• by Signup Training

Business owners face challenges that they need to tackle on a daily basis. One such area is the constantly changing landscape of HR laws and regulations.By enforcing HR compliance rules, companies can avoid penalties, litigations and expensive law suits. HR departments that follow regulations and guidelines can really be a big asset to the organization. Employers must ensure that their organizations are compliant with regard to HR policies of the USA government.

In this article we explore some of the challenges that employers face with regard to HR compliance.

1. Fair Compensation

Many businesses follow manual entry of payroll related information. This leads to oversight and errors in payment related to overtime, incentive calculation and minimum wage adherence. While a lot of these irregularities are minor and can be rectified, oversight can lead to costly repercussions.

2. Leave Policies

All companies in the USA must adhere to the Family and Medical Leave Act that provide employees that meet a minimum criteria a 12-week approved leave for issues related to medical or family needs. Although this leave is unpaid, it helps employees retain their employment during this extended time off. As business owners, we must ensure that such employees are able to retain their employment and get back to work without penalties.

3. Employee Discrimination

As companies grow big, it gets difficult to track the behavior of employees; be it leadership teams or peers. As per the Federal Law, it is against the law to discriminate employees of the basis of gender, color, age and others. It can be an extremely expensive task to fight civil cases related to discrimination. HR teams must put in the relevant precautions and guidelines to ensure the civil liberties of employees are protected at all times.

4. Data Security & Cyber Breaches

The threat of a cyber-attack is real for all companies, small and large. Businesses must ensure that all sensitive information is stored securely. More importantly, businesses must ensure that data related to employees, business performance and identity protection are under strict protection.

5. Workplace Harassment

Many businesses have to face legal issues due to workplace harassment cases. This severely affects that reputation of the company and also business losses. HR teams must put in place actions that curb any sort of workplace harassment. Relevant measures must be taken to ensure all employees are aware of the importance of preventing workplace harassment.

6. Recruitment

It is a job seeker’s market today. Attracting and retaining talent is difficult, especially for mid ad small sized businesses. However, following the right recruitment practices can go a long way in setting the right precedent for candidates. Following the basic norms of job interviews and salary discussion processes are crucial in this regard. One good example, is ensuring candidates are not asked to share their salary history. There are many other such legal bans that HR teams must follow while recruiting.

7. Mental Health

In today’s cut throat office culture, employees may be suffering. HR teams must follow the right protocol to ensure all employees are able to manage the constant work pressure. Regular trainings and awareness must be conducted for leadership teams and employees to keep their behavior in check while at work. Also, appropriate grievance redressal methods must be available to employees.

8. Employee Perks

The Fortune 500 companies offer their employees several perks and benefits to keep them motivated at work. This is one of the crucial differences in employee-friendly companies compared to the rest. Small and medium businesses should actively look at opportunities where their employees can be rewarded. This not only keeps the morale high but also build a sense of loyalty towards the company.

9. Workforce Management

Small businesses tend to overlook workforce management as a focus area to improve productivity. However, it is the HR team’s responsibility to offer basic benefits like flexible work hours, remote working facilities and other benefits that ensure appropriate work-life balance. All of today’s modern workforces have these benefits as mandatory rules for their workforce.

10. Technology Support

Any business of today is driven by technology. HR teams can build productive workforces with the use of technology. Simple steps like providing employees with laptops, mobiles and cloud-based sharing platforms not only ensure employees work at optimum levels, but also keep them motivated to work better.

Join our webinar on HR Compliance to help your HR teams stay updated on the latest HR regulations set by the US government.