Posted on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 @ 08:15 AM
Employment Law Q&A
Ok, we're going to try something a little bit different today. The Integrity HR Human Resources Blog has gained quite a following lately, so we'd like to have a little fun with our readers today.
As Certified HR Consultants we have to stay on our toes to ensure that we are always adequately prepared for any HR question that is likely to come our way, and even for those that are not. We'd like to let you in on the fun today.
It's time for a little Employment Law Q&A. See if you can answer this one.
Here's Your Employment Law Question
"You've verified that a candidate is legal to be in the United States. This is sufficient I-9 verification that they may work in the United States. True or False? Why or why not? Be careful. The answer may surprise you."
Make sure to back up your answer thoroughly and then check the box in the comment section to receive notifications of what others have to say.
We're going to be weighing in ourselves on this one, so if you're reading and you know your stuff, let's see what you got!
PS: Unless someone answers it, we've got a follow up question for you after this one so be ready!
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Posted on Wed, Jul 21, 2010 @ 03:16 PM
The Importance of Job Titles:
- "What was your last position called?"
- "Was that an appropriate title?”
These questions are among the many that the hiring managers at Zappos.com, a wildly successful online shoe company, ask of their job candidates. Why in the world do they ask such things? Because they know job titles have a lot larger effect on people than simply determining what pay grade they should be at within the company. There are deep psychological effects that are often difficult to recognize.
Zappos understands that if there is a disconnect between the duties of the person and the job title, that often times a person will not be able to adequately do their job because they are not viewed by others within the company to have the authority to do so.
For example, I can recall an experience when a friend of mine was expected to take on a management role at the same level in the chain of command of those workers who were being overseen, i.e. this person was operating in a management role without being given a management title. What happened was that as hard as this person tried they could not get these employees that had been told to listen... to listen. In this situation there was a disconnect between this person's title, and their responsibilities.
This wasn't an issue lack of management skills. In fact this person was highly successful manager at a previous job. This was an issue of another kind of a authority, the credibility difference that naturally exists between having titles like "Manager" or "Supervisor" and titles like "Coordinator", "Assistant", "Specialist" or whatever the case may be. "Authority" is one of the Six Psychological Principles of Persuasion that Robert Cialdini, a famous Behavioral Psychologist lists in his classic book "Influence." It has large implications in business.
Cialdini recognized that by nature, humans have a higher regard for the direction and input of authority figures (those with the innate credibility of managers, supervisors, bosses, etc.) in the workplace. Humans are literally psychologically programmed to listen to authority. If we do not feel that someone is credible, we are far less likely to listen.
So What's the Lesson?
Be consistent with your job titles. If someone needs to be in a position of authority it is not enough to simply tell his or her future subordinate(s) to listen without issuing a title change. Psychologically this person is still viewed as an equal unless a formal change is made.
That's just the first part of the argument though. There is another very deeply rooted psychological effect that job titles have on people. We'll discuss that in the next post.
Until then, think about those individuals that you could not do without who you trust to maintain order and productivity within your organization. Have they been given the proper authority and tools to do so?
Have you ever encountered a situation like this? Feel free to share your comments.
Resources in this Post:
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Posted on Fri, Jul 16, 2010 @ 01:28 PM
Planning = Productivity
In the HR field where we have an emphasis on the people in our organizations it is often necessary to interact with your company's' management and employees to act as a productivity coach in order to lead them down the right path towards their professional development.
Maybe you're having employee relations issues that are getting in the way of business. Perhaps you have employees with similar backgrounds whose performance levels are far from similar. Maybe you have a company whose people should be performing on a top level, but aren't up to par with your expectations.
Today's blog asks, are your employees planning? If you notice any of the above problems perhaps your employees simply need a bit of direction, and more importantly need to know how to discover that direction.
Here are 5 tips that will help you point them (or yourself) in the right direction.
Five Coaching Steps to Provide Direction
Even the simplest form of planning such as list making has been shown to improve productivity significantly in study after study. But there's a problem. A lot of people aren't natural planners.
Planning is time-consuming and sometimes we're so tired we don't think we have the brainpower for the task. Second, it's detailed, and if you’re like most folks, we are detailed to death in our normal life. So yes, sometimes people don't plan. It happens.
