Human Capital Management Archives - Benefit Advisors Network

Compliance with human resources (HR) regulations is not just a legal obligation but a strategic imperative for organizations of all sizes and industries. From federal statutes like the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to state and local ordinances governing workplace safety and discrimination, HR professionals face a myriad of complex regulations that require diligent attention and proactive measures to ensure adherence.

Keep reading as our human capital management specialists offer practical tips for organizations to enhance compliance with HR regulations, minimize risks, and foster a culture of legal and ethical conduct.

The Importance of HR Compliance

HR compliance refers to the adherence to laws, regulations, and policies governing various aspects of the employer-employee relationship. These regulations encompass areas such as labor laws, anti-discrimination laws, wage and hour laws, health and safety regulations, and data privacy laws. Compliance with HR regulations is vital for several reasons.

Legal Obligations: Compliance with HR regulations is a legal requirement that helps organizations avoid fines, penalties, lawsuits, and other legal liabilities. Non-compliance can result in costly litigation, reputational damage, and financial losses.

Protection of Employee Rights: HR regulations are designed to protect the rights and well-being of employees, ensuring fair treatment, equal opportunities, and safe working conditions. Compliance with these regulations is essential for upholding employee rights and promoting a respectful and inclusive workplace culture.

Organizational Reputation: Compliance with HR regulations is crucial for maintaining a positive reputation in the marketplace and among stakeholders. Organizations that demonstrate a commitment to ethical conduct and legal compliance enhance their credibility, trustworthiness, and attractiveness as employers.

Practical Tips for Ensuring HR Compliance

Stay Informed: Keep abreast of changes in HR laws, regulations, and industry standards at the federal, state, and local levels. Regularly review legal updates, attend training sessions, and consult legal counsel to ensure awareness of evolving compliance requirements.

Develop Written Policies and Procedures: Establish clear and comprehensive HR policies and procedures that align with legal requirements and best practices. Document policies related to recruitment, hiring, employee classification, compensation, benefits, performance management, and termination.

Provide Employee Training: Educate employees and managers on HR regulations, policies, and procedures through training programs and workshops. Ensure that employees understand their rights, responsibilities, and obligations under applicable laws, including anti-discrimination, harassment prevention, and safety regulations.

Ensure Fair Employment Practices: Adhere to fair employment practices and anti-discrimination laws to prevent unlawful discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Implement hiring practices that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion and provide equal opportunities for all employees.

Address Safety and Health Concerns: Prioritize workplace safety and health by complying with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and industry-specific safety standards. Conduct regular safety inspections, provide appropriate training, and address hazards promptly to mitigate risks of accidents and injuries.

Protect Employee Privacy: Safeguard employee privacy by complying with data privacy laws and regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Implement data security measures, obtain employee consent for data collection, and restrict access to confidential information.

Seek Professional Guidance: Consult with human management consultants with expertise in compliance matters to address complex legal issues, interpret regulations, and mitigate risks.

Whether you need guidance on specific compliance challenges, such as employee classification, wage and hour compliance, and workplace investigations, or want a team of professionals to help you establish your HR department from scratch, we’re here to help.

In Part 1 of our three-part series from the October 2017 newsletter, Company Culture is the First Draw for Candidates, we explored the converging forces that are creating a competitive labor market for employers. At 4.1% – the lowest unemployment rates in 10 years based on January 2018 Bureau of Labor Statistics data – employers are concerned with the scarcity of talent. In Part 2 from the February 2018 newsletter Company Culture is the First Draw for Millennials we took a deeper dive into the characteristics of past and current generations and how advancement in technology is the driving mindset of the generations that carries over into the workplace.

The ability to attract and retain quality employees is always a top-of-the-list business objective for any employer. How well a business runs is dependent upon the workforce being productive. With the tight labor market and one of the highest turnovers in generations, how can an employer establish a culture of employee engagement to not only attract but retain their employees? Let’s first look at the value your organization places on its employees.

Back to Basics – Elevate HR within Your Organization

You can generally tell how an organization perceives their employees by looking at the HR Department. A company’s Human Resource Department should be a strategic partner with the CSuite, connecting the employees to the mission and the goals of the company as well as to the success and challenges in meeting those goals. Why?

