HR Compliance Quick Check

It doesn’t matter if your company has 10 or 1000 employees when it comes to compliance with HR laws and regulations. Ignorance is no excuse for violations of many rules established by federal, state and local governments, and the penalties for non-compliance can be severe. For this reason, all organizations should conduct a regular review of all HR policies, notices and records to ensure accordance with the law. As a start, take a look at this HR compliance quick checklist.

Hiring Policies. Items on your quick check review should include:

• Compliance with ADA in job descriptions and interviews;
• Adherence to Fair Credit Reporting Act provisions for companies that conduct background checks;
• Completion of proper federal and state income tax documents when bringing on a new hire; and,
• Careful review of application content and interview questions regarding non-discrimination.

Employee Payroll. Considerations for payroll compliance are:

• Practices for overtime pay, minimum wage compensation and other issues falling under the Fair Labor Standards Act;
• Requirements as they related to equality in payroll and bonus compensation; and,
• Proper classification for independent contractors versus full time employees.

Workforce Policies & Procedures. Make sure your team is up to date on all policies involving HR compliance matters, such as:

• Practices for employee records and files required to be kept by law;
• Distribution of company handbooks or manuals describing policies regarding nondiscrimination, benefits and proper conduct; and,
• Fair and consistent application of policies and procedures.

Employee Benefits. There are a few factors that relate to administration of employee benefits to put on your checklist:

• Ensuring that all medical and retirement benefits comply with federal and state law as well as The Affordable Care Act (ACA).
• Properly disseminating summary plan descriptions and notifications; and,
• Policies regarding sick pay, vacation or personal time, and time off under the Family Medical Leave Act.

Performance Reviews. Your company and its employees both benefit from regular performance reviews, so confirm a few of these items in your HR compliance quick check:

• Clear communication regarding employee job requirements and expectations;
• Conducting performance review regularly for all employees; and,
• Proper measurement solutions for merit-based positions.

Discipline & Termination. Misconduct or failure to perform at expected levels must be met with appropriate discipline. Make sure to stay in compliance with relevant laws by looking at:

• Practices regarding discipline, to ensure they’re clearly defined, written and communicated;
• Procedures for warnings and investigations of employee misconduct;
• Preparation of neutral review statements for former employee reference requests; and,
• Policies for termination and exit processing, including recovering keys and disabling passwords.

Obviously, staying on top of all the regulatory issues related to your company policies and procedures is a monumental task; for this reason, many companies turn to workforce management solutions to help them keep current – and avoid liability. Paypro’s tools for regulatory compliance, part of our suite of solutions to help streamline workforce management, assist with tasks necessary to avoid legal violations. Please check out our solutions or contact us to find out more.