But what's at stake if you don't have a plan? Your job... or even your business. That's what. Here are five simple planning steps to assist you or your employees with their planning process.
Step 1 -- Identify your objectives.
Why do you need a plan, and who / what is it for? For example, is it for benchmarking, is it a simple process outline, is it a plan to communicate both internally with your employees and externally with your investors, is it a plan to initiate a new strategy, etc?
The objective of this step is to customize your writing to your audience. Once you've identified who is going to read your plan (remember it might not only be you), now you can start your outline.
Step 2 -- Sit down and outline your plan.
Yes, sit down and think! Think about your needs and what you want to accomplish. Outline your goals. Begin by doing some creative thinking. Think to yourself, "what can I do to add value to my business." You'd be surprised at what might come into your mind.
Let your mind flow and don't hold back on any possibility. You can trim it down later.
Step 3 -- Author your plan.
This is where it starts to come together. Organize your thoughts on paper and figure out what comes first, what comes next, what stays and what goes.
This is where you're going to have to do a bit of research if your planning anything with detail. You may have a lot of unanswered questions. Now is the time to seek the answers.
Step 4 -- Review, and seek input.
Here's where an, advisor, colleague, or professional coach can be invaluable. Is the plan complete? Do others comprehend what your plan hopes to accomplish? Is it logical? Does it communicate to your audience effectively? Did you cover all of the bases (sometimes a third-party look is a great idea). If needed, can you easily present it to others so they will understand?
Step 5 -- Rework your plan as needed - it's a living document.
This is often a step people leave out. Recognize that your plan can and should evolve over time. Don't just place it on a shelf (or your cluttered hard drive) and forget about it.
Remember that even if its a simple to do list, or a simple strategy to guide your month's performance goals, it's a guide for you - a map to where you're headed and how you're going to get there. Refer to it often. Keep it in front of your eyes as a constant reminder. Discuss it if applicable. The more employees, advisors, investors, and customers know about your direction, the more feedback you can get and the better you will perform.
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Posted on Thu, Jul 08, 2010 @ 11:54 AM
Our last blog posting dealt with the Top 5 Salary Employment Law Myths and gave a bit of insight about each. While some of you probably know that these myths are, in fact, just myths, even an occasional seasoned business professional is guilty of believing a few of these, whether he or she will admit it or not.
If you didn't get a chance to read that, it's a goodie. Check that one out before you read this follow-up post. It might be a good idea to review it anyway.
Know Your Rights as an Employer
Please know that the idea behind these employer’s arguments is not to abuse employees or make them work unreasonable hours. However, they are defenses against employees who believe that because they are “salary” they can come and go as they please without answering to a defined schedule, or who believe that they deserve equal time off for any time they work over 40 hours.
In a reasonable workplace that follows salary employment law, everyone works what is required to get the job done, and those who are required to put in extra time are rewarded (hopefully) for a job well done. Most employers do not want to resort to forcing employees to use PTO (paid time off) – they hope that their employees will recognize when PTO is required and will request it to cover their time.
Keep Proper Policies and Enforce Them
Most employers certainly do not want to resort to docking anyone’s salary for absences – however, the abuse of time off by some salaried exempt employees is forcing their hand. Make sure you've got the proper policies in your employee handbook in place to enforce this if / when it happens (think: is your employee handbook up to date?).
What’s the most simple resolution to this problem? Discipline. It's a word most don't like to use, but discipline is important. Managers need to discipline the abusers so that they are not forced to implement policies that will reduce flexibility for everyone else who puts in their time to get the job done. Not only discipline, but consistent discipline. If you take action against one person, make sure that action is consistent across the organization in order to avoid favoritism.
Properly Classify Employees and Train Managers to Know the Difference
Management also needs to be certain every employee is properly classified as exempt or non-exempt. There are very specific requirements for a position to be exempt from overtime. Putting someone on salary is neither a “perk” nor a way to get out paying overtime. Failure to properly classify employees can lead to major headaches, major fines, and major backpay settlements. Drop us a comment if you'd like more info on this point.
Lastly, managers can only implement a solid program for addressing the time of salaried exempt personnel once they understand what is and is not allowed under FLSA -- so be careful who you listen to, there are a lot of myths flying around out there. Make sure your department managers are trained to know the differences between salary and non-salary. This can end up costing your company quite a bit of money otherwise.
