By: Bill Vogel, PHR Date: July 2, 2018 Virtual HR Pros It’s proven that a positive workplace is more productive than one with a negative atmosphere created by constant complaints, drama, and disrespect. To maintain a positive workplace managers and supervisors must first consider how they support, communicate, and respect their employees. Even with the most difficult situations and people a positive workplace is important towards financial health. Unfortunately, other forces affect the workplace that are outside of the manager or supervisor’s control such as lay-offs, employee turnover, and a declining economy. No matter the cause, from either internal or external forces, managers and supervisors can implement simple steps to suppress negativity. Promoting a positive workplace also means sustaining positivity day in and day out. Ongoing steps for promoting and sustaining a positive workplace:
Provide Employees with Support – Meet with employees regularly, at least monthly, as a group and one-on-one. Ask each employee if they have the tools they need to do their jobs and commit to making any needed changes such as new software, eliminating redundancy, and balancing workloads between employees. Training is an excellent way of providing support because this improves the employee’s value and helps them achieve performance goals. Communicate Openly – Communicating openly includes managers and supervisors providing employees examples of positive behavior as role models. Effective leaders avoid making negative comments such as criticizing senior management decisions, demeaning the company, and participating in harmful gossip. Managers and supervisor must lead with a positive attitude by supporting a can-do spirit, focusing on solutions not problems, and prevent an employee’s negativity from spreading. Show Leadership Respect – Showing respect can be difficult with problematic employees, such as employees with an unwavering sense of entitlement. These employees often demand respect before showing respect, have an unreasonable sense of entitlement, and seem to dislike authority altogether. The key to winning them over is to acknowledge contributions to the department, treat each employee fairly, and avoid favoritism or even the perception of favoritism. Keeping a positive attitude day-in and day-out is very difficult to achieve with all the penetrating forces beyond our control. Sustaining a positive workplace, such as keeping everyone optimistic, confident, and upbeat takes a lot of effort. The reward of this effort, regardless of the forces that test our patience, leads to better bottom line results. As always, get help from a qualified HR Professional if you think your business is at risk, or needs help developing policies, procedures, and training courses to assist managers and supervisors with workplace compliance requirements.
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By Arleen Atienza May 24th, 2018 Hogan Injury One of the biggest challenges any organization faces is keeping their employees, more so the good and deserving ones. When an employee leaves, the management is left with the task to look for a replacement within a short period, as well as the responsibility to manage its impact on the rest of the team. When a team member resigns, people notice; and inevitably, it will make the others think whether it would be high time for them to go, too. This is why effective employee retention must be high on the list of the management’s priorities. Here are a few things organizations can consider in forming a good employee retention strategy. Employee Compensation Today’s competitive labor market requires organizations to offer potential hires attractive compensation packages, which include the salaries, benefits, health plans, paid time off, retirement plans, and allowances, among others. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) prescribes standards for wages and overtime pay. Every state has a workers’ compensation program that protects the interests of workers who are injured or become ill while at work, as well as their family and employers. Employers must make sure that their compensation package is, first and foremost, in line with the mandates of the law. Work-Life Balance Employees value a healthy work-life balance in the company they’re in. Burnout is one major reason for employees to quit, and sometimes it only takes some flexibility on the employer’s end to address this problem. If overtime is necessary, employers must make sure that they comply with the law-mandated overtime pay, and it will also help to give the employees the option to come in late the next day to ensure that they are able to recuperate. Some companies offer flexible schedules and options to work remotely. Safe and Inclusive Environment It is of utmost importance that employees feel that their work environment is free from discrimination and threats to their safety. Organizations must be vocal and transparent in their policies on sexual harassment, discrimination, and other sensitive issues in the workplace. Companies must also ensure that the workplace has effective security facilities and protocols and is free from physical hazards. Rewards and Recognition Every employee wants to feel appreciated for the work that they do. Team leaders can make it a habit to allow an hour or two every end of the month to recognize those who went the extra mile, met or exceeded targets, and those who made a significant improvement in their performance. The rewards do not need to be expensive, as long as they send the message that the effort and ingenuity of the employee are much appreciated. Furthermore, implementing a rewards and recognition program is found to be effective in minimizing work-related stress. Training and Development Employers must also recognize the employees’ desire for growth and learning. As soon as the employees join the organization, the onboarding and orientation session becomes crucial in setting them up for success. For a week or two, they must be given a comprehensive overview as to the culture and goals of the company, as well as the opportunities that await them. It has been found that effective on-boarding reduces turnover and increases retention. Aside from their key roles in the organization, they must also be given opportunities to broaden their skill set. Mentoring, coaching, and cross-training are some of the ways in which employees can develop their career within the organization. Companies must make sure that every employee is given these opportunities to keep them from feeling stagnated in their current role. By: Bill Vogel, PHR Date: June 30, 2018 Virtual HR Pros With the growing legalization of marijuana, managers and supervisors may wonder if it is legal to drug test job applicants. The bigger question is whether a manager or supervisor can withdraw an offer of employment if an applicant tests positive for a job in a state where marijuana is legal. (Keep in mind that in many states employers must provide an applicant with a job offer before the drug test.) The answer is yes, employers can continue to drug test job applicants and refuse to hire applicants testing positive for marijuana in states where it has been legalized. Drug testing is another sticky issue for employers because of the different state and federal laws that protect applicants against discrimination, invasion of privacy, and defamation. However, even though states in the US have passed laws legalizing marijuana, it is still an illegal drug under federal law. Therefore, employers need to have solid drug policies in place to avoid legal problems to help comply with legal regulations. Except for federal contractors and companies subject to Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, most employers are not required to drug test job applicants. However, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, employees with addictions are over 2 times more likely to have a work related injury. According to the US Department of Labor, problems resulting from alcohol and drug abuse has cost American businesses over $81 billion dollars. To decrease risk associated with drug use by potential employees, employers need to have a pre-employment drug testing policy. The common elements of a drug testing policy are as follows:
After implementing a drug policy, employers can then contract with third-party vendors to conduct the testing. This includes issuing the Federal Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) release, selecting a collection site and laboratory, and providing chain of custody forms. A few things Managers and Supervisors may not know about drugs in the workplace:
Making informed hiring decisions requires several steps, most importantly the pre-employment drug testing step. No matter how complicated the legal requirements between state and federal laws, drug testing remains one of the better predictors of new hire success. As always, get help from a qualified HR Professional if you think your business is at risk, or needs help developing policies, procedures, and management training courses to assist with workplace compliance requirements. By: Bill Vogel, PHR
VirtualHRPros.com June 18, 2018 Conflicts within the workplace are unavoidable, managers and supervisors must have the necessary skills to respond appropriately to prevent conflict from escalating. Left unattended, conflicts become disputes that could then result in lost productivity, employee turnover, customer complaints, or lawsuits. Pulling employees aside and actively listening to their complaints is the less challenging part of managing conflict. How a manager or supervisor successfully responds to workplace conflict is the bigger challenge. Workplace conflicts can occur for a variety of reasons but usually fall under two categories, which are disagreements related to personal issues or work activity issues. For example, two employees that dislike each other because of a failed relationship outside of work and are unable to work together is a personal issue. Conversely, two employees who have competing ideas about how to reach a goal is a work activity issue. Once the conflict is categorized managers and supervisors can determine an appropriate response that will resolve the conflict before it gets out of hand. Five appropriate responses to conflict are as follows:
Opposing - Conflicts that put the company’s welfare at risk requires quick and conclusive action. These are usually personal or relationship type conflicts. For example, an employee that posts false information on social media websites about a manager or supervisor, in retaliation for receiving discipline, requires a forceful approach that opposes the behavior. The approach may include additional discipline or termination in this matter. As a side note, before taking steps against employees for this type of activity, make sure you have an effective social media policy in place. Collaborating – Sometimes conflict leads to employees having relevant important and useful points of view that requires an integrative resolution. These are often work place type of conflicts. For example, two engineers find design flaws that create safety concerns but have conflicting ideas about how to correct the problem. The best approach is a collaboration between the employees that encourages tolerance and agreement towards the best solution. This is a great example of workplace conflict that comes with benefits, which means that along with conflict managers and supervisors can learn something new. Compromising – Conflict resolution may result in both parties willing to give up something to arrive at