Human Resource To-Dos for 2010

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Human Resource To-Do's for 2010

Jean Hanson

My friend and Human Resource expert href="http://www.arlenevernon.com/HRxcellence/index.htm" target=_blank>Arlene

Vernon recently published a number of HR tips based on questions she

receives during the year. Using some of her suggestions, I put together the

following list of things you should consider doing to prepare your business for

2010:

If you've hired people as independent contractors instead of
employees and they're performing the same work under the same
conditions as an employee would, then the government sees them as an employee
and you should be paying them as an employee. You should also be deducting
employment taxes. For more information visit the IRS website's pages on hiring independent contractors.
If you're using temp workers through a temp agency,
investigate whether or not they're conducting the proper I-9 documentation and
background checks on your behalf. Some are, some aren't.
If you give your employees company property to use (such as
keys, vacuums and other cleaning equipment), have them sign a form that lists
all the property in their possession. You may also want to state on the form
that you will deduct the cost of damage, loss of property or non-return of
property from their paycheck (or final paycheck).
If you pay your employees a salary and no one is eligible for
overtime so that your payroll handling is convenient, think again.
You're probably not in compliance with FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act). Go to
www.dol.gov to review the definitions of exempt and non-exempt so you understand
which positions are truly exempt from overtime.
When you interview prospective employees, spend plenty of time
asking open-ended questions. If you're spending less than 1/2 hour in
the interview, then you might want to consider asking more questions or having
another person do a second interview. People will tell you what you want to hear
in this short interview so it will help you weed out the bad ones if you spend
more time getting them to talk and reveal more about their motivations.
If you have employees who are doing a great job don't assume they
know that you appreciate their good work. Tell them directly and
regularly, and document it. Incident reports can also be used for positive
feedback - not just for employee problems.
If you have problem employees and have tried moving them
to a different location or position in hopes that they'll perform better, you
probably found out that it didn't work. Instead, you've just moved the problem
rather than dealing with it directly. Start documenting all the problems with employees and have them sign off on all incident reports. If they don't improve after additional training and documentation, let them go.
If you have an employee who hasn't called or reported to
work, call to find out what's going on. If you can't reach them and
they don't show up the next day, terminate them immediately. It's disrespectful
of them to not notify you of their absence and you have no obligation to hold
their job for them. If you find out later that there was a serious medical
reason for their absence then you can always reinstate them later.
If you have a poor performing employee resign, accept the
resignation. Don't try convincing them to stay just because you're
short-handed. Look at this as an opportunity to get a better-performing person
in the position.
If you want to terminate an employee but have no
documentation regarding the poor performance issues, don't do it just
yet. Start documenting things immediately, making sure you address the issues
with the employee and having them sign all documentation. If they refuse to
sign, have a witness sign the paperwork.
Never leave an employee alone with personnel files. Files
or portions of files have been known to disappear when left alone with an
unattended employee.
If you terminate an employee, don't let them go back into the
client's building unsupervised. Get them off the premises as soon as
you've terminated their employment. If they need to go back to the janitor
closet to pick up personal possessions, escort them there and then out of the
building.
If you're paying overtime based on hours worked in excess of an
80-hour pay period, you're not in compliance with FLSA (Fair Labor
Standards Act). Overtime is based on a 40-hour work week, so you need to
evaluate the hours worked for each week, not just the total hours per pay
period.
If you've terminated an employee for a company policy
violation and then you receive a notice that they've applied for
unemployment compensation, contest their claim. You'll need to provide a copy of
your stated policy and documentation that the employee violated the policy.
Federal legal reminder: make sure you are using the most up to date I-9 form to stay in compliance with the law.

Please Note: This is not legal advice and you should check your state and federal laws for your business compliance.

Thoughts or comments? Please consider posting them to the discussion forum

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Jean Hanson helps owners of small cleaning companies build a more profitable and successful cleaning business through her online community at TheJanitorialStore.com. Read inspirational cleaning success stories at http://www.cleaning-success.com,

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