Resources in this Post:
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Posted on Thu, Jul 01, 2010 @ 12:10 PM
As complex as salary employment law is, it can be confusing to get all of your ducks in a row when dealing with the provisions of each law. As an employer, what do you do when your employees are abusing their time off? This post will cover some of these specific situations and the salary employment law associated with them.
A number of our clients have created employment policies specific to the schedules and time off of their salaried employees because the problem of employees abusing time off has become so rampant.
The problem is that management often misinterprets salary employment law and what it means to be a salaried employee as much as the employees do. So let's address the most common arguments:
(Please note that for this exercise we are referring to salaried exempt personnel on a full-time schedule only.)
Top 5 Salary Employment Law Myths
1) "But I'm salaried! You can't make me work 50 hours a week"
Unless you are protected by child labor laws or are in a position that regulates shifts for safety reasons (such as pilots or truck drivers), I can require you to work 12 hours a day 7 days a week. I could, but if I understand anything about human nature and employee retention, I won't.
The point is that there are no federal limits on the number of hours an employer can require a salaried exempt person to work for their weekly wage.
2) "But I'm salaried! You can't make me use PTO for a day off!"
Actually, that's what PTO is for -- it's Paid Time Off, meaning that I pay you even though you don't work. As long as I am following the guidelines of our policy regarding the increments in which PTO is used, I can debit your PTO account for absences, full day or partial day.
If I'm a smart and accommodating manager, I'll recognize when you put in extra time and follow policy to allow you some additional time off without using your PTO. I also won't nitpick regarding the occasional long lunch or afternoon appointment which allows you to cut out early.
However, if you start to nickel and dime about getting 3.7 hours off this week because you worked over 3.7 hours last week, you can bet that our policy will be that PTO will have to cover it.
3) "But I'm salaried! Why should I have to be here from 8-5 each day? You pay me to do the job, not by the hour."
True - the principal behind defining a position as exempt from overtime is that you are paying a person to do the whole job, not necessarily by the time it takes them to do it. However, part of that "whole job" is availability to customers, colleagues and management, which means following the schedule that accommodates those with whom we do business.
Besides, if you tell me that I'm paying you to fulfill a role that I think should take 45 hours a week and you can do it in 25 hours, then I probably need to give you something else to do.
4) "But I'm salaried! You have to pay me for the whole week no matter what."
Salary employment law says this is a PTO issue as well. If you take off two days in the week, I'll use two days of your PTO. However, if you've used all of your PTO and available time off, then the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) will allow me to dock you the two day's pay. The rules about this are very strict.
I can only dock you for full days absences in which you completed no work, and only if you initiated the absence. If you're confused, please feel free to Contact Us regarding FLSA.
Check out this bit of salary employment law on the Department of Labor's website as well.
5) "But I'm salaried! You have to give me comp time for the extra time I put in last week."
Comp time is for hourly non-exempt personnel only, and those not in private industry. Might I give you a more flexible schedule this week or an extra day over the holiday weekend because you put in a few late nights to get last week's project done? If I'm an accommodating manager I might.
However if you tell me that I have to and that I owe it to you then I might be a little disinclined to offer you a reward. For more information on Handling Comp Time in Kentucky, please refer to our whitepaper.
This post is getting a bit long winded, so we'll pick it up next time with the solutions to these problems. Do you have issues like these in your workplace? Feel free to consult any of the resources in this article or Contact Us for assistance.
Resources in this Post:
Comp Time in Kentucky
Policy Development
Compensation Consulting
FLSA Fact Sheet
Fair Labor Standards Act
Contact Us
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Posted on Thu, Jun 24, 2010 @ 12:55 PM
In our last blog post titled Managing Performance of Those Who Won't Manage Performance we cited a few (well seven actually) reasons why managers cringe at the idea of performance reviews. I'm sure many of you can identify with those reasons, but as some of our readers pointed out, you shouldn't do performance reviews without a good reason in mind. A good point indeed.
Consider the following example as one of those reasons.
Performance Reviews as Part of a Performance Management System
We - as the HR professionals - must become involved in the performance management process. One way to get involved is to bring the employee performance management system up to date and up to speed.
Let's put technology to work and make it work for the manager, employee, and ultimately the entire organization. There is a new performance management system that integrates performance reviews and management of these reviews with career development and various learning systems.
