(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...Problem and Solution Part 2
- E-verify is an internet based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees.
- E-Verify is free and voluntary and is the best means available for determining employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security Numbers.
- You must follow the innocent before guilty theory and never discriminate or pre- judge if someone is eligible to work or not.
- E verify must be done within 3 days of the employees start date. (check laws in your area)
- Know your own states laws. The requirements for federal and state are different. In addition, laws might be changing soon especially with a new administration so stay up to date.
- If you handle E verify on your own, talk to your own networks of business owners about any questions, comments or concerns
Posted June 25th, 2009 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Human Resources, Immigration | | 0 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Problem and Solution Part 1
- Creates a company culture with consistency in operations, policies and procedures as well as overall employee morale.
- Consistent knowledge base throughout the whole company, even when new employees start.
- Systems will provide you the avenue to ensure that you have the right people in the right seats on the right bus. If there is a need for a change you will have the necessary information such as documentation, signed policies and procedures, and corrective action to make the change with your employees.
- Time and Attendance - Tracking your employees time and attendance will provide you the information to correct attendance issues, unnecessary overtime, and job costing for specific projects.
- Payroll - Utilizing a system that is designed to reduce the number of hours you or a valuable team members spends processing payroll can allow you time to focus on the profit producing needs of your business.
- HR Management - In having an employee handbook, policies and procedures along with an HR team (like CBR) to track these items will allow you the time to focus on correcting behavior as well as making changes in your company.
Posted June 4th, 2009 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Human Resources | | 1 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...HSA’s for Dummies
Top 8 Things to Know about Health Savings Accounts.
HSA’s are a hot topic, especially this time of year. Some people might be hesitant to elect one as their insurance plan, due to lack of information. They might greatly benefit you as an employer and your employees.
1. Reduction of $- Reduce employer and employee premiums. You can utilize this feature by electing a high deductable plan that is compatible with an HSA
2. Deliver More- You can deliver more to your employees. Instead of paying all the money to the insurance company you can deliver more value to them by paying the dollars into their HSA account.
3. Save- Save on taxes, because contributions are pre tax.
4. Portable- If you pull out of the plan the money is always yours. It is not a "use it or lose it" deal.
5. Small fees- Account maintenance fees are small and tax deductable.
6. Reluctance from agents- Usually insurance agents are reluctant to offer these because it reduced their commission.
7. Stop Funding- As an employer you dont have to fund forever. It can be a temporary gift until a good balance is reached.
8. Share- With an HSA you can share the management of healthcare decisions with your employees to get the biggest bang for your buck.
Posted June 1st, 2009 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts can result in lawsuits
Friday, May 15, 2009
Layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts can result in lawsuits
Phoenix Business Journal - by Mike Sunnucks
The recession has many people feeling like they’re living the life of characters in the anticorporate movie “Office Space,” with consultants and managers looking to cut costs everywhere possible and workers fretting over furloughs, pay cuts and layoffs.
For employers, these cost-cutting measures involve plenty of potential legal pitfalls, including companies getting sued for targeting a specific group or type of worker with layoffs, and businesses being forced to shift all of their workers to an hourly pay basis because salaried workers were checking their business e-mail or voice mail while on mandated furloughs.
A number of Valley employers — including Arizona State University and The Arizona Republic — have put workers on forced unpaid leave to save money. The biggest legal problem related to furloughs is that employers might get in trouble with the U.S. Department of Labor if salaried workers do any kind of work during that forced off-time, said Christy Hubbard, an employment attorney with Phoenix-based law firm Lewis and Roca LLP.
Hubbard said salaried workers who do a glimmer of work during their unpaid furloughs — including checking e-mail or voice mail — can spark complaints to the DOL or lawsuits. Those actions can lead to businesses losing their ability to employ salaried workers and force them to pay hourly wages, even to professional staff. Such a circumstance could be a big hit to businesses, as it would require them to pay overtime and track hourly work.
“You have to be doing it right, or you are violating the law,” Hubbard said.
Many businesses — including those in the troubled construction and financial sectors — have cut workers’ pay across the board by 5 percent or 10 percent. Others are encouraging employees to take surplus vacation time to reduce payout costs. Still others are laying people off.
When it comes to layoffs or pay cuts, employers need to make sure those actions don’t target classes of workers protected by federal discrimination laws, such as older workers, women or minorities.
Dona Nutini, an employment attorney with the Phoenix law office of Polsinelli Shughart PC, said employers’ biggest mistakes when it comes to layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs is that they fail to communicate with employees. Frustrations are exacerbated by dictums from headquarters rather than direct communication from local managers.
“The biggest problem is that (companies) don’t communicate with their employees,” Nutini said. “They don’t keep them in the loop.”
She said things like Friday layoffs and short notices lead to staff frustrations that can lead to discrimination claims, other lawsuits or unionization efforts.
