Employers Survival Tip #3

Taking a Bath in the Sink is NOT ok and 5 Other Reasons to Have an Employee Handbook

Yes, we’ve all heard of the employee that was video taped taking a bath in the sink at the Burger King restaurant he was working. While that’s not likely to happen in your workplace, it’s still a critical that you clearly communicate your company policy to your employees.

Your employees need to know what your policies are so they can confidently work at their optimum level knowing that you have a solid strategy regarding their employment. Additionally, in today’s litigious environment, labor board claims, discrimination lawsuits, sexual harassment claims and employees doing really stupid things are all too real and can drain your time and focus or worse, devastate your business.

Here are 5 top reasons you need to have and Employee Handbook:

Save Time and Money

Comprehensive Employee Handbooks, clearly written and carefully compiled will  save time and avoid confusion about your policies and simply keep the redundant questions about vacation, sick-time, benefits and other policies to a minimum. Employees can focus on their work instead of worrying about the little things and trust me…..they worry about the little things.

It Creates Uniformity and Consistency

One of the worst things you can do as an employer is treat employee disparately or handle employment situations inconsistently. The Employee Handbook is a guide not only for you and your managers to consistently respond to workplace situations, but it will help the employees to know that they are being treated equally and fairly.

Employee Handbooks are a Great Motivational Tool – For You and your Employees

When you  clearly define your mission in language that employees will understand and buy into, it can inspire your own leadership and that of your managers to help keep your employees and your business in line with your mission and values. When your employees understand where you’ve been (company history) and buy-in to where you’re going (mission statement), they can help you not just survive, but thrive in a difficult business environment.

Written Policies Can Avoid Legal Disputes

Written policies, consistently enforced, can help diffuse threatening situations before they get out of control.  A well drafted and enforced handbook can ward off accusations of misapplied benefits, pay or overtime. It can provide clear guidance on the company’s position(s) against discrimination/retaliation/harassment as well as how to manage situations like substance abuse, inappropriate behavior, dress code, etc.

The Government Says You Have to Communicate Certain Employee Rights

That should be good enough but we’ll provide some further clarification. You as an employer are obligated to inform your employees of such programs as Family Medical Leave (FMLA) Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) Paid Family Leave (PFL) Sexual Harassment, Workers Compensation, Unemployment, Voting rights, and many more. In addition to required postings, the Employee Handbook is the place where the required notification needs to be.

Okay, 6 Reasons

In addition to covering policies designed to help you manage your workforce and protect your business, an effective employee handbook should tell the story of your company, your business philosophy and where you want to go in the future. Information like this is invaluable to employees as it helps them to understand how their lives can be enhanced by a partnership with your business.

I hope we’ve made the case. An Employee Handbook should be part of your strategy to provide a solid foundation your employees can stand upon so they can work efficiently, effectively and profitably. It should also be updated at least annually to ensure all new laws and changes to existing law have been incorporated.

Don’t have time to make it happen? Contact Champion today and we’ll get you started for less than you can do it yourself.

Employers Survival Tip #2

Give Your Employees the Road Map They Need So You Can Succeed

With limited payroll dollars to work with, you can’t afford mediocre job performance from your employees. Below standard performance is unacceptable in a tight economy and without clear guidelines, your employees may never hit the mark. You need top performers in your circle along with the ability to measure what they are doing and how their performance affects your bottom line. Many factors can dictate how effective an employee’s performance will be but if you fail to set clear guidelines as to what your expectations are, you are guaranteed to have “C” level employees instead of “A” list performers.

Employees want to know what their job is and what your expectations of their performance are. Additionally, they should know what your company values are, where you are going as a business and how they fit into the picture. A simple Job Description can be the road map for your employees to perform at their optimum level and help take you where you want to go with your business. It can also help separate the wheat from the chaff and give you the freedom and confidence to make tough employment decisions when you’re facing a difficult termination.

A good Job Description should describe the mission and values your company espouses. It should document basic information such as start date, exempt or non-exempt status, hourly or salary, pay rate and job title. Detailing all the particulars of a position will avoid ambiguity and provide the measurement by which employee performance can be compared.

Effective Job Descriptions should be designed to provide you, your managers and your employees a clear understanding of how each job fits into your overall operations, and how it contributes to the achievement of your company’s mission.

Job Description Components

Following is a quick look at the categories that make up a well-written job description:

  • Title of the position
  • Department/Division
  • Salary or hourly
  • Exempt of non-exempt
  • Rate of pay
  • Overall responsibility
  • Key areas of responsibility
  • Measurable performance expectations
  • Reports to whom
  • Consults with whom
  • Qualifications required
  • Company mission and values

A Job Description should be presented as part of a Job Offer to new employees or can be developed at any time for existing employees. They should be analyzed, updated and discussed with employees on a regular basis or when the job requirements change. Job descriptions provide clear and comprehensive written recruiting guidelines and clarify performance expectations, which can help you attract the right employee and retain the best performers.

Job Descriptions as a Legal Defense

Job descriptions are important should you need legal defense against discrimination or wrongful termination claims or even to fend off an unwarranted unemployment claim. This means that you’ll need to avoid any language that could be construed as discriminatory or in any way dilutes the “at-will” status of the employee. Accuracy as far as exempt or non-exempt status is crucial to prevent overtime problems and keep you out of labor board hearings.

Getting Started

It should be clear, wasting time managing poor performance will drain your profit and distract you from the efficient operation of your business. Don’t delay this important part of being an employer because it sounds complicated or seems like your company is too small. No company is too small to develop accurate Job Descriptions for their employees. This simple task will benefit you, the employees and the future of your business.

Champion Employer Services offers Job Description advice and assistance as part of its HR Outsourcing program. Contact Champion today for more information.

Employers Survival Tip #1

Know Who You’re Hiring Because You Just Don’t Know Who You’re Hiring

A bad hiring decision can wreak havoc on a company budget, productivity and liability. Employees may apply for a position in your company and come in well dressed, able to articulate well, gush with personality but in reality, they may be hiding critical information that you as an employer should know. In this era of high unemployment, you as the employer are in the drivers seat and its critical that you cautiously approach hiring any new employee. Face it, you have limited payroll dollars and you can’t afford to make a mistake.

According to the Society for Human Resource Managers (SHRM), nearly half of more than 3,100 hiring managers interviewed report they’ve caught a job candidate lying on his or her resume or application.

Skeletons in the Closet?

What else is hiding in the closets of the candidates you are looking at? Illegal drug possession or usage? Embezzlement? Other criminal convictions?

The impact from drug or alcohol abuse in the workplace, includes tardiness, absenteeism, turnover, attitude problems, theft, decreased productivity, crime and violence. Sixty-five percent of all accidents on the job are related to drug or alcohol, and substance abusers utilize 16 times as many health care benefits and are six times more likely to file workers compensation claims then non-abusers.

Deterrence is a Great Prevention Tool

Candidates that are seeking employment with you are not likely to notify you of negative history that might affect their chances for employment. Additionally, knowing ahead of time that background checks are required, employees that have serious past issues will be deterred from seeking employment with you to avoid exposure of their history.

The only way to know who is coming into your place of business is to legally and thoroughly perform a strategic pre-employment screening related to your business needs as part of a specific and consistent hiring process.

Pre-Employment Background Checks

Background Checks are relatively inexpensive and can be customized to meet the needs of your business. Background checks can only be preformed before you hire an employee, or in association with a promotion.

Pre-Employment Drug Testing

Most drug testing is done by sending an applicant to a collection site, where a urine sample is obtained and sent to a certified laboratory for analysis. Negative results are normally available within 24 hours and in some cases immediately.

Physical Fitness Screening

If the position you are filling requires physical fitness to perform, it is wise to require a physical fitness test before employees are hired. It is all too common for an employee who has been injured previously to wind up on your workers compensation insurance.

