It`s clear that human resources (HR) compliance is essential for any business to succeed in today`s legal environment. However, achieving and maintaining compliance can be elusive goals for companies that don`t recognize challenges and develop an effective strategy to address them. This recruitment/hiring/onboarding process sets the tone for an employee`s career in the company. In addition, it exerts a great influence on the overall culture of the company, which contributes significantly to the company`s compliance. Human resources (HR) professionals are responsible for the strategic management of employees within a company while respecting the laws that govern employee rights and employer obligations. When a company violates these complex and ever-changing regulations, it exposes itself to risks, including lawsuits, financial loss, and reputational damage. In California, for example, any company with five or more employees should offer two hours of face-to-face/interactive anti-harassment training to each employee in a supervisory role and at least one hour to all non-supervisory employees. Professions such as nursing, social welfare, handling manufacturing facilities, etc. have their own training laws. As the first line of defense, human resources managers take care of compliance in the company`s efforts to treat employees fairly, comply with federal laws, and mitigate risk.
While there are differences by state and jurisdiction, there are a number of federal laws that are relevant to all regions of the United States. HR compliance is defined as a company`s approach to regulations that are compliant and consistent with internal and external policies. This includes compliance with labor law with regard to communications with employees, labor rules and safety protection, all of which have specific and detailed requirements. Don`t make the mistake of creating policies and procedures once and never coming back to them. These are living documents that should grow and adapt to the ever-changing regulatory landscape as well as the changing needs of the business. While the basic elements of the policy may remain the same, their details need to be adjusted to continue to protect the business and maintain compliance. In addition to federal laws that affect HRM, each state in the United States also has its own personnel laws that must be followed. Although the latter varies according to geographical location, there are a number of common protected rights of workers. These include non-discrimination and equal employment opportunities, freedom to join and form trade unions, minimum standards of working and employment conditions and the right to privacy. It may seem like a no-brainer, but an essential part of HR compliance is providing new employees with important documents as soon as they enter the company.
Some documents are required by law, while other documents can simply help avoid future litigation. The same policy applies when employees leave the company. The HR compliance lexicon is fluid. New laws replace old ones, a landmark decision may set a legal precedent, and current events may require a turning point in compliance practice. However, apart from these modifiable factors, there are 10 key terms to consider when meeting compliance mandates. Employers are also required to inform employees of their rights under EEOC laws. Employees should be aware that any complaint of discrimination filed does not affect their working conditions or job security. For example, French labor law requires a 35-hour week. For example, companies with an office in France could formulate internal guidelines for a four-day work week or prescribe a two-hour lunch break each day. Internal compliance ensures that broader regulatory guidelines are followed in practice and not just in theory. To keep pace, you need a regional compliance function at each site that works closely with that region`s local government and the central legal arm of your business.
Time tracking is one of the core functions of HR. Therefore, it is important to ensure that HR managers comply with all relevant legal requirements for tracking employee time. Hyde says there is also immense pressure on organizations to offer better harassment training. It is important for HR employees to know what is legally considered harassment in order to eliminate it in the workplace. Informed HR professionals can better prevent harassment and protect both employees and the company. While you may not be required by law to create an employee handbook, this is recommended. Employee manuals can help you communicate your policies to your employees and mitigate legal disputes. In addition, an employee handbook is a living document that you must update as laws and policies change. First, check if your HR technology complies with data protection laws or the GDPR, for example, if you operate in Europe. In addition, many HR tools have compliance modules that facilitate compliance.
Examples of such platforms include BerniePortal Compliance, SAI 360, and IntelliHR. When it comes to understanding where your HR compliance efforts stand, it`s helpful to conduct HR and compliance audits. Basically, HR teams here look at the issues for which they are directly responsible and ensure that they meet legal and regulatory requirements. This would cover areas such as HR documentation, hiring processes, HR best practices, employee surveys, and current manuals, to name a few. These steps will help the HR function take a big step towards achieving its goal of maintaining HR compliance for the entire organization. With such a wide range of legal requirements, it can be easy to overlook the importance of staying up to date and regularly adjust workplace policies. In the event of non-compliance, an employee has the right to sue for a variety of reasons. HR departments must therefore be aware of all laws and regulations. They also need to understand how they should deal with any legal issues that may arise.
This is a great and crucial responsibility within any organization. And it`s a business that, if mismanaged, could have an extremely negative impact on a business, with the potential to cause significant legal problems. To understand compliance and what it requires of your business, you need to master the legal requirements within a particular industry. HR professionals with legal expertise also have a competitive advantage in the workplace, as they are able to proactively minimize a company`s exposure to legal risks. With in-depth knowledge of current laws and their real-world applications, they help companies stay compliant and avoid unnecessary claims while protecting the rights of valuable employees. Minimum employment age, hourly minimum wage, anti-discrimination laws and others all comply with legal regulations. However, this can vary from country to country, which is why country-specific HR compliance is crucial (see Checklist #9). To achieve this, HR professionals need to keep abreast of the laws that apply to them and industry best practices. In addition, they must be able to take the time to perform the audit in addition to other HR compliance tasks.
To learn more about HR compliance best practices across all industries, read our article here. Auditing aims to identify risks and diagnose compliance issues before they become problems. But it can also be used through the lens to determine exactly what HR is doing well, which helps reduce costs and increase your efficiency. 3. Hiring and firing process: This now includes greater attention to immigration laws, labour relations, and unions (technically no regulation, but it can result in significant legal costs on the street. In addition, HR needs to let out expensive employees in a way that doesn`t lead to lawsuits or problems. Another important legal issue in human resources is the prevention of harassment. Companies must create anti-harassment policies that aim to create and maintain a work environment where people are treated with dignity, decency and respect. These policies must be made available to all new and existing employees. In addition, all managers should also be trained to ensure that they are able to identify potential instances of harassment and behaviour, as well as fair, impartial and thorough investigations in the event that an employee`s claim is made.
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