What HR Topics Will You Be Watching in 2012
2012 will pose extreme issues for employers and employees. As we close the books on 2011, many businesses are looking at strategies and tactics for the new year. Given recent waves of market uncertainty, this year poses a unique challenge for decision-makers and C-level executives. While there are numerous financial considerations ranging from healthcare compliance to tepid consumer confidence, human resource managers have been forced to align their practices with the evolving global economy.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Are Employers Aware of Injuries at the Workplace?
Labor Law Violations Affecting Restaurant Workers
Restaurant workers are being affected by labor laws. If you’ve ever worked as a server at a restaurant, then you know what a slow shift is like. After eight hours on the floor, you only help a handful of tables, and some are inevitably bad tippers. Your base hourly wage probably doesn’t exceed $2.13, and so you end up receiving compensation below the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Has Your Company Adopted A Formal Separation Process With Employees?
Company’s should not separate employees from the organization without good reasons. If you are terminating someone and they feel dis-respected they will feel angry. If they feel like they have been mistreated they will look for something to file a lawsuit on. And if you have not been incompliance in wage and hour, or EEO matters, or safety or a myriad of other things that is what they will hang their hat on.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
The DOL Has Recruited Allied States To Reduce Worker Misclassification
Company’s should audit their agreements on exempt employees and independent contractors to address any misclassification issues. On December 5, 2011, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the improper classification of employees as independent contractors.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
What Role Should Employers Play About Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Sexual harassment awareness in the workplace plays a critical role. Sexual harassment in the workplace has long been illegal. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of1964 classifies sexual harassment as discrimination. The specific definition is “unwelcome verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is severe or pervasive and affects working conditions or creates a hostile work environment.”
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Employee Misclassification has the Department of Labor Teaming With the IRS
Because of employee misclassification the Department of Labor and the IRS find the need to collaborate. Independent contractors are ineligible for minimum wage and overtime pay, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation and social security benefits. And, the government does not collect employment taxes on compensation paid to independent contractors. Therefore, if an employee is misclassified as an independent contractor, he or she loses out on valuable protections and the government loses out on substantial tax revenues.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Do You Know How to Protect your Business From Workplace Retaliation Claims?
Workplace Retaliation Claims can be extremely expensive to the organization if not handled correctly. “We are certainly seeing an uptick in retaliation claims filed by current and former employees,” says Nicole Gray, an attorney in the Labor and Employment Practice Group at McDonald Hopkins. “Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that have expanded the rights of employees who complain about retaliation, energetic enforcement by federal agencies, and increased public awareness are all factors that could explain why retaliation claims are becoming more frequent.”
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
How to avoid FLSA Class Action Lawsuits
Does your organization know the difference between the employee classifications? Many companies don’t understand when to properly classify employees as exempt versus non-exempt, and consequently whether to pay overtime. Most think all you have to do to avoid paying overtime is make an agreement with the employee to pay them on a salary basis. While a salary basis test is part of the requirement to make an employee exempt from overtime, that is just a small part of the analysis. Startups are particularly susceptible to this, as staffing is constantly in flux, employees work long hours, and entrepreneurs are still learning the ropes as they go.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Companies Be aware of Mistakes That Make Compliance Efforts Fail
The federal government plays a tremendous role in how a business must operate so be aware. For as much time and effort is spent at most enterprise and government organizations in complying with regulatory and standards body mandates, an awful lot of security firms can’t seem to get compliance right. A study earlier this year showed that half of organizations have failed an audit, and 75 percent were not sure they’d pass their audits in the future.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