Nutini, former staff counsel with the National Labor Relations Board, said businesses need to be able to prove their cuts are not discriminatory.
Mike Tope, CEO of Creative Business Resources, a Phoenix-based consulting and human resources firm, said that’s the biggest legal challenge for employers facing staff cutbacks.
“Layoffs usually cause the most legal problems if the terminated employees feel they were discriminated against,” Tope said.
Both Tope and Nutini said employers need to document and quantify their actions to protect against costly lawsuits.
John Egbert, an attorney and head of the labor practice at the Phoenix law office of Jennings Strouss & Salmon PLC, said employers need to be especially aware of disclosure rules and worker protections under the Older Worker Benefit Protection Act, the federal law related to employees who are 40 or older.
Posted May 15th, 2009 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...How to Nail an Interview
Although this is more on the comical side, it is definitely helpful to any one trying to succeed in an interview. It is worth checking out!
http://www.howtonailaninterview.com/?a1fa8770
Posted April 17th, 2009 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Human Resources | | 0 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Help My RESUME!
Posted April 8th, 2009 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Human Resources, Recruiting | | 0 Comments
(5 votes, average: 4.6 out of 5) Loading ...Enter the HR Horror Story Contest for a chance to win The Office Seasons 1-4 Box Set
Have a story from work that would give your HR manager a headache? Submit your HR horror story and you could win The Office Ultimate Package Seasons 1-4 DVD set. We are looking for stories rich in nightmarish qualities, un-PC-ness, humor, creativity and originality.
To get you thinking, here are two HR horror stories from our staff:
Example 1:
Employee had been terminated by his/her foreman supervisor but the foreman did not tell corporate. He was submitting hours and cashing in the termed employees paycheck. When the terminated employee went and filed for unemployment benefits his former company said he was still employed, when he was actually not. The company lost $3,000 because of a dishonest employee not paying attention to detail on the field.
Example 2:
An employee used the company car to attend a non-company sponsored get-together, and picked up her co-worker to attend. They got in a car accident and it was the employee’s fault. Employee got in trouble for using the company car and having an unauthorized person in the car. The two employees had slight injuries, the driver sued.
How to Enter
Enter by posting your story as a "comment" to this Blog. You must give us your name and email (which won’t be published) with your story to be considered as a potential winner.
Contest Guidelines
You will be disqualified if:
- Your entry contains profanities
- Your entry is over 300 words
- Your entry is under one sentence
- You do not include your first name or email
Stay tuned to our Facebook page, Twitter page, and blog for updates to the contest and the announcement of winners!
Deadline is Friday March 27th, 2009
* all stories are subject to be removed from site if they are inappropriate in any way.
Posted February 10th, 2009 by thrivemarketing - Posted in Human Resources | | 18 Comments
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5) Loading ...Keep Your Job Safe
Mass layoffs are coming across corporate America, and while most employees will remain employed throughout the upcoming recession, millions of employees may find themselves out of a job. While in some cases entire divisions or business units will be eliminated, leaving employees no way to avoid termination, there are many other cases layoffs will be more selective, for example, a 10% companywide reduction in force.
It’s important for employees to understand that such layoffs are not random. In layoffs of this nature, the people who are let go are picked very carefully. In fact, most bosses already have a plan in their heads about whom they will let go if they are asked to cut their team.
How do you keep your job? Here are a few places to start:
Be a star. Bosses will go to almost any length to keep the members of their team they consider to be stars. Why? Very simply, great results are extremely important in a down economy and the best way to continue to ensure great results is to have the absolute best players on the team.
How you can become a star is perhaps a topic for further discussion, but it involves a lot of hard work, constantly exceeding expectations, and contributing to the organization as a whole, not just to your narrowly defined job responsibilities.
Don’t be a thorn. Even the best players can become a liability for their boss if they take too much time and effort to manage. Generally speaking, you want your name to come up in positive contexts, never in bad ones. This means that you don’t whine, you don’t pick unnecessary fights, you don’t break company policy, you don’t constantly demonstrate how you are superior to everyone else.
Be nice. If people like to work with you, they will keep you around even if you are not the best performer on the team. That’s human nature. Wear a smile on your face, have a positive attitude, be optimistic. Make people feel good about themselves. This does not mean that you need to be a hypocrite or a brown-noser. All this mean is that you should try to be a decent human being that people like to be around. Hey, that’s good advice for life in general.
Don’t be an easy target. Here’s the trick: When it’s hunting season, it’s generally not a good idea to wear a target on your back. In the context of upcoming layoffs, the following would be considered volunteering for target practice: asking for raises, asking for special treatment, causing trouble or hurting morale. If you can’t distinguish yourself by being a top performer or a particularly cooperative and fun team player, at least don’t distinguish yourself by being the guy your boss constantly needs to defend and put out fires for.