a mutually satisfying solution. These can be personal or workplace type of conflicts. For example, two employees that depend on each other to achieve individual goals may blame the other for a missed deadline. One of these employees may have a good reason for delays, such as returning from vacation and needing to catch up on workloads. A compromise may include the other employee agreeing to perform some of the other employee’s duties temporarily to achieve the necessary goals by the assigned deadlines. Accommodating – This is a unassertive cooperative approach to conflict resolution. These types of conflict can be both personal and work related. For example, employees often have issues with scheduling that cause conflict with manager or supervisor. To make sure customers receive services or when expected, employees need to be at work and on time. However, the manager or supervisor may need to accommodate the employee, such as a change in schedule. This may also be necessary for legal reasons. Avoiding – Avoiding conflict seems like the wrong thing to do, however it may be necessary if the manager or supervisors is confronted with high emotions, needs more information, or the issue is of little importance. Most of all, a conflict that a manager or supervisor has no chance of winning should be avoided. These are usually personal issue types of conflicts. Let’s take for example the two employees that can’t work together because of a failed relationship outside of work. In this situation, the manager or supervisor will fail miserably trying to get the two employees to at least like each other in the hopes they will once again work as a team. This conflict needs to be avoided, but the manager or supervisor must address any poor performance issues. At Virtual HR Pros, we have resources for managers to help them improve culture and moral in the workplace. As always, get help from a qualified HR Professional if you think your business is at risk, or needs help developing policies, procedures, and training courses to assist with workplace compliance requirements. By: Bill Vogel, PHR VirtualHRPros.com With the labor market in the US reaching historic unemployment lows, managers need ongoing recruiting strategies to fill the jobs needed to keep up with customer demand. One approach towards creating a successful strategic recruiting plan is starting with the four Ps of marketing. This marketing strategy uses a mix of product, price, place, and promotion for successfully attracting customers. In recruiting terms this translates into developing a strategy that uses a mix of jobs, wages, location, and technology. Considering this mix helps hiring mangers easily attract candidates and develop a pool of applicants to choose from.
Jobs - Typically, managers have three types of job openings, which are vacancies created by voluntary or involuntary terminations, newly created positions, and promotional opportunities. Knowing the type of jobs opening provides a manager with a time frame in which to fill the position. For example, a manager that has five job openings a month due to involuntary terminations, knows that there is little or no notice of these job openings and therefor needs to maintain a pool of at least five applicants each month. Wages – In a labor market with low unemployment, hiring managers need to offer pay that competes with companies that have the same talent needs, or risk losing qualified applicants. Smaller companies may not have the revenue to offer competitive starting salaries, which means they must consider less experienced candidates and offer training or tuition reimbursement. Always treat recruiting strategies as a way of competing for talent, just as companies compete for customers. Location: Depending on the type of job and budget, managers can attract qualified applicants from external and local or global job market resources. Hiring managers may also discover a pool of qualified applicants internally, which is cost effective and quickly fills job openings. A simultaneous search for applicants externally and internally can greatly improve recruiting strategies. Technology – After a hiring manager decides on which jobs to fill, the pay, and location search for qualified applicants, the next step is selecting the method of publicly promoting job openings. The best communication methods include the use of technology such as internet job boards, social media, resumé database searches, colleges, and government resources. Whichever communication method is used, keep your audience in mind. For example, a resumé database search may not be a great way to attract hourly paid jobs such as in retail or manufacturing but using popular job boards and social media may provide better results. Here’s an example of a recruiting strategy for a large chain department store: Jobs: 15 new full-time cashier positions added for the upcoming holidays that need to be filled by October-15 Wages: starting pay is $1 above minimum wage plus a sign on bonus of $100 after 60 days. Employees will be eligible for dental, medical, and vision benefits the first of the month following 30-days of employment. Location: Target applicants from local job markets from surrounding cities within a 20 miles radius. Attend job fairs and conduct onsite same day application and interview events. Technology: Run classified advertisements using the most popular social media and job board internet sites, run classified advertisement at movie theaters, place “now hiring” banners above store entry. Install working computers within the store for walk in applicants to complete a job application on the company’s website. The example above mentions a sign on bonus, here’s a list of some other recruiting tools and benefits helpful for attracting applicants below the upper management and executive level.
