introduction to ThinkHR: This is Part 3 of a series of blog posts we’ll be sharing on our preferred HR technology platform, ThinkHR. You can read Part 1: How Think HR Can Help Reduce Your Business Expenses here and Part 2: How ThinkHR Can help Your Business Create an Employee Handbook here. In this post, we’ll be discussing ThinkHR’s unique Compliance tool. There are new laws and updates constantly, and it is vital to make sure your company is up-to-date with any new compliance acts. This tool includes useful features, such as: a Q&A Database, Employee Handbook Builder, Classification Tools, Job Description Builder, Health Care Reform, and
How ThinkHR Can Help Your Business Create An Employee Handbook
Introduction to ThinkHR: This is Part 2 of a series of blog posts we’ll be sharing on our preferred HR technology platform, ThinkHR. In this post, we’ll be providing an overview on how to create an employee handbook, and the importance of one in your business. ThinkHR makes this component of your business easy, with step-by-step instructions and tips. Providing your employees with an Employee Handbook creates better communication and clarification regarding rules, procedures and what is expected from your employees. Without an Employee Handbook, there can often be some confusion surrounding vague or changing policies. While this can certainly hurt your employees, it can also negatively
Top 5 HR Compliance Issues and How to Solve Them
From employee leave of absences to managing benefits, to compensation regulations, compliance is one of the most challenging issues an HR professional faces on a daily basis. Our in-house HR Specialist, Gretchen, has outlined the top 5 HR compliance issues and some tips to help you solve them. 1. FMLA & CFRA Requests for employee leave of absences is a common concern faced by many HR administrators — especially as it relates to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). Both policies enable time off for eligible employees under certain circumstances, but before determining which applies to an employee,
What Employers Need to Cover in Anti-Harassment Training
Anti-Harassment Training is an extremely important element in maintaining a safe and welcoming work environment. That’s why many employers plan a regular, formal anti-harassment training that is compliant on new regulations. Harassment consists of unwelcome conduct — whether verbal, physical, or visual — that is based upon a person’s protected status, such as sex, color, race, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected group status. California, for example, recently expanded their requirements for anti-harassment training. As part of the training, employers and HR professionals must cover: Abusive Conduct, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sexual Orientation, and Transgender Rights. This information needs