Pre-Employment  screening is part of a specific hiring process that should be carefully and strategically designed and performed to ensure government compliance and maximum effectiveness.  Contact Champion for more information

Next Tip – Can Employees Reach Their (Your) Destination Without a Road Map?

How to Avoid the Termination From Hell

6 Terminations That Can Land You in Court and How to Avoid Them

Terminations are frequently the catalyst that drives employee lawsuits and labor board claims. There are simple steps every employer must take to defend themselves whenever terminating an employee. Whether or not you think you have a good reason to terminate an employee, you must cover your assets and strategically implement the best course of action Treading the termination zone is a tricky process that can either end up with a positive outcome or drain your time, energy and cash as you attempt to defend your actions. Below are 6 examples of typical termination situations that can end up with a nasty outcome followed by simple solutions to protect yourself.

Recently Hired Employees

Typically, new employees that are terminated are done so for performance reasons. Without diligent training and orientation,employees can claim that they did not know what the performance expectations were or that they were untrained. It is also possible for them to file claims or lawsuits related to similar performance discrepancies in other employees.

The Fix: Orient new employees to your business, your company policies and their positions and responsibilities. Document all training and orientation efforts and do so consistently for all new employees, regardless of position.

Absenteeism and Tardiness

It is important to document carefully, every instance of missed days and tardiness as soon as it occurs and have the employee sign the documentation. You should carefully communicate the importance of on-time and consistent attendance and the consequences of continued shortcomings. Occasional incidents may be normal but as soon as a pattern develops, (2-3 occurrences in a short period of time), it is time to give the employee a final warning and then terminate decisively if the fail to perform.

The Fix: Clearly communicate company policy in your handbook and orient the new employee on the first day as to what your expectations are. Utilize consistent and accurate timekeeping methods that are easy to track and review.

Misconduct

There are numerous behavioral problems that employees can fall into and not all of them can be witnessed or monitored very easily due to offsite locations, unreliable witnesses and lack of evidence. For situations that have been witnessed by management or fellow employees, it is important to interview all parties and allow the employee to provide his/her side of the story before making any final judgments. For problems that occur without reliable evidence or witness testimony, it is even more critical to investigate the situation thoroughly.

The Fix: When assigning employees to shifts or locations where they may not have adequate supervision, be sure there is always someone in close proximity that is trusted and reliable. Train your managers and supervisors in the art of performance management so they can differentiate between misconduct and proper behavior on the job.

Abrupt Decline in Performance or Quality

In this difficult economy, employees are under pressure from home life difficulties and financial woes. It is important to counsel the employee and determine what may be affecting them before taking action. Employees that are terminated for declining work performance can make claims of discrimination or wrongful termination if there is no standard that employees must meet or if they were not provided the opportunity to correct the problem.

If no reasonable improvement even with accommodation can be demonstrated by the employee, terminate only if documentation has been carefully compiled and all avenues have been pursued.

The Fix: Ensure you have consistent and objective performance evaluation standards and follow a regular schedule of evaluating performance.

Voluntary Resignations

Terminated employees can often claim that they were working in a hostile work environment, were the victim of harassment or that they were forced out by unreasonable work conditions. These claims are not always easy to defend depending on supervisor behavior and actual work conditions. Claims of sexual harassment can occur for even the most innocent of behaviors by a supervisor. Defending these types of claims will take time and money and may end up in a settlement if you find there is a lack of evidence to disprove the employee’s claim.

The Fix: Do not allow employees to resign quickly if at all possible. Inquire as to why they are leaving and if it is appropriate, ask them to reconsider. If this fails and they decide to leave, provide them with an “Exit Interview” form they can fill out along with their final paperwork.

“At-Will” Termination

Another term for this might be a “no reason” termination which many employer’s use when the situation is too difficult to deal with or if documenting the performance may cause more trouble than its worth. Even though the “at-will” statute in California is in place, it is wise for employers not to fully rely on this to protect them. Most employees will want a reasonable explanation as to why they are being terminated and it is important provide one, especially if the employee is in a protected class (e.g., gender, race, religion, disability).

