Benefits

EEOC Updates on How to Use Background Checks

For years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has taken the position that making employment decisions solely based on an applicant’s criminal record may violate Title VII guidelines.  Additionally, they have argued that such decisions may result in disparate impact.  Recently, the (EEOC) issued an updated Enforcement Guidance with regards to how employers should use background checks in conjunction with hiring, terminations and other employment decisions. 

Below is a brief overview that all employers should review:

• Eliminate all “catch-all” policies or verbiage.  (i.e. the company will only hire those candidates with no criminal record). 
• Review each candidate and situation on a case by case basis.  Identify the nature & gravity of the criminal offense, the time passed since it occurred, the sentence completed, and the nature of the job in question.  Someone applying for a receptionist job who was convicted of a DUI 10 years ago should not be overlooked for that one offense.  However, someone applying to work in a day care who was arrested for a sexual offense 2 year ago may not be the best candidate.
• Review what requirements are “job related and consistent with business necessity”.  Does someone who’s sitting at a desk all day really need to have a clean driving record?  Probably not.  But the person who’s responsible for driving your delivery truck should at least have a recent clean record.  Will that speeding ticket from 1996 matter?  Doubtful.
• Remove blanket questions on your application or interview process that ask if the candidate has ever been convicted of a crime.  Simply answering “yes” to such a question does not provide sufficient enough information as to whether or not the conviction is job related, or if the crime was severe or recent enough to warrant concerns about continued unsavory conduct or behavior.

Should you have additional questions, please contact Bethany Holliday, TotalHR Director at 314-373-2982 or bethanyh@cornerstoneinsurancegroup.com

Posted in Benefits, Blog, Commercial, Human Resources

6 Common Mistakes When Dealing with FLSA

6 Common Mistakes When Dealing with FLSA:

Even though the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938, many employers still struggle with complying with the regulations.  Below are 6 common mistakes a number of employers make:

1.  Allowing “comp time”.   While it may seem that all employers will allow an employee to have an extra vacation day in exchange for working on Saturday, or perhaps leave early on Friday as a reward for staying late Thursday, true comp time in lieu of paying overtime is not allowable in the private sector.  In fact only state or local government employers, with the agreement of the employees are allowed to provide nonexempt employees with compensatory time off.
2. Automatically paying OT for Weekends.  Having an employee work on Saturday or Sunday is not an automatic overtime check.  Employers need to establish when their week starts & ends – most weeks run Sunday through Saturday or Monday through Sunday.  Overtime is paid for hours worked in excess of 40 in that week.
3. Failing to pay overtime without prior authorization.  If an employee works overtime, you’re stuck holding the bill.  Punishing the employee by withholding the pay is not the way to go.  Instead, establish a policy that discusses how overtime will be approved & inform employees that it needs to be approved prior to working it.  Failure to obtain appropriate approvals may result in disciplinary action, but never withholding pay.
4. Assuming the job title is what matters.  If I wanted to, I could title myself Queen of all the World, but it doesn’t necessarily make it so.  Just because you call an employee a “Manager”, “Director” or “Supervisor”, doesn’t mean they are performing job functions of such.  Determining whether an employee is exempt or non-exempt relies on what the employee is actually doing – not their title.
5. Assuming “Salaried” means “Exempt”.  Many employers choose to pay employees a regular salary if, for nothing else, the convenience of it.  However, just because you have an employee earning an annual salary does not mean they are performing a job making them exempt from earning OT (See above re: job titles).  A number of job functions can, and often are, salaried non-exempt roles – receptionist, administrative assistant & accounting clerks are a few examples.
6. Reducing exempt level pay for partial days.  Exempt level employees are expected to get the job done whether they are working 35, 40, 50 or more hours per week.  Part of being exempt means they do not earn overtime when they are working more than 40 hours.  Part of the danger with reducing pay when they work less than 40 hours is that you, the employer, jeopardize their status as true exempt level employees.

If you read any of the above & thought “oops!”, it may be time to reevaluate how you are handling your pay, job descriptions & time off.  Should you have any additional questions, please contact Bethany Holliday at 314-373-2982 or bethanyh@cornerstoneinsurancegroup.com

Posted in Benefits, Blog, Commercial, Human Resources | Tagged  FLSA, human resources

OSHA Revises HazCom Standard to Align with GHS

On March 20, 2012, OSHA filed a final rule with the Federal Register revising the manner in which employers are required to communicate chemical hazards to their employees. The rule, which will take effect in stages through 2016, was written to align the American system with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals, commonly referred to as GHS. The new rule adjusts the way chemical labels and material safety data sheets (which will be referred to simply as safety data sheets moving forward) are written to better communicate hazards to employees. These changes are expected to affect 40 million workers at 5 million American workplaces Read More »

Posted in Benefits, Blog, Legislative Alerts, OSHA

A Valuable Tax Credit for Small Businesses

As the year draws to a close our minds go forward to limiting our tax  exposures. This tax credit for healthcare costs is a great way for small businesses to do just that. Click on the link to read more about this valuable credit for small businesses.

http://www.uhc.com/united_for_reform_resource_center/health_reform_provisions/small_business_tax_credit.htm

Posted in Benefits

Conquering the Challenges of a Wellness Program

Today’s business environment is challenging and employers need all the help they can get to remain competitive and profitable. Employers are looking for ways to cut costs, and health care costs are often an area to find savings for most businesses. Wellness research is still in the infancy stages, but the growing body of evidence seems to indicate the savings from a wellness program come not only from containing direct medical costs, but an increase in productivity, reduced absenteeism, lower turnover and recruiting cost and improved employee morale. When implementing a health and wellness program many employers face some challenges that are fairly easy to overcome.

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Posted in Benefits, Blog, Commercial, Human Resources, Wellness | Tagged  emplyee retention, healthy employees, wellness

Wellness and Employee Retention

Increasing evidence supports the need for employee wellness programs – lower health care costs, increased productivity, and reduced absenteeism. But what about employee retention rates? Retention rates vary greatly from company to company. The companies with the highest retention rates have one common denominator – happy employees!

The extent to which an employee is happy and comfortable with his or her job is the single best determining factor in high retention rates. Employee turnover is expensive and employers are always looking for ways to keep employees at their organization for longer periods of time, but many overlook the impact of a wellness program on happy and healthy employees.
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Posted in Benefits, Blog, Commercial, Wellness | Tagged  employee retention, wellness

Where Are We With Healthcare Reform?

A number of legal challenges have been filed in various federal courts since the health care reform law was passed in March 2010. While some of the challenges have been decided based on procedural grounds, the main substantive controversy has been whether Congress had the constitutional authority to pass the individual mandate under health care reform. Beginning in 2014, the individual mandate generally requires individuals to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty. The individual mandate is a key component of the health care reform law. Health care policy experts have suggested that, without the individual mandate, health care reform’s other insurance market reforms would be difficult to implement. Read More »

Posted in Benefits

What is The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a federal statute that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. This act along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (signed into law on March 30, 2010) make up the health care reform of 2010. Together the laws focus on reform of the private health insurance market, providing better coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, making healthcare more affordable for those that financially qualify, improving prescription drug coverage in Medicare and extending the life of the Medicare by approximately 12 years. Read More »

Posted in Benefits, Legislative Alerts | Tagged  Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, health care reform of 2010, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA