Has Your Employee Handbook Been Updated in the Past Six Months?
If not, it should be due to ever changing state and federal laws. An employee handbook must be communicated effectively to employees via training and comply with BOTH state and federal laws.
A handbook may create an implied contract of employment if it distinguishes between “probationary” and “permanent” employees and provides for the discharge of “permanent” employees only after specific preconditions are met. The best way around this is to have a disclaimer which has a prominent place in the handbook, states that contained policies do not create a contract and require that employees sign a receipt to acknowledge they have received the handbook.
You must incorporate state and local legal requirements into your handbook. Such things as workplace smoking policies, voting policies, jury duty policies, protected off-duty legal activity and breastfeeding accommodations are regulated by state laws.
For more information on creating or updating an employee handbook for less than fees than using an attorney, please contact Maureen@TheHRPerson.com.
[ top ]
The Cost of Employee Absenteeism
Many firms still underestimate the magnitude of the problem of employee absenteeism. Instead, they consider such absences to be part of “the cost of doing business.” By carefully planning and designing policies, managing absenteeism and it s administration, and tackling the underlying causes (e.g., health issues, employee morale, etc.), an organization can significantly reduce the impact of employee absences on its bottom line.
Remember, all lost time is connected. This includes absences due to on-the-job injury, short-term disability, family or medical leave absences, and absences that are only a few days in duration. It is noteworthy that employees who have frequent intermittent absences appear to be three to four times more likely to go out on short-term disability. In addition, employees who leave the organization on short-term disability are likely to be larger-than-average consumers of group health benefits.
According to a recent Mercer survey from 465 companies, Mercer looked at three common types of absences:
- Planned absences (e.g., vacations and holidays)
- Incidental unplanned absences (e.g., sick days and personal emergencies)
- Extended absences lasting more than five days (e.g., short-term disability and family/medical leave)
Mercer found the average direct cost of absence equals 12.2% of payroll! What a large number, right? Indirect costs represent an even larger impact at nearly 24% of payroll! Indirect costs result when work is delayed, co-workers and supervisors are affected or temporary employees are hired as a result of an employee’s absence. According to the survey, replacement workers are less efficient and require the equivalent of 1.25 people to achieve the same amount of work as the 1 absent employee.
An example of the total annual cost of absenteeism is as follows:
- If a company makes $50 million in revenue per year and the average salary is $50,000 per year the payroll cost would be $50 million
- If the total absence cost was 36%, the cost would be $18 million
- When planned absences such as holidays and vacations were subtracted from the total absence cost, it would be reduced to 27% or $13.5 million spent by the employer
Based on this data, an employer could save vast sums of money if absences were reduced even slightly.
Some incentives to employees to reduced unscheduled absences and increase productivity is to have a PTO bank for all time off (versus separate banks for sick and vacation) to be used for all absences at the employee’s choice. Supervisory training on the impact of absenteeism to the bottom line is another strategy. Incentives or small bonuses for lowered absences can be used over a period of time to reward employees who plan all absences. Healthcare incentives or wellness programs can increase education about being proactive about taking care of one’s health to also avoid unscheduled illnesses.
For more ideas, please contact The HR Person at Maureen@TheHRPerson.com.
[ top ]
Managing Layoffs
There are many reasons why employers may need to downsize or layoff that could include:
- Organizational cost-cutting
- Mergers & acquisitions
- Technological changes
- Industry or economic declines
- Loss of business
- Natural disasters
Some of the many laws an employer must consider before initiating a lay-off:
The WARN (The Worker Adjustment & Retraining) Act is in place to minimize harm to workers and communities caused by layoffs. Under WARN, the term “plant closing” means the permanent or temporary shutdown of a “single site of employment” or one or more “facilities or operating units” within a single site of employment if the shutdown results in an “employment loss” during any 30-day period for 50 or more employees, excluding any part-time employees. A mass layoff would be 500+ employees during a 30-day period or at least 33% of the workforce as long as it is over 50 employees.
Employees laid off through no fault of their own will generally be entitled to unemployment insurance. This will result in a higher percentage paid by the employer into unemployment but since it provides temporary compensation to laid off workers, it typically helps reduce lawsuits.
Layoffs invite scrutiny from employees who have wage and hour grievances to file that may have never bothered to do so such as past overtime worked or improper classification of their wage status (exempt versus nonexempt). It is important to have solid payroll practices and employees classified correctly in the exemption status.
Employers must think about EEOC laws to prevent discrimination of the protected classes including age and anti-retaliation laws. An employer must consider how many employees over age 40 they are laying off to comply with the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act.
There are many, many other laws to carefully review and consider before planning a layoff. Please contact The HR Person at Maureen@TheHRPerson.com for more information on how to protect your business.
[ top ]
|
