Vision Payroll

This week’s question comes from Beth, a company owner. I read about HR On-Demand previously and would like more information. Can you tell me more about HR-On Demand? Answer: HR On-Demand is one of three great HR solutions that Vision Payroll offers its customers. The other two are MyHRSupportCenter and HR Compliance Services.

Get Unlimited Consultations with HR Professionals

With HR On-Demand, you get unlimited consultations with HR Professionals over the phone or internet or by e-mail. You get answers to your employment law compliance and employee relationship questions, customization of employee handbooks, job descriptions, forms, letters, and more!

With HR On-Demand, Get Help When You Need It

With the HR On-Demand Program, you reach out for help any time your company needs it. Our experienced HR professionals then work with you to address your business specific questions and needs, including:

• Ask the Pro: Address your situational questions about workplace compliance and employee issues, and receive a response within one business day.
• Document Customization: Our HR Pros will create and/or customize your HR documents, and review for potential compliance concerns.
• Employee Handbook Development: Schedule a consultation with an HR Pro to develop a custom Employee Handbook and a plan for implementation.

Get Started with HR On-Demand Today

If you would like to upgrade to or get started on HR On-Demand, contact Vision Payroll today.

This week’s question comes from Eileen, an office manager. I read about your handbook wizard application, but we already have a handbook that hasn’t been updated in several years. How can I get an updated handbook? Answer: Vision Payroll offers three levels of HR support: MyHRSupportCenter, HR On-Demand, and HR Compliance Services. Different options are available depending upon which service your company has chosen.

All Levels May Use the Handbook Wizard

Clients who subscribe to any of the levels of service listed above may use the Handbook Wizard to create a new handbook. If it has been several years since your handbook was updated, it may be more practical to create a new handbook than to amend your existing handbook.

Customers Using HR On-Demand May Request Assistance

Customers using HR On Demand may request assistance with their handbook. There are four levels of service an HR On-Demand customer may request:

• General handbook questions – no consultation needed as answers will be provided by e-mail
• Handbook orientation – a sixty-minute consultation to help you create a new handbook
• Policy consultation – a thirty-minute consultation to update and address specific policies
• Annual review – a thirty-minute consultation to review your current handbook to help ensure it is still compliant

Customers Using HR Compliance Services Will Get Feedback Based On Their Audit

Customers using HR Compliance Services will be contacted to discuss and review their handbook and to make changes as necessary. The information gathered during their HR compliance audit will be used to assess their current handbook. Additionally, these customers may also request assistance in the same manner as HR On-Demand customers.

Get Started Updating Your Handbook Today

If you haven’t yet signed up and would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

Some employers in the private sector hear the concept of “unfair labor practices” and think it applies to employees represented by labor unions. However, unfair labor practices essentially include employer or union violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

What Is an Unfair Labor Practice?

Actions considered unfair labor practices include the following:

• Coercing workers not to join unions;
• Threatening to close a worksite or plant if workers decide to join or form a union;
• Promising extras to employees if they don’t join the union; and
• Forcing workers to quit because of legitimate union activities.

Get More Details on Unfair Labor Practices in the Private Sector

To learn more details about each of these unfair labor practices, be sure to listen to Unfair Labor Practices in the Private Sector in this month’s HRCast, a recording provided by our team of HR Pros and available exclusively on MyHRSupportCenter.

MyHRSupportCenter Provides Alerts, Best Practices, and HR Tools Every Day

Visit MyHRSupportCenter regularly, not only for our HRCasts, but also to get late-breaking compliance alerts, best practices to implement, and HR tools to use every day. If you haven’t yet signed up and would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

The employee handbook is a critical part of protecting your business. Having an effective handbook in place can help you keep your business out of court, improve overall operations, motivate employee performance, and establish clear communication. Join hundreds of our HR professionals, small business owners, and office managers in creating your own customized employee handbook!

Use Our Handbook Wizard to Create Your Customized Handbook

Our Handbook Wizard will allow you to answer specific questions about your company and the wizard tool will build a completely customized employee handbook for your unique organization. Just answer a few basic questions about your company and complete your contact information and you’re ready to begin. Getting a customized handbook has never been easier.

Sign In Today to Get Started

The Handbook Wizard can be accessed by clicking Handbook in the Essentials tab section of the MyHRSupportCenter. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

Every business should understand the implications of workplace harassment. Businesses should also understand the proper response if harassment occurs. Establishing and effectively communicating clear guidelines will help enable a safer work environment for all employees and provide evidence of the employer’s good faith efforts to take action, be accountable for workplace behavior, and address harassment behaviors in the workplace.