For example:
You have an employee that you are considering promoting, maybe within the year if all goes well. Your employee completes a review, their manager completes the review, and then you determine the gap in their respective responses. This is an opportunity to set some performance goals, and help direct that persons' career using the objective data that you gathered.
What's missing? How is the employee going to learn and fulfill the responsibilities of their position, or even grow into a new position? Leaving the goals open ended and waiting for the next review is not effective. Performance management coaching and follow up meetings may help.
However, what if the employee was required to participate in training, take classes, get an HR certification, broaden their vision, and be measured in terms of their new knowledge -- would that not be worth the value of this kind of integrated approach?
The point being, organizations are willing to spend thousands of dollars each year to update equipment and computer technology to help produce their product or services more efficiently. When balancing the bottom line, however, they often fail to recognize that their employees, their people, their human capital, are their most valuable commodity when it comes to the quality of what keeps them in business and makes them successful.
Managers need to recognize that a performance review is not a standalone entity to be dreaded as it approaches. Rather it should be viewed as simply a part of an entire performance management system
I would encourage each manager reading this article to assess such a system to see how it would fit within their organization. Integration is easy, performance reviews become solid and employees really benefit from new learning experiences. It takes the subjectivity out of the equation, and provides managers with quantifiable and measurable data.
Some questions to ponder:
- Does your company have a formal review process?
- How does your company make use of performance reviews?
- What are the goals of these reviews?
- Are employees judged, trained, promoted, etc. by objective data?
Comment if you'd like, but most importantly, consider if employees at your company are being held back due to the lack of a formal performance management system. This could be the difference between failure and success.
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Posted on Fri, Jun 18, 2010 @ 10:49 AM
Our Beating Bad Bosses Blog Series was our most highly read and popular blog posts to date, so to stay true to that tune, here is some more of that bad bosses beef.
Performance Management is Worthless?!
I recently had a client that stated that he hated filling out employee performance reviews, and that he thought they were absolutely worthless. While I can commiserate that reviews can be a tedious process, my question to him was, "Then how do you know whether each employee is performing the right job, in the best way, at the highest performance level?" His response, "Gut feeling."
OK, maybe that's true, and we can all probably agree that we just "know" whether an employee is cutting it or not. However, from a management risk standpoint, I would never suggest defending yourself before a jury in a wrongful termination or discrimination lawsuit with your "gut" as your only witness, and if you're going to recommend someone for a big promotion, you had better have some data to back up your recommendation.
The real issue here is that managers hate to do performance reviews.
There are a number of reasons for this, and many are the same reasons why managers keep poor employees. Why do we hate to write and give reviews? Well...
1. Negative Feedback is Sometimes Necessary - Sometimes a performance management manager must give negative feedback. No one really likes to tell someone to their face that they are doing less than a wonderful job. Even managers who talk a big talk about being tough and demanding become meek and compromising when it comes time to put things in writing.
2. The Fallacy of Recency - The manager has a short memory and can only remember how the employee performed over the last three months - certainly not the full year! The manager knows the review may not be totally accurate because they don't have the documentation to substantiate what has occurred since the last review.
3. Lack of Objectivity - It's never really objective. The manager failed to put quantitative goals in the last review, so there's nothing to measure. Plus, we tend to compare employees to one another rather than to a standard of performance.
4. Lack of Metrics - The performance management metric has not been prioritized. So, what were they supposed to do again?
5. Lack of Standards - The standards of the job requirements are not clear. What are competencies anyway?
6. Narrow Vision - There is the perception that performance reviews only protect the company. Many managers view reviews as merely protocol that must be done because the handbook says they are going to be, rather than as an effective management and development tool.
7. Laziness - Holding people accountable is just too much effort. Management is an interactive process - at least it should be. It's easier to give a pat on the back and say "keep up the good work" in spite of deficiencies than it is to develop, and maintain, an improvement plan.
However, managers need to understand that employee reviews are useless unless they are accurate and unless they are treated as interactive tools. Employees need to be challenged and developed - what was acceptable performance one year may no longer be acceptable the next, as management keeps raising the bar to excel to higher levels of performance, and reward.