Solicit feedback and drive change. Talk to your boss and to your colleagues and solicit honest feedback regarding your performance. Ask them to tell you — point-blank — two or three things that you can do better. When they give you the feedback you requested, don’t get defensive. Thank them for being helpful and go change.
Posted January 9th, 2009 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Human Resources | | 1 Comments
(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Being late is never fashionable—especially for work!
What sounds more expensive: "being late" or "chronic employee tardiness"?
According to a recent online survey carried out by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilders.com, 43% of those surveyed say managers do not mind if they are late. Believe it or not, the survey included almost 3,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals plus nearly 7,000 full-time employees within the United States.
Chronic lateness is a sign something is wrong
It is nice to foster a work environment that is forgiving and pleasant, but there are some employees who will always take advantage of that while waiting for you to say something about it. Everyone is late once in awhile and perhaps that is what is on the mind of those taking the survey, but being late, whether it is to work, at work, or the work itself, is a chronic problem and costs companies thousands in lost profits each year.
Making excuses about being late
Undoubtedly, the 43% who did not care too much about people being late were not minding about those who are occasionally late, as we all need just a little more time sometimes. It does seem that the last ten to fifteen minutes of the morning before you leave for work (you know, the time between when you look at your watch and tell yourself, "I’m good for time this morning" and when you actually walk out the door), simply melt away. We leave trying to figure out where those last ten minutes went. What is more difficult, though, is trying to think of a believable excuse when there really is not one. It is needlessly stressful. If you worry about being late, it is a good sign. If you are doing it regularly then something is wrong and your view about the necessity of being at work on time.
What being late says about an employee
Being late to anything is a broken promise. People who are chronically late to work and to their meetings are therefore, by definition, regularly breaking promises. We are all probably overly forgiving about those who are late, but a subtle message is still being sent by the employee that whatever the reason for standing up a manager or a team is seen as more important than what the manager or team has to offer. Whether you, as a manager, see it right away, eventually it will begin to strain your working relationship with that employees and probably other team members, as well.
If you are being late, it tells everyone you work with that you are not dependable. Is that a message anyone would want sent? It seems that being undependable is not a reputation that anyone seeks, but there it is. At best, it makes you an undesirable person to have as a team member when the team is depending on meeting deadlines.
The cost of being late affects the company’s bottom line.
Many service companies charge on a fees basis that is calculated on estimated hours needed to manage the client. There are a number of ways to figure a cost-plus-profit number for calculating or estimating those fee levels. Many companies use a formula that multiplies the raw salaries of those working on clients by 2.71. In current times, if anything, it is probably even higher than that. For example, if a person’s raw salary is $60,000 per year ($29.27 per hour), then, the billing rate is $79.32 per billable hour.
Using that figure, could be entertaining, or at least enlightening, to calculate the cost of being late. If an employee is chronically late just 10 minutes per day, the annual cost of this would be equivalent to 39 and 2/3 days off work (260 working days, minus 12 holidays and 10 vacation days, which leaves 238 working days per year). That equals a loss of billable revenue of $3,146.36. That’s more than the same employee would probably expect in bonus at the end of the year! Think of that. Consider also, that people’s smoke breaks are generally longer than that if only once a day—ten minutes twice a day and you are well over $6,000 per year per person! For further information, see our September, 2007 article on chronically late employees.
How much does your staff meeting cost if it starts late?
When meetings are involved the cost skyrockets. Let’s say five people at a staff meeting, including a director who could make twice the average salary, costs $476.00 per hour meeting at our indicated salary. A ten minute delay within that hour would cost the company $80.00 in lost revenue as that time cannot be billed as working on a billable client.
If managers really put the figures to it and you have to put your own calculations to it there probably would no longer be a 43% of HR professionals, managers and employees who would not care if a person is late. A no-care attitude about lateness can really affect bottom line profits which are critical in challenging economic times.
How can a manager help change the pattern?
Time management is an important skill to learn. Also, learning to be assertive enough to close off one conversation when another is about to require your time is a necessity to be successful in business. As a manager, you can do yourself and your staff a favor by teaching and modeling those behaviors. Each employee should be encouraged to do a little introspection to examine what the reasons are why each lets himself be late.
Last but not least, when you plan on doing something, such as teaching your staff these skills, always assume that it will take more time than you think!
For more information about how we can help you with your Human Resources and hiring processes, call us at 888-700-8512, request a proposal or contact us.
Posted January 7th, 2009 by thrivemarketing - Posted in 2009 Money-Saving Strategies, Productivity | | 9 Comments
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Costly HR Mistakes
Thanks to Bizsandiego.com here are some really helpful tips when it comes to your HR!
- Ignoring government regulations
- Not having an employee handbook
- Overlooking the importance of training
- Failing to reward employees
- PEO’s can prevent mistakes
Posted December 17th, 2008 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Human Resources | | 0 Comments
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