How the Anti-Harassment Policy Checklist Can Help

The Anti-Harassment Policy Checklist addresses areas including:

• Content Areas
• Employee Communication
• Monitoring Commitment

Download the Anti-Harassment Policy Checklist Now

The Anti-Harassment Policy Checklist can be downloaded from the Checklists area in the Essentials tab section of the MyHRSupportCenter. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

Employers must ensure that any adverse employment actions are completely unrelated to claims an employee might make in terms of wage and hour issues. Learn about steps to avoid disastrous wage and hour class actions.

Six Steps You Can Take Today to Minimize Your Company’s Risk

• Don’t create a situation or reason for an employee to raise a complaint.
• Ensure that unpaid lunch breaks are at least thirty minutes long.
• Don’t make improper deductions from exempt employees’ salaries.
• Self-audit your exempt and non-exempt employees for proper classification.
• Self-audit your independent contractors to ensure they’re not employees.
• Provide wage and hour training for all supervisors and managers.

Get More Details on Wage and Hour Retaliation Claims

To learn more details about each of these preventive measures, be sure to listen to How to Protect Against Wage and Hour Retaliation Claims in this month’s HRCast, a recording provided by our team of HR Pros and available exclusively on MyHRSupportCenter.

MyHRSupportCenter Provides Alerts, Best Practices, and HR Tools Every Day

Visit MyHRSupportCenter regularly, not only for our HRCasts, but also to get late-breaking compliance alerts, best practices to implement, and HR tools to use every day. If you haven’t yet signed up and would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is a federal law establishing minimum standards for employee health benefit and retirement plans. While an employer is not required to establish a plan, ERISA does require those who establish and administer plans to meet certain standards. For example, plan administrators must provide participants written disclosures, such as a summary plan description (SPD) in a clear and easy to understand format about the company’s employee benefit plans.

Supreme Court Rules SPD Statements not Subject To ERISA

In a recent court ruling, the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that inaccurate or misleading SPD statements were not subject to ERISA enforcement penalties or remedies. Regardless, employers should consider these five areas regarding benefit plan communications:

1. Summary Plan Descriptions
2. Communications Officer
3. Regular Reviews
4. Transparency in Changes
5. Non-Summary Plan Descriptions

Learn More About the Five Top Tips for Benefit Plan Communications

To find get more details about each of the five top tips for benefit plan communications, be sure to read the featured article by the HR pros at MyHRSupportCenter, Five Top Tips for Benefit Plan Communications. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

This week’s question comes from David, an HR Director. One of our department managers received a complaint from an employee that we need to investigate. How do we conduct workplace investigations? Answer: The Workplace Investigations Guide can help employers through an investigation based on a complaint from an employee or even a customer.

Prompt Investigation and Corrective Action Are Critical

Prompt investigation and appropriate corrective action may be necessary for situations such as:

• An employee or non-employee complains to a manager about alleged harassment or discrimination personally experienced or observed by the individual.
• A manager directly observes employee conduct which violates certain company policies.
• An employer receives a formal EEOC charge even if no employee complaint was made to management prior to the charge.

How the Workplace Investigations Guide Can Help

The Workplace Investigations Guide not only provides general guidelines to follow, it provides useful tips in the following areas:

• Interviewing the Complainant
• Interviewing the Accused
• Interviewing the Witnesses

Download the Workplace Investigations Guide Now

The Workplace Investigations Guide can be downloaded from the Forms area in the “Essentials” tab section of the MyHRSupportCenter. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

This week’s question comes from James, an HR director. We need to track training for multiple employees. How can we track employee training? Answer: The Employee Training Log is a simple way to stay organized when it comes to tracking employee (including management) trainings.

Advantages To the Training Log

The training log can provide employers with the following advantages:

• Written documentation of employer’s workplace compliance efforts;
• Monitoring of employee performance development in terms of knowledge, skills, and abilities; and
• Assessment of employee fulfillment of required or recommended attendance due to corrective/disciplinary action expectations.

Download the Employee Training Log Now

The Employee Training Log can be downloaded from the Forms area in the “Essentials” tab section of the MyHRSupportCenter. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

A few employers may be familiar with a recent US Supreme Court ruling on March 1, 2011, regarding the case of Staub v. Proctor Hospital, No. 09-400, and how “cat’s paw” liability played a part. Cat’s paw liability involves an employer being held liable for unlawful discrimination, even though the “motivating factor” in the employment decision-making process stems from an unlawful bias of a supervisor with no employment decision-making authority.

Cat’s Paw Derived from the La Fontaine Fable

Cat’s paw relates to a fable about how a monkey convinces a cat to steal chestnuts from a fire, steals the same nuts from the cat, and then leaves the cat with empty but burnt paws. In the context of the workplace environment, the supervisor is the monkey as the employer is the cat.

Apply Seven Preventive Measures to Minimize Cat’s Paw Liability

To find out seven preventive measures companies can take to minimize cat’s paw liability, be sure to read the featured article by the HR pros at MyHRSupportCenter, Is Cat’s Paw Liability Scratching at Your Door?. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.