Human Resources

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

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

Updated NLRB Requirement

The NLRB issued a notice October 5, 2011 advising that they are delaying the requirements of most employers to display an 11 x 17 poster informing employees of their right to form a union. The original deadline for employers was November 14th, and the new deadline is January 31, 2012. As the reason for the delay, the NLRB cited confusion from companies who were unsure if they were subject to NLRB jurisdiction, explaining that a number of primarily small to medium sized companies were unaware if they were covered under the ruling. As a result, the NLRB has indicated they plan to have additional outreach and educational programs to help companies better understand the NLRB, their role and the poster.

As previously mentioned, there is still litigation pending which is seeking to block this ruling overall. Should additional changes or updates occur between now and January 31st, we will update you accordingly.

Posted in Blog, Human Resources, Legislative Alerts

New NLRB Requirement

A new NLRB requirement….. By now, many of you may have heard about a recent ruling from the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) requiring most private-sector employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. Many employers are calling this the “How To Form a Union” poster, as both union AND non-union employers are required to post the document. Currently there is pending litigation attempting to stop this rule from going into effect; however unless the courts rule to the contrary, employers should have the required notice ready for posting in appropriate sites on November 14, 2011 – when the final rule takes effect.
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Posted in Human Resources, Legislative Alerts