Here’s how to evaluate core functions and their respective regulations
A Compliance Checklist – to keep you on top of your compliance efforts. When you’re consumed with your many tasks as a Human Resources professional, compliance can easily fall off your radar. One way to keep compliance at the forefront of your mind is to use a checklist. Plus, a checklist can also serve as an assessment tool to both rate your company’s compliance efforts and help you identify (and fix!) deficiencies—before an audit.
You can use online HR training services, such as this list of upcoming webinars from AudioSolutionz, to guide your checklist creation: Understand resident & non-resident payroll rules? Check. Resolve federal-state medical leave compliance conflicts? Check. Update your drug policy in light of new marijuana laws? Check.
Readymade: In addition, there are dozens of online resources where you can find sample checklists to reference, adopt, and adapt. For example, see VSBIT.org, IntegrityHR.com, and HR360.com.
Many online compliance checklists separate compliance issues by category with a series of reference checks for each category. Just remember to revise those categories to suit your company’s specific, specialized needs.
5 Quick Compliance Categories
Whatever you use as a springboard to create your own, customized checklist, there are some general categories that should be on every HR compliance list. Here are five suggested by IntegrityHR.com—along with some issues you will face addressing each one:
- Hiring: You can include both recruiting and onboarding in your hiring category—or separate them. Either way, the hiring compliance section should address laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that protect employees and applicants against discrimination. And don’t forget Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations on employee classification.
- Compensation & Benefits: Include salary equity, wage and hourly rates, overtime pay, health and fringe benefits, employee leave, and more. Much of the compliance issues in this category fall under laws outlined by the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division.
- Performance Management: Include performance reviews, discipline, development, and employee relations. Your compliance efforts here will focus on the policies outlined in your employee handbook, such as employee leave, which is protected under Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and anti-discrimination, which is governed by the EEOC and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- Safety and Health: Include building and office safety, injury reporting, and all areas of health and safety for employees. Address Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.
- Separation: Include resignations, termination, and reduction. Address laws outlined by DOL for Cobra and unemployment.
Tip: The above is far from an exhaustive list. Work with your legal counsel to be sure you’ve included all the elements integral to your specific organizations’ compliance needs.
Making A List, Checking It Twice
Once you’ve organize your compliance categories, you can begin to specific list items for regular review. As you compile a checklist with compliance must-dos, evaluate these details:
- Company size: Not all regulations apply to every organization size. For example, a company with one or more hired employees must adhere to federal income tax withholding and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but unless you have 50 or more employees, FMLA does not apply to you. Here’s a convenient checklist, outlining the regulations that apply based on employee count, from Sarah Siwak at Zenefits.com.
- Federal contracts: If you hold any federal contracts, you have additional compliance obligations, regardless of company size, asserted Siwak in the Zenefits article. Some of these extra duties include compliance with the Davis-Beacon Act, Drugfree Workplace Act, and the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, just to name a few.
- Social media. Even though compliance laws don’t govern social media directly, what gets displayed on social media is sometimes derogatory, defamatory, inflammatory, and offensive. Your company should have a social media policy. Upcounsel.com suggests the following rules: Prohibit employees from visiting social media sites during work hours, mandate that supervisors and managers not check employees’ personal social media pages, and discourage managers from friending or following employees on social media sites.
Further Your Compliance Efforts With Training
Of course, a checklist isn’t enough—you have to know how to comply with each item on the list. So don’t neglect the training necessary to be sure you’re dotting “i”s and crossing “t”s.
(This post first appeared in a ProfEd blog)
By Amy P on 17th September 2018
