PP Presentation of Seminar concerning Common Mistakes Employers Make Regarding Federal and State Employment Laws

1. Common Mistakes Employers Make
Regarding Federal and State Employment,
Labor, Discrimination and Safety Laws.
Tony Metz-SR HR & Safety Consultant
Rotz & Stonesifer, P.C
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2. Federal & State Required Posters
 Most Employers don’t post all of the
required Federal and State required
posters.
 Suggest buying all-in-one posters
 New NLRA Required poster for private
employers—January 31, 2012
 Must be posted in proper areas
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3. I-9 Forms
 Improper or incomplete filing of I-9 forms
 Not completing filling out and signing
 Wrong information in wrong areas
 Don’t advise copying records-License
and Social Security cards
 Not keeping in a separate file
 Not using the most updated form
 Recommend using E-verify
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4. Family Medical Leave
 Not understanding the law
 Eligibility requirements-company has 50 or
more employees. Employee work at least 12
months and over 1250 hrs.
 If under 50 emp’s-this doesn’t apply
 Most companies don’t have a policy
 Must give employees notification of what
FMLA has been used or it doesn’t count
towards the 12 weeks
 Poor recordkeeping
 Not using the DOL recommended forms
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5. Employee Files and Records
 Putting everything in one file
 Should separate HR files from any medical
info
 Not understanding that different laws have
different record retentions
 Not securing records
 Failing to report New Hires (within 20 days of
date of hire)
 Restricting access to personnel files
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6. Record Retention Chart
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7. Ineffective Hiring Procedures
 Application not legal
 Asking illegal questions during the
interview
 Not having a consistent list of interview
questions for common jobs
 Not doing background checks
 Not doing drug/alcohol testing
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8. Common Wage & Hour Issues
 Improper classification of exempt employees vs. non-exempt employees
—the FLSA dictates this
 Calling someone salaried doesn’t make them exempt
 No lunch period or break time requirement for adults (child labor laws
exist that spell this out)
 Comp time is illegal for non-exempt workers
 Docking exempt employee’s pay for a partial day absence
 If you do give a lunch/break period under 20 minutes—generally should
be paid
 Can’t take away pay for disciplinary issues. You can suspend and not
pay.
 No requirement for holiday pay, vacation pay, sick time
 Should spell out what counts toward Overtime pay—you are not
obligated to count non-working time towards the calculation of OT
 Independent contractor vs. Employee classification
 Travel pay
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9. Employee Wages and Salaries
 Most organizations do NOT have a system for
determining pay
 Many jobs are overpaid—employer keeps giving
increases each year and longer-service employees are
overpaid
 Can handle with lump sum payments
 Pay should be tied to performance
 Should participate in local and regional wage surveys
 PA Dept of Labor has on the website a list of average
wages
 Must be aware of the Equal Pay Act
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10. Harassment Prevention
 Most organizations do not have a policy on
harassment prevention
 This policy needs to include a thorough reporting procedure
 Most organizations have not done harassment
prevention training
 Harassment includes more than sexual harassment
 Should do periodic training
 First line of defense on a claim
 Your organization can be liable even if you don’t know
that it is occurring—policy and training can assist with
this
 There are a few big lawsuits still pending in the local
area
 Recent National events bring light to this subject and
claims actually increase due to the awareness
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11. Disciplines/Terminations
 Your company discipline actions should be consistent
 Advise keeping a disciplinary log
 Lack of what is acceptable attendance
 Don’t restrict your ability to discipline with very specific
punishment guidelines
 You must do a thorough investigation and get both sides of the
story.
 Get the facts—don’t react quickly to emotional
supervisors/managers
 Document everything
 Have questionable terminations reviewed by someone with
proper knowledge
 Give last chance agreements where appropriate
 Give one reason for a termination—not multiple reasons
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12. Safety/OSHA Compliance
 OSHA requires written plans on many different areas
 OSHA also requires periodic training for employees.
 See training table
 OSHA logs must be posted annually and be updated
at all times
 Please make sure that you are not putting every
reported claim on the OSHA log
 This could unnecessarily put you on their watch list
 Keep thorough training records
 Keep files by regulation with all needed documents
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13. Worker’s Compensation
 Should take advantage of having a panel of
physicians in PA
 Make the expectation of reporting injuries very
clear (usually within 24 hours)
 Should have thorough accident investigation
process
 Person reporting claims should be skilled on
how they verbalize the injury
 Should have a strong return-to-work program
 Review your loss control reports and close out
claims
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14. Employee Handbooks
 I think this can be your most important HR
document
 Most organizations either don’t have an
employee handbook or it is not updated
 Recommend updates to handbooks every 2-3
years.
 Spell out that employees are at-will
 Spell out key employee expectations in the
employee handbook along with adequate
summaries of key employment policies and
procedures
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15. Key Policies and Procedures
 Attendance Policies
 Most are not specific enough
 Usually don’t apply to exempt employees
 Drug Testing Policies
 Need to spell out what types of drug testing are to be
conducted and violations
 All PTO policies need spelled out in detail
 Whether you have an accrued/earned system vs. non-
accrued system
 Spell out what happens in the event of termination or
voluntary quit
 Any promotion system should be spelled out in detail
giving the employer much flexibility
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16. Performance Feedback
 Most employers don’t have a good
feedback mechanism
 Recommend a simple performance
appraisal form (KISS)
 Train managers/supervisors how to
properly complete forms
 Ensure consistency in rating systems
 Have performance scores tie to pay
increases
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17. Recommendations
 Have a complete HR/Safety Assessment
periodically conducted
 Update your Employee Handbook at least
every 3 years
 Take the time and ensure you get the facts
before disciplines/terminations
 Be proactive—Don’t wait till something
happens before you take action
 Learn the laws or use a part-time expert to
assist your organization
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