So, if the truth of the matter is that most managers already think performance reviews are too difficult, and the truth is also that most managers are only giving them a cursory and obligatory response as it is, how do we get them to actually provide reviews with richer and more effective detail?
More on this in the next blog posting in a few days. Until then, if you're concerned with the performance of your employees, our Performance Management Services or Employee Coaching Services may be of use to you. You may also want to check out our Online Training Center for some very cost-effective training material you can use for your staff.
Keep an eye out for the conclusion!
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Posted on Tue, Jun 08, 2010 @ 08:52 AM
As HR professionals implementing performance management plans we find ourselves preaching all the time about establishing a culture of accountability. Employees must be held accountable to their goals and responsible for their actions. Sometimes, however, even well intentioned attempts at this accountability can go astray if there is not a clear understanding of federal and state law in regard to wages and deductions.
I am speaking of the common practice of many employers to deduct the cost of damaged or lost goods and equipment from the wages of employees in an effort to establish a culture of accountability. I am actually on board with this, to an extent. I think that if an employer provides a company paid cell phone to an employee and that employee loses that phone, that employee should have to pay for the replacement.
If an employee drops his company paid laptop while transporting it without using his company provided computer bag, he should have to pay for repairs. However, if an employee is in a car accident in the company vehicle, I'm not convinced she should have to pay the insurance deductible. It's up to management to establish where the line must be drawn to determine whether or not an employee has been negligent in the care of the product, or whether an accident has truly happened. Regardless, that is for the employer to decide and specify in the policy, if they choose to have one, and to apply equally, consistently, and justly.
In order to write and apply the performance management policy in such a fashion, however, employers must know and understand the parameters within the policy. For instance, consider these situations:
- Employers may not make any deductions from an employee's paycheck without the employee's written authorization
- With respect to non-exempt employees, an employer may not require an employee to pay for an expense if doing so reduces the employee's pay below minimum wage (so, if an employee earns minimum wage, you can never deduct for the expense of loss or damages)
- With respect to exempt employees, the DOL has issued an opinion that such deductions risk their exempt status under the FLSA. They ruled that such a deduction is not allowed because FLSA does not allow deductions in compensation due to the quality of work performed. They also ruled that employers cannot require employees to make an out of pocket reimbursement (versus payroll deduction) because this would still prevent them from receiving their predetermined salary "free and clear".
- Many states have adopted stricter rules, including clearly forbidding deduction of this nature altogether. In some states the employee must acknowledge in writing that they assume financial responsibility for the item. Others such as Virginia, completely forbid it, and California will only permit it if the employer can prove that the employee acted dishonestly, willfully, and in a grossly negligent manner. So, if an employer operates in multiple states, they will need to know the regulations in those states, and then determine if they are willing to adopt a policy that cannot be applied uniformly across their organization.
Now back to establishing that culture of accountability. Can the employee be disciplined or fired for damage or loss of company property? Yes, he or she can. If there is an employee who has a history of not being responsible with equipment, his or her manager should definitely take action through counseling and discipline, including no longer having the convenience of having the company provided tool.
There is certainly a place for policies that require employees to be financially responsible for their company issued equipment. Just be certain that you are aware of the rules and the limitations before you implement one, or else you might find that the equipment in question was not worth the fines and damages it cost in the long run.
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Posted on Thu, May 27, 2010 @ 12:36 PM
How Can HR Help a Company Go Green?
IntegrityHR has recently implemented many "green" business practices. This got me wondering what others were doing. I was talking to a group of fellow HR professionals over coffee the other day and the topic of "going green" came up. We all wanted to do our share to help our respective businesses cut energy costs, initiate recycling programs, and reduce waste. The question we all asked was how could we implement green initiatives without breaking the bank? I did a little research and found that HR folks can help their companies go green and save money while saving the environment!
By the way, did you know that going green can be a way to increase employee motivation? Many employees feel much better about where they work when they know their company is taking positive environmental steps, especially when they can be actively involved.
Here are some easy - and inexpensive - tips to make your workplace not only more environmentally friendly, but also more employee friendly.
Use Energy-Saving Techniques - Set thermostats on 70 degrees and keep them there all year long. Moving the thermostat up and down to accommodate hot and cold employees will only add to your energy costs. You can relax your dress code policy and encourage employees to bring a sweater for colder days as well as dress lighter in the warmer months. You can also do things like purchase only energy star-rated light bulbs, ask employees to turn off the lights in their offices if they will be gone for an extended period of time, and turn all equipment off at the power strip at the end of the day.
