Posts Tagged ‘employment compliance’

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New FLSA Breast Feeding Break Requirement

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

As lawyers, small businesses and employees struggle to understand the implications of the new health care regulations, there are certain laws they should certainly be aware of.  One of the immediately effective portions of the Health Care Reform Act was a requirement under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that an employer provide breaks and a location for breast feeding of an infant up to one year of age. Section 4207 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) amends Section 7 of the FLSA to require employers to provide:

  1. “reasonable” breaks for employees to express breast milk;
  2. in a location free from intrusion in which to take those breaks (restrooms are specifically excluded as acceptable locations).

Employers with less than 50 employees who can demonstrate that they would experience “undue hardship” in the course of providing nursing mother breaks are exempt. Breaks taken during work hours do not have to be compensated, but employers are not free to dictate when or how long the breaks must be. CAVEAT: this federal requirement does not preempt any state or local requirement that may provide a more significant requirement.

If you are unclear as how the law may affect your workplace, please contact us and one of our Human Resources Consulting experts will be available to assist you.

Source: National Association of PEOs (NAPEO)

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Employee Personnel Files – What To Keep and For How Long?

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Record keeping plays an important role in the administration of any organization. It assists in managing human resources and helps prove compliance with government regulations. It also provides the documentation to defend—and even drive—employment decisions. Employers are well aware that various laws require them to keep records covering employment decisions and actions, but how long they are to be kept varies and can be confusing.

Who Should Have Access?

Retention can range depending on the documents from 1 to 30 years, but good judgment and sound business practice may suggest that certain records should be retained longer.

Records should be stored in a safe and secure place so that only authorized personnel have access to them. Just because someone is a supervisor or a manager does NOT mean they should have access to all documents.  In addition, certain files must be separate from personnel files, such as payroll and medical records.  Especially sensitive documents, such as disciplinary actions and investigation information regarding any unlawful or sexual harassment complaints, should be kept secured and apart from normal personnel files with very restrictive access.

Since many employment records contain personal or confidential information about employees and the organization, they need to be discarded properly. Paper records should be shredded or burned and computer files completely erased.

New Hire Applications and Paperwork

When a company seeks to hire an applicant, specific state and federal laws apply to the hiring process. In fact, multiple governmental agencies such as Title VII, FEHA, ADA, and ADEA drive the requirements for handling hiring records. If you specifically advertise for a position, online, in the paper or internally, you must keep copies of ALL ads run, all applications and resumes received in response to the ads whether they are paper or electronic form, and all evaluations of each interview for a period of 2 years.

If you do not hire the individual, all these records must be kept in an applicant file.  The easiest filing format is by month and year.  This way, as the two-year demarcation point passes, you can pull the entire month and shred it. If you do hire the individual, this information should go to the individual’s personnel file.

Personnel files

Employee personnel files contain generic information about the individual, the job and all associated trainings, and interactions in the life cycle of the employee. It is not uncommon that different areas of record keeping overlap, such as a request for reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Never keep details regarding the request in the personnel files, but rather reserve the detailed information for the employee’s medical or health files. We will discuss overlapping record keeping in future posts.

The following records must be kept for a period of TWO years:
•    Hiring Records
•    Applications, resumes
•    Pre-employment tests, reference checks
•    Evaluations of interviews
•    Ads for open positions (external)
•    Internal postings of open positions
•    Job orders submitted to employment agencies
•    Applicant file or personnel files

Again, there are state and federal agencies including Title VII, FEHA, ADA, and ADEA that drive these requirements. The personnel files must be kept for a period of TWO years after the end of the employment relationship in a very secured location.

•    Employee Personnel Files
•    Job title, description and classification
•    Offer letter
•    Promotions, demotions, and performance evaluations
•    Training, testing including certificates
•    Disciplinary notices, attendance records
•    Discharge, transfer, lay-off and recall files
•    Acknowledgments of policy, handbook
•    Request for reasonable accommodations

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your employee files record keeping, feel free to contact us. CPEhr’s Human Resources Consulting team is available to work on-site to conduct a complete audit of your documentation and record keeping practices.

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8 Things You Need to Know BEFORE Rebuilding Your Workforce – Part 1

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

We read in the news that the economy is improving, and unemployment is dropping slowly. The recent labor market outlook surveys show that a majority of employers are somewhat optimistic about job growth. This article discusses a few of the issues you should consider before rehiring or hiring in this post recession job market.

Employers will likely encounter large applicant pools due to the number of currently unemployed individuals. This will pose challenges for screening applicants to ensure you find the right employee. Also with many applicants competing for few jobs, there is the increased possibility of claims of discrimination, as many of those who were laid off during the recession may be in protected classes. Applicants that have been in the job market for awhile can be more challenging. For instance, we are seeing an increase in applicants calling back after being turned down for a job saying, “I felt like the interview was going well, until the interviewer asked about —. I think that is why I wasn’t selected.” This makes it all the more important for employers to develop a recruitment plan for finding the right employee. The plan should be consistently followed in order to document the reasons for selecting an individual applicant, and the reasons why others were not.

In this and following posts, we will review the following areas:

  1. Job Descriptions
  2. Advertising
  3. Screening
  4. Applications
  5. Interviewing
  6. Record Keeping
  7. Temporary Workers
  8. Layoffs and Rehiring

Job Descriptions. The job description is the first step in the recruitment process. A good job description accurately reflects the essential functions of the job. It should include the skills, knowledge, qualifications, and experience required. It is important to include the physical requirements of the job to evaluate applicants with disabilities. An applicant with a disability, like all other applicants, must be able to meet the employer’s requirements for the job. A good job description can assist you in this process of evaluation.