The Fix: Always be ready to communicate the reason behind a termination to the employee and document carefully the facts behind the termination. Document the termination and have witnesses present as to avoid the “he-said/she-said” problem.

In general, it is critical, even for small employers, to manage their employees performance carefully, consistently and document everything action. Proactive performance management will not only improve productivity, morale and work quality, it will protect you against unwarranted claims and lawsuits.

5 Essential HR Strategies for Small Business

Large businesses have the advantage of resources, time and capital to properly manage their workforce, none of which smaller business has in any abundance. This makes it difficult for small business to maximize productivity, avoid time crushing employee problems and compete on the same stage with their larger counterparts. It may be challenging, but it is essential for small businesses to proactively and effectively manage their workforce. The task boils down to 5 simple strategies that will vastly improve your workforce, your productivity and your profitability.


Know Who You’re Hiring Before They Punch the Clock the First Time
It’s easy to make a bad hiring decision. People are unemployed or looking for a new employer for a variety of reasons so it’s critical you find out why they are looking and why you would want to hire them before you make an offer. Have the post-offer candidate submit to a background check and a drug test before the deal is inked. Diligently check all references. Just a few days and a few bucks could save you from a major headache. Hiring is a process, create one, and follow it.

Orient the New Employee to Your Company, Their Job and Your Expectations
Employees perform more effectively if they know what their job entails, what the company goals and objectives are, and what your employee policies are. Take time when you hire new employees to introduce them to your company, your vision, and your expectations and explain what their role is. Train them on the particulars of their position and what benchmarks they should meet. Be sure to document all orientation and training sessions.

Consistently Manage Employee Performance
Poor employee performance can drag your business down and prevent it from reaching its true potential. It is critical to set positional benchmarks and then measure performance accordingly. Holding periodic performance reviews is important so that employees don’t progress too far into a behavior or habit that is counter to what you are trying to accomplish. Be sure to deal quickly with mediocre performance and create a defensible paper trail. Retrain, monitor and then take quick action on those who are unable to improve.

Accurately Record Hours Worked, Attendance and Employee Status/Changes
Employers must keep accurate time records including hours worked, overtime, vacation, attendance, and tardiness. Additionally, any employee changes including pay, exempt/non-exempt status, job title, pay structure and address changes should be immediately documented and kept on file. Have the employee acknowledge any changes in status or pay and make sure they fully understand the changes. Accurate pay and employee status changes are important to employees as well as most judges and labor boards you may come across during a legal challenge.

Terminate Decisively and Minimize Liability Exposure
Only after careful consideration should you terminate an employee, but when the decision has been made, do not delay the process. Be sure you have pursued all other options with the employee including counseling, disciplinary actions and training. Also, consider any factors that may cause a problem such as protected class (e.g., age, gender, race, religion), workplace injuries, age or other discrimination issues that may be lying under the surface. The employee should never be surprised that they are being terminated is a general rule as is providing all the necessary paperwork to protect your self in the event of a legal challenge.

Of course these are just summaries of employee management strategies but you get the idea. Employee management is important if you want to be the best at what you do. Take the necessary steps in house to develop a strategic employee management program or outsource those tasks that you cannot handle in house.

Dealing with Difficult Terminations

Avoiding Costly Mistakes

As business owners, we all know that terminating an employee is never an easy task to engage in. Additionally, and more important to understand is that terminations carry numerous legal pitfalls and must be accomplished with great care.

In today’s difficult economic environment, small employee problems can become big problems for you due to the potential for desperate acts of employees in fear of losing their jobs.