When the C-Suite is working off a defined, continuously updated business plan, the direction of the company is established, the needs of each department within the company can be identified, and the ability to attract and retain a workforce is mapped out, budgeted, and executed upon
through HR. Everyone is rowing the boat in the same direction. The following graphic shows what this would look like.

A challenge for management, and one which HR should be adept at being able to guide the organization through, is directing the employee through the trials of the outside world that they bring inside to the workplace. Physical ailments, financial struggles, emotional turmoil and social
disconnections are a part of everyday life. No matter how hard we try, they affect our productivity.

An HR Department can work to ascertain today’s needs, as well as future needs, and engage with their benefits provider for necessary resources. As the health and welfare agency’s role has expanded to not only select a competitive benefits package but also provide education and additional resources to help an employee maximize their plans in all areas of holistic wellness and work-life balance.

A Two-Way Positive Communication Street

For an effective culture of employee engagement to occur, it comes in knowing that for an employee they are defining job satisfaction as a mutual relationship based upon values of trust, respect, and appreciation. How does this look?

Employee engagement articles will name benefit after benefit and program after program that employers should implement for an effective employee engagement program. These include but are not limited to onboarding programs, flexible work hours, non-traditional worksites, pets on the
worksite, job sharing company volunteerism opportunities, wellness programs, student debt reduction plans, borrow forward on paychecks, recognition, and rewards programs.

I would agree that these are all great possibilities for an organization to survey and determine if any of or combination of these and other benefits/programs work for their needs. Employers, be forewarned though, you can pile on these benefits and many more and they can all be meaningless if there is not first a value-based system established built upon mutual trust, respect, and appreciation between employer and employees. This begins with an environment that respects each person for who they are.

There are many lessons that we learned from the Me-Too movement that developed off the sweeping sexual harassment allegations throughout the movie Industry. First, discrimination and harassment still rampantly exist in this country. Another lesson is that within today’s generation, both males and females are uniting to say this must stop!

Employers must not allow these behaviors to continue. Not only is discrimination and harassment behavior illegal but it is also costing employers thousands upon thousands of dollars for violations of EEOC regulations. The EEOC investigated over 84,254 workplace discrimination
charges, obtaining $398 million for victims and 6,696 sexual harassment charges with $46.9 million in monetary benefits for victims of sexual harassment. These behaviors are toxic to the work environment and can harm a company’s reputation in the community, which affects its ability to
attract and retain employees.

Employers must have not only a written policy and continuous management and employee training, but an environment must exist that says, “We prohibit discrimination and harassment and we will ensure that the policy is upheld.” All the written policies in the world will not help an
employer – from the CEO to the employees – if all are not working in harmony to support the policy.

What are next steps?

Now that your employee value system is established, and HR is supported to meet that value system, an employer can now look at the needs of its workplace to determine what benefits and programs will support those needs. Communication needs to continue. Employers should be surveying their employees so that they can build a foundation of policies, tools and resources including benefits and programs that are not only compliant but based off meeting today’s needs and future needs. Again, an advisor can guide you through this process. Helping you balance the needs of the employees against the strategic business objectives of the organization an advisor will assist an employer to establish programs that drive the organization forward with engaged employees.

Then HR should manage your expectations of your programs. Once your programs are implemented, they may not immediately provide a return on your investment. Continuous communication, feedback, and retooling will need to occur for long-term success.

Today, turnover costs a company anywhere from six-to-nine months of an employee’s salary, according to SHRM. With unemployment at 4% and millennial turnover already at 34% more than the average, why wouldn’t an employer start employee engagement with recognizing the value of
their employees and elevating the HR Department to support the value? Seems like a no-brainer.

About the Author

Bobbi Kloss is the Director of Human Capital Management Services for the Benefit Advisors Network, a national network of independent employee benefit brokerage and consulting companies. For more information, please email the author at bkloss@benefitadvisorsnetwork.com.

Tag: Human Capital Management

Compliance Corner: Navigating HR Regulations