Professional Employer Organization Archives – Page 2 of 2

July 18, 2018

Did you know that if ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) does an inspection of your I-9s, you can be penalized even if you do not have unauthorized aliens on your workforce? The penalties can come from errors on the I-9 forms. And if you lean towards apathy where I-9s are concerned, snap out of it before you are faced with one or more penalties that are regularly imposed on companies who are less than diligent in that area of their business. In case you did not read our HR blog from last month, the penalties can be per error, per employee! One news commentator said that your I-9 diligence should be equal to the diligence you have when dealing with …

Posted in: CEOHR Tips

June 25, 2018

This month I will talking about country club safety. In the country club industry a lot of things can go wrong as far as safety is concerned due to not having the proper training or just plain not knowing. If you take a few minutes to review these tips hopefully together we can minimize typical safety issues and reduce lost time accidents. Safe Lifting: The club industry has various lifting exposures including picking up bags of fertilizer, installing golf cart batteries, removing tree limbs off the fairway, unloading trucks, and carrying sacks of food and canned goods. All of these can be done safely without hurting yourself or others around you. So let’s get to the safe lifting basics; Load at the load and decide if …

Posted in: CEOHR Tips

June 11, 2018

The Trump Administration has given the directive to hire 10,000 new ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents to keep employers and their hiring practices in check, while penalizing, and possibly arresting, those who violate I-9 regulations. With that many new agents on board, it is easy to see how the plan to conduct up to 15,000 I-9 audits this year can be done. 1 In a year where worksite investigations have already surpassed the number of investigations for all of 2017, 2018 may just be the harbinger of the new status quo. Not only have investigations doubled, but arrests associated with those investigations have quadrupled! Most of those arrested were workers, but it is still not clear if any employers …

Posted in: CEOHR Tips

June 6, 2018

Q: If we require employees to arrive ten minutes early to prepare for the start of their shift, do we have to pay them for this extra time? A: Yes. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (and likely state law as well), you must pay employees for all hours worked. This includes the time they are required to be on your premises, even if they haven’t begun their “regular” duties. Preparing for work—if it must be done at work—will be considered part of the employee’s continuous workday. You are certainly welcome to have an attendance and tardiness policy that requires employees to be at their desk or assigned location and ready to work exactly when their shift begins, and to …

Posted in: CEOHR Tips

May 18, 2018

Several of my clients are restaurants and in today’s blog post I will attempt to outline common safety concerns or OSHA violations I encounter during a typical safety audit. They are all easy fixes that require little or no cost to the client to implement. Fire Prevention 1. Smoking is only allowed in designated exterior smoking areas. 2. Empty grease traps to prevent accumulation of grease and oily residues on surface. 3. Keep combustible materials a safe distance from cooking equipment. 4. Package and remove garbage and trash frequently. 5. Clean ducts and flues regularly. 6. Check electrical cords for wear and tear regularly. 7. Only trained and authorized employees are allowed to use a portable fire extinguisher in the …

Posted in: CEOHR Tips

May 16, 2018

Q: We hired an employee about a month ago, and at the time of hire they said they could work weekends. Now they say that they can’t work weekends. What should we do? A: It depends. In general, if an employee is unable or unwilling to work the hours they had originally agreed to work, and those hours are required to meet business needs, you can discipline the employee up to and including termination. However, if the employee’s inability to work these hours is related to a protected reason (e.g., medical leave), you’ll want to have a conversation about accommodations instead of discipline. Whether you opt to discipline or terminate the employee, or work around their schedule, keep in mind …

Posted in: CEOHR Tips

May 14, 2018

Fall protection and safety is a major concern at the workplace. In fact, OSHA cites injuries from falls as one of its top ten worksite injuries. Falls and falling objects can result from unstable working surfaces, ladders that are not safely positioned and misuse of fall protection. Workers are subject to falls or dangers of falling if sides and edges, floor holes and wall openings are not protected. Any time you are working at a height of six feet or more you must be protected. Unprotected Sides, Wall Openings and Floor Holes: Unprotected sides and edges, wall openings or floor holes can be very common. If these sides are not protected, injuries from falls or falling objects may result. Use …

Posted in: CEOHR Tips

May 11, 2018

March 23, 2018 saw the signing by President Trump of a new bill into law that addressed multiple spending areas, one of which was “a plan to scale back the administration’s proposed tip pooling regulation from late 2017.” The bill did rescind the 2011 regulation that prohibited tipped employees from sharing with non-tipped employees, but only when an employer pays his/her tipped employees full minimum wage. Tipped employees who are paid at least the prevailing minimum wage can now legally share their tips with non-tipped employees. The bill also stipulates that employers, managers, supervisors, etc., cannot collect or retain tips earned by employees.2 To better understand Tip Credits, Tip Pooling and Tip Sharing, each is discussed below, along with a …

Posted in: CEOHR Tips

April 10, 2018

Now That We’ve Caught Our Breath….Is the ACA Going Away? Only time will tell if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will be long-lived, changed into something different, or ceases to be altogether. Perhaps the reality that employers are now starting to see fines for non-compliance will stir up a few healthy debates. What we do know for certain, though, is that changes to this 2010 Act have already arrived. The first change began a year ago, on President Trump’s first day in office.1 On January 20, 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to try to mitigate the fiscal burden the ACA puts on the economy, by directing the various agencies to, in effect, hinder the massive regulatory …

Posted in: CEOHR Tips

April 6, 2018

NO MATTER WHAT YOUR JOB: engineering controls are the first line of defense against occupational injury and fatalities. However, these methods do not always offer the maximum protection for workers, so personal protective equipment (PPE) is crucial. Become familiar with the types of PPE you may be required to use and why it is essential to your health and safety. Often times employees don’t wear their safety equipment because it’s a nuisance to put on or because it’s bulky and uncomfortable. A poorly fitted piece of PPE can cause headache or pain, and if it does, see your supervisor immediately to have it adjusted or refitted. But most of the time it’s just a matter of getting used to wearing …

Posted in: CEOHR Tips

Category Archives: Professional Employer Organization

Time to Get Serious About I-9 Compliance: Part 2

Safety Tips Every Country Club Manager Should Know

Time to Get Serious About I-9 Compliance: Part 1

If We Require Employees To Arrive Ten Minutes Early To Prepare For The Start Of Their Shift, Do We Have To Pay Them For This Extra Time?

Restaurant Safety 101

Employee Says They Can No Longer Work Weekends?

Fall Protection & Safety Tips

Is the ACA Going Away?

Minimize Exposure To Hazards With Personal Protective Equipment