Couple a desperate employee with a legal system that gives far greater weight to employees than employers and you have a situation that will require cautious forward progress

Before you decide to terminate an employee, consider these steps:

  • Document everything! Disciplinary issues, pay raises, employee classification changes, job description changes, promotions and demotions must always be handled in writing so everything is clear and concise.
  • Do not let small problems go unanswered. If an employee is not acting as someone who really wants to be an asset to your organization, the time is now to begin dealing with the problem and move toward correcting the behavior or setting up a legal termination.
  • If an employee is not behaving properly, be sure performance evaluations are in line with the issues they are having. Make sure you do not contradict yourself when you decide to terminate.
  • Be sure you have properly counseled the employee to ensure there are no hidden issues and that you have given them every chance they deserve to improve.
  • When it is time to terminate, consider all pertinent information such as potential discrimination issues, recent injuries or job complaints, health issues and available performance documentation to name a few things.
  • Terminate decisively when everything is in line. Explain to the employee why they are being terminated but it is not advised you go into detail about the offenses or problems associated with their employment. This should have already occurred during counseling sessions.
  • The employee should never be surprised by the termination if you have done everything properly.
  • Be sure to provide the employee with all required paperwork, final pay, unemployment pamphlets, COBRA information and anything else required at the time of termination.
  • Do not deduct costs associated with unreturned tools, uniforms, loans or other monies owed to you by the employee. final paycheck deductions are rarely legal. It is best to handle these through other means.

This by no means covers everything you need to do before terminating someone but it does provide a basic guideline top stay out of trouble. Form ore information on terminating an employee or any other employee management issue, please contact Champion Employer Services at 800-513-2153.

Temporarily Reducing Labor Expense

Trimming Costs Without Losing Productivity

In today’s economy, it has become ever apparent important to keep your labor costs down while still providing for production, sales, marketing and customer service. With the labor market becoming saturated with workers due to layoffs, it is time to ensure that your workforce is performing at optimum levels and that all cylinders are firing. Here’s a few tips:

Manage Performance

Your employees need to know what is expected of them and how they measure up to those expectations. This can be done by first notifying  your employees that times are indeed tough and that means everyone needs to work harder towards the goal of maintaining a successful business, which in turn benefits them, as they will be more likely to keep their jobs.

Make sure they understand the performance standards you require and the consequences of failure. Once you have established this foundation, it is important to monitor performance and conduct regular meetings with your employees, as a group and individually to inform them of any shortcomings, encourage their good performance and update them as to the company’s situation.

Do not let poor performers drag your business down. Deal with problems quickly and effectively.

Trim Labor Cost

Many companies are trimming their work schedules in order to reduce costs and keep their current workforce. Employees may not want their pay to be reduced, but an explanation that this is necessary to avoid layoffs should help to maintain morale. There are several ways to accomplish this. Here are a few examples.

  • Switch non-critical employees to 4 day – 8 hours weeks
  • Shorten the day by 1-2 hours for non-critical employees
  • Ask employees to take unpaid leave or furlough’s
  • Switch some workers to a part-time basis

These suggestions need to be carefully considered to avoid issues with discrimination and other problems associated with changes in pay, status or work hours.

In general, it is necessary to take whatever steps are needed to prevent a catastrophic failure of the business. It is Champion’s goal to help you make whatever changes are necessary to keep your business operating efficiently without causing legal problems or negatively impacting employee moral.

Please contact Champion to discuss your particular situation before deciding on how to proceed.

Employees – Asset or Liability?

Effective Employee Management

Once you enter into the world of employment as a business owner, you enter a complex gauntlet of rules, laws and regulations defining how you treat your employees. These laws are unfortunately necessary to protect employees from unscrupulous employers and protect employers from the problems associated with employees. The key is to work within these limitations and provide your business with as much protection as possible with regards to employees. If you’re not doing a majority of the tasks below, you’re setting yourself up for a problem.

Here is a quick checklist outlining simple and effective things you can do to help protect your business.

Hire Smart

  • Develop written job descriptions before you hire.
  • Perform reference and background checks before you hire.
  • Provide a written job offer with detailed pay and job information at time of hire
  • Communicate company policy in the form of an Employee Policy Manual

Monitor Performance

  • Set clear and measurable expectations of each employee.
  • Execute performance reviews every 90 days first year of employment, semi-annually thereafter
  • Continue to set goals and benchmarks for future reference and review.

Deal with Problems

  • Quickly determine that there is a problem, i.e., tardiness, performance, attendance.
  • Counsel the employee on the issue.
  • Document the meeting and what the next step is.
  • Follow-up on the problem.