Using what works in the past can save a lot f time and money. Collect data such as reasons for voluntary resignations, referral source listed on previous applications, and quality of hire to identify successful recruiting resources. This data will assist managers with identifying which recruiting strategies to keep, and which to discontinue. always, get help from a qualified HR Professional if you think your business is at risk, or help is needed developing policies, procedures, and training courses to assist with workplace compliance requirements. By: Arleen Atienza May 30th, 2018 The US Labor Law continues to evolve right in front of our eyes and it is imperative for both employers and employees to get updated on the changes involved as they affect company policies that surround employment, training, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training, injury and illness claims, and compensation, among others. Here are just a few of the developments in labor law this year. Discrimination Title VII, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is considered to be the cornerstone of equal opportunity law as it possesses the widest coverage, prohibition, and remedies to individuals. Despite its already encompassing nature, it continues to evolve. In Zarda v. Altitude Express, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that the deceased skydiving instructor, Donald Zarda was illegally fired for being gay. In its 10-3 decision, the 2ndcircuit agreed that sexual orientation is a function of a person’s gender, and is therefore covered by the law’s prohibition on sex bias. Employers in other states besides New York can expect that other circuit courts will also extend Title VII’s protections to cover sexual orientation. Sexual Harassment As sexual harassment issues and the #MeToo movement continues to dominate talks across all sectors and industries, legislation in California appears to also be saturated by such discussions. Several bills have been passed and are under consideration in 2018. These proposals include Assembly Bill 3080, which will prohibit mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims, ban retaliation, and protect whistleblowers after publicly disclosing harassment they experienced or witnessed. Assembly Bill 1867 will require employers to keep records of sexual harassment complaints for 10 years, while Assembly Bill 1870 will extend the statute of limitations for sexual harassment cases from one year to three years. In preventing workplace sexual harassment, a number of bills were also passed such as Senate Bill 1300, which will require companies of all sizes to provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees within six months of hiring, once every two years. These are just four of the dozens of bills passed in California to address the rampant and pressing problem of sexual harassment in the workplace. Injury and Illness The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule in 2016 to revise its Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulation, effective January 1, 2017. The new rule requires certain employers to submit their existing injury and illness data electronically. Some of the data will be posted online, as OSHA believes that public disclosure will encourage employers to improve safety in the workplace, as well as provide important information to employees, job seekers, researchers, customers, and the public. On February 21, 2018, OSHA issued guidelines on how to cite employers who failed to submit their injury and illness records electronically. The memorandum addresses potential violations to the said OSHA rule. Below is an excerpt from the memo:
Contact us at Hogan Injury if you want to know more about these labor law developments. None of the content on Hoganinjury.com is legal advice nor is it a replacement for advice from a certified lawyer. Please consult a legal professional for further information. Article By: Bill Vogel, PHR Date: June 4, 2018 VirtualHRPros.com Reducing the needless number of days employees are absent from work is the primary purpose for having an attendance policy. According the Bureau of Labor Statistics: The Economics Daily, 4.2 million full time workers surveyed in January 2018 missed work because they were sick, injured, or claimed to have a medical problem or doctor’s appointment. This is an increase from the 4.0 million workers who missed work for the same reasons in January 2017. It’s unclear if all the workers in this survey were subject to an attendance policy. However, with an increase in absences year over year and new legal protections for time off, employers need an effective attendance policy. Attendance policies can utilize two measurement methods, the number of days absent or tardy, or the number of points absent or tardy within a rolling twelve-month time frame. The easiest tracking method is counting the number of days, but some of the latest payroll system software available has a built-in point tracking system. The most difficult part of the attendance policy is defining what is an absence or tardy violation. Several laws protect absences from work such as the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA), and state or municipal paid sick leave laws (PSL). Issuing disciplinary warnings or terminating an employee for absences protected by law can lead to a long and expensive legal battle. The following considerations are at the forefront of developing an attendance policy:
For each category the definition excludes the use of two terms, excused and unexcused. Employees may have justifiable reasons for not being at work and may assume the absence or tardy is excused. For example, an employee is absent for one day and may voluntarily provide a doctor’s note the next day, but this does not mean that the absence is excused or a legally protected. Absences – The manager can assign points or number of days that an employee, usually incurs within 12-months, for unscheduled absences before receiving disciplinary action up to and including termination. For example, one unscheduled absence can result in a verbal waning, two a written warning, three a final warning, and the fourth is termination. There is no need to define absences as excessive. The use of points is explained later. Tardy – This can be a simple definition as well, as with absences there is no need to define tardy violations as unexcused or excessive. A tardy is anytime an employee starts working after a scheduled work start time, this includes returning from lunch. Notice the definition does not include arriving but starting work. Based on business necessity the manager will need to determine how much time, past the scheduled start time, is considered a tardy violation. Leaving Work Early – Employees are expected to work until the end of their scheduled work day. Leaving work early without manager or supervisor approval can also be an attendance policy violation. Job Abandonment – An employee that fails to show up for work and fails to notify a supervisor or manager of an absence, is commonly referred to as a no-call-no-show. A manager can terminate an employee after one no-call-no-show, but to avoid a wrongful termination claim, it’s best for managers to call the missing employee on the day first and wait two or three work days before separating employment. An attendance policy can include how many days or points per attendance violation before disciplinary steps begin. For example, after three violations an employee receives a verbal warning and then disciplinary steps (e.g. written warning and final warning) for each violation thereafter, all within a 12-month period. This means the employee would have a total of 5 violations with a 6th violation resulting in termination. To spread it out a bit, the attendance policy can include points for each violation such as 2 points for an absence and 1 point for a tardy. For example, when an employee receives 6 points (two absences and two tardy occurrences), the manager issues a verbal warning and then disciplinary steps after each additional 6 points within a calendar year. The cost of absenteeism is difficult to quantify, but there is little doubt that consistently absent and tardy employees cut into revenues, cause delays to customers, and place additional work burdens on coworkers. However, as a final step before terminating an employee for violating the attendance policy, managers need to make sure strict compliance with leave laws such as FMLA, ADA, and PSL. An example of an attendance policy can be found at VirtualHRPros.com Attendance Policy. By: Job Virata March 30th, 2018 Hogan The customer is the heart of any business. Whether the business is a retail clothing store, food delivery, or even a law firm offering expert services, the business’s success relies on their customers. Even if the product or service that you’re selling is top-notch if you don’t have people to buy what you’re selling or avail of your services, your business is bound to fail. Companies including law firms should consider their customers as assets because aside from buying a business’s product or service which gives the business revenue to keep on operating, these customers provide invaluable feedback that your company can use to improve and to expand; this is the reason why businesses should make an effort to understand their customers. One method that a business can use to understand their customers better is the use of CRM or Customer Relationship Management. CRM is a system that lets businesses manage their business relationships and customer data that can help the company increase its sales and improve customer retention. CRM systems compile information about your customer from their interactions with any part of your business, whether it’s your company website, telephone conversation, direct mail, or social media. The information gathered can range from the customer’s personal information to their spending habits and product feedback, all of which can be very helpful to any business. These are some of the advantages of having a CRM system for your business:
There are many CRM systems available to businesses with a multitude of features that will satisfy your company’s needs. Law firms can gain a lot of benefits by using CRM systems that will help them schedule tasks and meetings with clients, organize their client contacts, and assist them in their efforts to follow-up on potential clients. Client retention for law firms can also be greatly increased by using CRM to anticipate their client’s needs. CRM data can also help law firms project their future by analyzing their current client base, and these projections will enable law firms to make adjustments to serve customers better. Appreciating your customers is good, but for you to truly show your appreciation for them, you need to understand their needs and CRM helps you do that. Article By: Bill Vogel, PHR Date: 5/21/2018 Virtual HR Pros Last week I posted an article that provided managers with guidance on selecting salary philosophies and how much to pay employees compared to competitors. This week in part of two, I will provide further guidance on this topic, which is the development of pay ranges. This is an important step because pay ranges help to control labor budgets and keep pay rates fair and consistent based on job skills. Developing pay ranges includes the following primary steps:
Completing a job analysis can be a tedious process, it includes identifying each essential job function and the percent of time spent performing these duties. The analysis also includes other requirements of a job such as skills, abilities, duties test to determine exempt (not eligible for overtime pay) or non-exempt (eligible for overtime time pay), and the physical demands. The US Department of Labor provides guidance to help determine exempt or non-exempt pay status. In addition, I also provide a job analysis form available on my website, Virtual HR Pros Job Analysis, to help in this step. As a side note, the job analysis ultimately leads to the job description. After completing an analysis for each job, the manager places the jobs into job groups. For example, administrative, clerical, managerial, and technical job groups. If needed, managers may also want to rank jobs within the groups. Ranked jobs are similar positions, but have junior or senior titles such as Senior HR Generalist or Junior Recruiter. I touched upon Job Market Research in part one, but to recap, market research means having external pay data for all jobs within a company, such as data provided by the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Employment Statistics. This data includes minimum, average, and maximum pay rates, usually provided as percentiles, that other companies across the country are paying to their employees. This data is usually collected through surveys or governmental reporting requirements. Managers match this data to their jobs and add it to the job analysis to get an idea of how much to pay for a job based on the labor market. After managers collect all the pay data, jobs are assigned a job grade, which is based on similar job worth. For example, market research might reveal that jobs such as File Clerk, Receptionist, and Janitor have the same or similar minimum, average, and maximum hourly pay rates. Therefore, these jobs share the same pay range and fall into the same job grade. After completing each step, managers, or the HR Manager then separates jobs by grade and assigns the pay ranges. Here is an example of a finalized pay range table for a hypothetical Job Grade 1 (California's geographic salary market): Here are some other tips to help avoid future compensation issues down the road: Select pay data based on geographic locations such as within a state or city. Audit pay ranges each year to ensure updated and relevant pay rates in a range. Avoid paying below the minimum pay rate, referred to as green-circled employees, and paying above the maximum rate, referred to as red-circled employees. Audit job descriptions and pay rate consistency between men and women in similar jobs for compliance with equal and fair pay laws to avoid pay discrimination issues. As always, get help from a qualified HR Professional if you think your business is at risk, or needs help developing compensation policies, procedures, and training courses to assist with workplace compliance requirements. Article By: Bill Vogel
Posted: April 10, 2018 From: VirtualHRPros.com Determining how much to pay new or current employees will depend on two primary planning phases. First, managers need to determine if they want to pay less, more or equal to their competitors. This is referred to as a company’s Compensation Philosophy. Second, managers might want to create Salary Ranges that provide minimum, mid, and maximum pay rates with explanations that justify pay rates for each position. The compensations philosophy will first depend on the labor budget. Startups may only be able to pay below market or minimum wage. When businesses experience growth, it makes sense to increase pay rates to attract better talent and reduce turnover. Managers have four primary options for planning and designing a company’s compensation philosophy:
To help identify market rates such as average pay for specific jobs in an industry and geographic location, several research companies provide salary market data using surveys, which can cost in the area $400 or more per job description. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides salary market reports free of charge, but the reports may not contain salary data in the current year. Lagging the labor market – Another reason for paying less than market rates, besides being a startup with limited capital, companies may choose a plan that continuously pays below market rates. For example, managers may provide variable pay such as bonuses, commissions, or piece rate pay in addition to a base salary or hourly rate. However, make sure the market salary data you are using to set pay rates does not include variable pay. Matching the labor market – Managers may want to match the salaries that are offered by their competitors to help attract more job seekers and keep labor costs at manageable rates. However, managers will need to keep an eye on salaries paid by competitors because market rates fluctuate. This means that managers will need to adjust pay rates often to keep up with matching salary rates. Leading the labor market – Paying employees above rates paid by their competitors is a winning strategy. This compensation philosophy attracts the best talent, helps keep morale high, and reduces turnover. However, this is an extremely expensive strategy. Managers need to monitor this strategy to make sure they get their expected return on investment before it eats up revenue. Combination of lag, match, and lead – A combination strategy helps save money and attract talent. For example, in a market with high unemployment, managers can attract several job seekers. Under this circumstance managers may want to adopt a matching philosophy. On the other hand, for hard to fill positions, no matter the unemployment rate, managers can adopt a lead philosophy to fill position quickly and with top talent for these positions. Compensation philosophies are not new, but managers need to justify how much they pay employees. Companies must adhere to fair pay requirements under changes in laws to stay out of legal trouble. In addition, managers in certain states cannot ask applicants how much they were paid in the past by previous employers. This law is gaining momentum, so it’s a good idea to start implementing pay policies starting with pay philosophies. Next week, I will discuss the second the second planning phase, creating salary ranges. As always, get help from a qualified HR Professional if you think your business is at risk, or needs help developing policies, procedures, and training courses to assist with workplace compliance requirements. |