Use Less Paper - Ask employees to only print what is absolutely necessary and store files on their desktop. Create an intranet (internal file system) that only employees can view and store all employee handbooks, policies and important documents electronically. This will save on ink and paper costs and allow you to make updates more easily.
Use Reusable Office Supplies - If possible, refill printer ink cartridges (there are many services which will do this for you), which can cut the cost of ordering a new one in half. Order only refillable mechanical pencils and ink pens. In addition, purchase only recycled paper and envelopes.
Use Real Coffee Cups - Instead of buying paper, plastic or styrofoam coffee cups, plates and utensils, use dinnerware that can be washed and reused. Consider providing filtered drinking water to cut down on the waste of plastic water bottles. Use only recycled paper towels and napkins. Some companies provide employees with reusable lunch bags with the company logo on them to reduce the waste of paper lunch bags.
Use Incentives - Institute an incentive or bonus program for employees who carpool to work. You may also consider a contest for employees to come up with green initiatives for the workplace and award prizes to the winners. Make sure to implement their ideas - Check out this page for more about management using compensation incentives.
Every workplace can be a green workplace - or at least a little bit better than it is now. It just takes a little effort and creativity. What is your employer doing to reduce its impact on the environment? Leave us a comment below and tell us!
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Posted on Wed, May 19, 2010 @ 01:53 PM
It's Time For Summer Clothes - Did your Employee Handbook Address This?
I admit it unashamedly -- I love clothes. And I especially love summer clothes. The bright colors, the light textures and the flowing fabrics that call for sunshine, long walks, and drinks on the deck. However, I also work. Since it's unlikely that I'll be spending my summer lounging in a coastal Italian villa, it's important to remind myself that at least part of my summer wardrobe must be able to acclimate to the dress code policy of my workplace, which is hopefully in the employee handbook.
This begs the often asked question as the days turn hot and hazy, "What is an appropriate summer dress code?" In short answer, that depends on the workplace. However, maintaining some general human resources guidelines in establishing a dress code policy can help keep everyone cool as the temperature rises.
What To Do?
First, employers should communicate the goal and intent for the summer dress code to help prevent human resources problems. Is it to combat heat and humidity in the work environment, to make employees more comfortable, to allow for some summer whimsy, or a combination of all? Regardless of the approach, employers should make it clear that all employees are representatives of the company, and that they should always dress and behave as such.
Second, don't fall back on the "use common sense" argument. Without specifications to the dress code policy, employees will rely on previous experience in other work settings to determine what is appropriate. The same policy may not apply to your workplace.
The summer dress code should have definite parameters, and should supply specifics regarding what is not acceptable. For example, are shorts or capris acceptable, or shirts without collars? In a more formal environment, can employee's forgo ties or jackets? Be certain to give quantified guidelines if summer clothing has posed a problem --- dress and top straps must be three fingers wide, for example, or that sleeves are required on all summer clothing. Are t-shirts ever allowed? If you've experienced HR issues, then you probably need to update your employee handbook to address this?
Also, be sure to keep employee safety in mind when it comes to allowing sandals and open toed shoes. The key to remember is that if employers don't communicate the details of what is permitted, employees simply won't know. (Trust me -- no one wants to revisit Meredith's strapless mini dress on "The Office".) Not only can this affect the professional atmosphere of the workplace, miscommunication can also embarrass the employee who makes a fashion misstep.
Poor Dress is a Policy Violation
Third, your dress code policy needs to state the consequences for failing to adhere to the dress code, and it must be applied equally to all employees. If there are special events or circumstances that would alter the dress code, your policy should also state this and that employees will be advised accordingly. Additionally, something a lot of employers forget to address in their employee handbook is that if Friday has typically been a "dress down day", you need to address if this applies during the summer season and, if so, what is permitted for these days.
Finally, employees should know who to ask if they still have questions about what is appropriate. In turn, you need to make sure that all supervisors and managers understand the dress code and can communicate it and enforce it properly and professionally.
What's your company's dress code like? Do you have dress down days? Are you allowed to wear sandals in the warmer months? Tell us below!
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