Advertising. Describe the position in the advertisement consistent with the job description. Consider placing key criteria for selection in the advertisement to assist in the screening process. Avoid terms that would have a discriminatory affect, for instance “energetic, young, professional”. You may want to consider local workforce development organizations that work with displaced workers. They may have programs that will assist you in the screening process. Maintain a copy of all advertisements as part of your hiring records.

Screening. The screening process for a large applicant pool can be overwhelming. Consider phone interviews to help sort through resumes or applications. Many employers also use pre-employment testing. While testing tools can assist you in determining the most qualified applicant, they can violate antidiscrimination laws. Therefore, employers should consult a professional before using personality tests or other standard tests, as they might not be in compliance with the law for certain positions. Tests that are generally accepted if applied to all candidates for a position are typing, computer skills test, or job task demonstrations. For instance, if lifting is required, you can ask applicants to show they are able to lift the necessary weight.

Applications. Ensure that your employment application is legal and accurate. You should have a question about criminal convictions with appropriate legal limitations, whether the employee can perform the essential functions of this job – with or without reasonable accommodation -, and can they meet the attendance requirements of this job. An application that complies with federal and state laws is available on our website.

In our next post, we will review Interviewing, Record Keeping, Temporary Workers and Layoffs & Hiring.

(Source: EPLI Pro, March, 2010 Newsletter)

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Case Study, Part II – Medical Practice Reduces Risk Through HRO

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Our last post introduced a growing medical practice with their share of Human Resource challenges. In this second and final post, we ‘ll look at the HR solutions offered by CPEhr and the concrete results they experienced.

HR Solutions

Upon entering the HR Outsourcing relationship with the practice, a CPEhr Human Resources Specialist immediately began to review their policies and employee documentation. Many gaps in employment protocol were identified. An array of new employment forms were created, compliant procedures were implemented and new guidelines were put into practice. The Director and Office Manager received training on proper employee review and termination procedures, and their designated HR Specialist was invited to attend exit interviews and assist in the termination process.

“I have run the office for more than a decade,” says the Director, “But knowing CPEhr is here to guide me through all employee matter offers tremendous peace of mind. Now, instead of being distracted by minor personnel issues, I can focus on the practice. CPEhr has truly become our partner.”

The most critical assistance occurred when the practice decided to outsource their billing function and to layoff the entire department. CPEhr assigned several HR staff to assist in the layoffs, with proper termination procedures, protocol and severance packages that were in the best interest of both the practice and the employees. The Director sums up the incident succinctly: “We could never have done this on our own.”

Real Results

Since joining CPEhr, he feels that the day-to-day protection he experiences in the area of employment exposures is immeasurable. “I now have tremendous peace of mind. CPEhr has become our ‘go-to resource.’ Without this type of relationship we end up making our own decisions, without proper knowledge of the law, and will ultimately make a mistake. You think you can use common sense, but common sense and the law rarely match!”

The Director says the benefits of CPEhr were immediately realized, as the new systems and processes were implemented and functioning within 30-60 days. “I recognize the reality that as the practice grows. So too would the need to hire an HR Manager. However, by outsourcing to CPEhr , we don’t need to spend the money on another hire and can use those funds to invest back into patient care and clinical research.”

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HR Outsourcing Case Study – Medical Practice Reduces HR Risks Through HRO

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

human resources outsourcingSometimes change is hard. But when this medical practice recognized their existing HR systems were inadequate in the face of rising employment challenges, they selected a HR Outsourcing and Professional Employer Outsourcing relationship to assist them in reducing their HR risks and exposures. Our next two posts will look at their challenges, and the solutions offered by CPEhr.

Company Background

This medical practice was founded in 1980 with the mission to provide the highest quality health care combined with clinical research and education. It is currently one of the few cardiovascular practices in the country that balances private practice with academic medicine, and runs one of the world’s largest cardiac transplant programs. They currently employ over 30 employees, but are opening two more locations and are expecting to significantly grow their employee base in the coming months.

It was obvious to the Executive Director of this prestigous medical practice that his time would be best spent on providing superior patient care and conducting scientific research. Managing employee issues should have been the last thing on his mind. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

Business Challenges

As the practice grew in size and prestige, the Director recognized the critical role Human Resources played in his practice. “We do not have a dedicated HR staff,” he explains, “But I understand that human resources can’t be put on the back burner. HR is still a critical part of our practice.” With the lack of sufficient internal HR resources they struggled to standardize employee practices and stay abreast of changing employment regulations. While the Director and his Office Manager continued to personally handle the employee relations, an incident pushed them to consider outsourcing their human resources to a professional firm.

An argument ensued between two front office staff, and the altercation ended with one employee threatening to physically harm the other. The event was witnessed and the employee was let go. A short time later she sued the practice for race discrimination. Even though, at the time, the Director was sure he was doing the right thing, he ended up in an 8 month lawsuit with the EEOC that cost him hundreds of hours of time and distracted him considerably from running the practice. While he ultimately won the case, he realized it was time to work with human resource professionals. He needed a firm who would help him structure an HR system to prevent this from recurring, and to take over the administration of a lawsuit if one ever occurred again in the future.

“As our firm continues to grow and we open new offices, managing the staff in multiple worksites is only going to become more complicated,” he says. He invited CPEhr to present their outsourcing HR solution, and quickly engaged their services.

Our next post will review the HR solutions implemented by CPEhr.

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