Company’s Need to Increase Their Human Resource Compliance and Audits
Perhaps no other area of human resource management causes as much stress or concern for executives and HR staff as the continual effort to remain in compliance. Today’s workforce is more mobile than ever. Employees’ lifestyles result in frequent changes in their employment and benefit status. Regulations are continually changing and expanding. All of these contribute to a more dynamic and complex work environment and tax even the largest HR staff’s time, resources and expertise.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Companies Will Face Additional Pressure From Department of Labor
The newly appointed Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, issued a statement on March 24, 2009 that the DOL is renewing its efforts to enforce labor laws across the country. With the addition of 250 field investigators provided to the DOL under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, businesses can be assured of increased audits.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Your Company’s Compliance With Wage/Hour? Not Likely
DOL recently announced that it will change dramatically how it regulates employers’ compliance with certain federal laws. Within the next year, it will issue regulations requiring employers to take affirmative steps to ensure compliance with federal wage-and-hour, safety, and anti-discrimination laws.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
ICE Targeting the Largest U.S. Companies With New Agency
Emboldened by its parade of victories against mostly tiny employers ($7 million in fines against 2,740 firms in 2010), ICE is now poised to target some of America’s largest companies. As reported on January 20 by the Wall St. Journal’s Miriam Jordan (”Crackdown on Illegal Workers Grows”) in an interview of ICE Chief, John Morton, the agency has opened an “Employment Compliance Inspection Center.” According to Mr. Morton, the new ECIC would “address a need to conduct audits even of the largest employers with a very large number of employees.” Just as the WSJ scoop reported, ICE’s new ECIC debuted late this week in Crystal City, VA. It will start with an initial crew of “15 auditors who will support ICE’s worksite enforcement strategy by helping agency field offices around the country expedite Form I-9 audits of businesses selected for inspection by ICE.”
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
The Rise of Form I-9 Audits
Remember the days when the opening story on national news might include extraordinary footage of an immigration raid? We would watch these spectacular raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) where workers were arrested en masse and placed in deportation centers.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
How to Avoid Wage and Hour Legal Action
Wage and hour compliance is one of the hot button words for the company in 2010 with the promise of increased inspections and fines is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL). This does not apply to state or local tax agencies, which also intensified its efforts in this area can. It ‘been reported that non-governmental wage settlements in 2009 and 44% more than in 2008, he grew up. For an application under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) broughtAction for compensation amounts increased from $ 253,000,000 in 2008 to 364 million U.S. dollars in 2009. Below are some problem areas and wages, the court proceedings have historically done and continue to employers for a litigation quagmire.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Form I-9 compliance a priority for Obama Administration
The Wall Street Journal is reporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials announced they are ramping up their existing crackdowns on employers who hire illegal workers by creating a new employment compliance inspection center in Virginia. The new office will scrutinize Form I-9 employee data from employers selected for I-9 audits and immigration investigations.
During the past fiscal year, ICE conducted audits of more than 2,740 companies — nearly twice as many as it completed the year before. In the wake of these audits, Immigration officials handed companies a record-breaking $7 million in civil fines. According to ICE officials, Form I-9 audits are “one of the most powerful tools the federal government has to ensure that businesses are complying” with the law.
“Ultimately, it is in a company’s best financial interest to proactively comply with the law now rather than to face potential fines or criminal prosecution for noncompliance in the future,” an ICE spokeswoman said.
The Virginia center is expected to have 15 auditors who will support ICE’s immigration enforcement strategy field audits. According to John Morton, chief of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement the new center will “address a need to conduct audits even of the largest employers with a very large number of employees.”
Learn why it is a good strategy to have an independent 3rd party audit of your Forms I-9 procedures and policies before ICE comes knocking at your door.
Tracking Time Off Can Be a Human Resource Problem
Many landscapers severely underestimate the scope, complexity and financial impact of employee leaves of absence. Depending upon the size of the company and the state(s) in which it conducts business, there could be 15-20 different types of employee leaves of absence that must be communicated, documented and managed to remain legally compliant. Failure to maintain compliance can produce significant legal costs to the company, and in several cases, financial costs can even be applied against the employer’s personal assets.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Brown Palace To Pay $105K Settlement To Single Mom
DENVER — The historic Brown Palace Hotel & Spa has agreed to settle a discrimination lawsuit by paying $105,000 to woman who said she was passed over for promotion because she was a single mother of two young children.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
HR Consulting Services Can Help Any Company Overcome Human Resources Challenges
Establishing a successful business is one thing, but with growth comes a slew of challenges outside of operations, where HR consulting firms can make all the difference between continued success or stalling. A small operation with a small, dedicated production team can pull together and make all sorts of things happen, but as a company grows and expands its workforce, human resources issues begin to come into play. The days of the owner cutting a check are long gone. There are issues like payroll, benefits, workers’ compensation, regulatory compliance, training, recruitment and employee retention to worry about. But establishing a full Human Resources department is time consuming, diverts energy from operations and may be overkill until a company becomes much larger. PEO services helps bridge the gap, providing the necessary HR functions for small to medium sized businesses.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