Document Everything

  • Document all employee issues, warnings and counseling sessions.
  • Track hours, meal and rest breaks and overtime.
  • Have employees sign all written communications, including payroll timesheets.

Terminate Quickly and Effectively

  • Don’t let problems drag on, you know when its time to call it quits.
  • Carefully consider all issues surrounding the employee and their performance.
  • Notify the employee in writing.
  • Pay all earned wages, commission and vacation at time of termination.

Again, this is just a quick overview of the very basic tasks an employer should perform in order to prevent employee problems. Maximizing their potential and creating longevity and loyalty is the next progression in the success of your business.

Effective Hiring Practices

Making the Most of your Hiring Decisions

Effectively hiring employees involves making informed decisions at the right time and executing them properly. Our focus this month is to highlight some effective methods that will help you make educated hiring decisions and hopefully avoid the cost, liability and stress of hiring the wrong person.

One of the first keys to a successful employment relationship is to have a very clear understanding of the position you are trying to fill what type of results you expect from the employee. Job descriptions change over time, but an initial description is necessary both for the employer and the employee. Informing a prospective employee of his or her job function and how

their job impacts the goals and objectives of the company is critical to a successful relationship.

Once you have a concise job description and a candidate in mind, discover all you can about the prospective employee before you hire them. A simple yet effective process of screening your employees before you hire them can be accomplished using the following guidelines:

  • Review several prospects before selecting the top candidates
  • Inform the top three candidates that they are in consideration for the position and will be required to provide references and background info.
  • Check all references carefully.
  • After selecting top candidate, provide a written “Contingent Job Offer” with requirements for a background check and/or a drug screen test or whatever else you require before hiring someone.
  • Job offer should include all pertinent information regarding job including tentative start date, wage and salary information, job description, supervisor, etc.
  • After successful completion of the background check, inform the employee that the job is theirs and they can start according to the agreed upon start date.
  • Provide the employee with all pertinent employee policy information at the time of hire before they start work, including new hire documentation, employee handbooks and employee benefit summaries.

Plan before you hire and spend more time preparing for their employment. Employee turnover is an expensive way to learn that someone is not right for the position.

Everything Has Changed

Why Proactive Human Resource Management
Isn’t Just for Big Business Anymore

Businesses have been forced to make drastic changes in workforce levels, employee policy and operations just to survive the economic downturn we’re facing. These actions include furloughs, performance related terminations, layoffs, wage reductions and temporary furloughs. Nearly every one of those moves carries litigation risk and employer liability if not performed correctly.

Employees are feeling the pressure as well. Their own lives are in chaos due to real estate woes, family job loss and other financial pressures. Many employees are becoming desperate to find a quick solution to their money problems.

With little to lose, more and more employees are willing to file labor board claims or other legal action, hoping to score a big settlement. Their allies are attorneys who will look for any reason to sue.  The smallest problems in the eyes of an employee can provide the foundation for an unwarranted claim and lawsuit.

So how does this change the workplace in regards to Human Resource Management? It changes it drastically, that’s the short answer. The longer answer involves a clear intention to build a solid foundation of HR strategies that are designed to maximize limited payroll dollars, protect business assets and set in motion necessary workplace changes designed to position the business for future growth and profit.

This solution is simple for larger businesses that have the resources and expertise to manage the complexities of HR. For small businesses however, they are highly disadvantaged in this area as it is usually the owners or unqualified staff that handle complicated HR related issues. Most must find creative ways to effectively manage their employees so they can succeed in a competitive marketplace but these methods usually lack any sophistication or focus. Without a concentrated focus on improving productivity, liability control and labor expense, businesses are doomed to mediocrity or worse, failure.

The most successful business have a clear focus on the human capital of their business. Now, more than ever, every business which depends on employees to get the job done must find ways to focus on strategic employee development and efficiency of human resource compliance.

If want succeed in a difficult economic environment, let Champion review your HR situation and see if outsourcing can help.