January is always a good month to take a look at what’s trending in small business in the areas of people and process. Here’s a summary of some trends for 2015 that I’ve gathered from my colleagues and research.

CareerBuilder’s 2015 U.S. Job Forecast shows what’s ahead in hiring and compensation:

Fulltime hiring: 29% of small businesses with 250 or fewer employees are planning to add fulltime workers this year. That’s up from 22% in 2014. Seven percent will downsize, an improvement from 9% last year.

Part-time hiring: 23% of employers expect to recruit part-time workers over the next 12 months, which is up from 17% last year.  Although a variety of factors are influencing this trend, 14% attribute their hiring part-time workers to the Affordable Care Act.

Wage increases:  82% of employers plan to increase compensation for current employees and 64% say they’ll offer higher starting salaries for new employees. Sales and Information Technology are the top functions earmarked to receive increases.

Other trends we’re seeing include:

Social media policies: More employers are implementing social media use policies. Social media abuse disciplinary actions were up in 2014, with reasons ranging from divulging confidential information to harassment of coworkers to defamation of company brand.

Social media recruiting: The other side of that coin is that companies will begin using social media more to represent their brand for both attracting and retaining employees. A recent study showed that 58% of people are more likely to want to work at a company that uses social media. Social media posts that convey company culture are perceived as more “real” than press releases and traditional marketing materials.

Ongoing performance management: Many small businesses are changing from an annual performance review to an ongoing performance management process where feedback – both good and developmental – is given as it’s needed.  This contributes to employee engagement by providing employees with the feedback they need to build on strengths or improve development areas throughout the year, rather than in annual intervals.

January is also a good time to review your Employee Handbook to ensure that your policies and procedures reflect the latest state and federal laws.  Contact me today for a free 45-minute consultation.

As a long-time HR Professional, I know that those who work in human resources must continually add to their knowledge about HR best practices, employment law, benefits and various other topics that impact companies and their employees.  That’s why I’m very excited to announce that Connect to HR is now partnering with HR Training Centers, Inc. to deliver two HR certificate programs at various locations in California throughout 2015: Certificate Program for HR Generalists and Internal Investigations Certificate Program.

On January 26-28, 2015, I will be teaching the Certificate Program for HR Generalists in Santa Clara. This 3-day training program will provide HR Generalists and others tasked with leading the HR function with a strong knowledge base as well as practical solutions to everyday challenges.  This class is for anyone who wants to increase their knowledge about the various aspects of the HR function.

Participants will:

• Discover best practices and indispensable strategies for every HR function
• Acquire the practical knowledge and tools they need to navigate employment law landmines
• Practice learning through “real-life” case studies
• Earn an “HR Generalist Certificate” which will enhance their professional growth
• Earn 18 PHR/SPHR re-certification hours

Participants will also receive access to Training & Certification Programs for FMLA, ADA, COBRA, HIPAA and the FLSA.

To see the Agenda, venue info, or to enroll in this class, go to http://hrtrainingcenter.com/showSEMDetails.asp?TCID=1003551&RID=1018498.

I will be teaching Internal Investigations in March, and will provide information about that course as well other Generalist courses as they get closer.  I look forward to seeing some of you in class!

As the year comes to a close, I want to take this opportunity to say “Thank You” to each and every one of you for being a part of the Connect to HR community. I truly appreciate your reading my blogs and providing comments. I look forward to more conversations in 2015!

All my best wishes for very Merry Holidays and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

As 2014 comes to a close, it’s a good idea to set aside some time to ensure you have reviewed and completed any HR items that need to be finished before year end.

Here’s a checklist of those items. Be sure to add any items relative to your particular business that you don’t see here.

• Order any updated Federal and State Labor Law Posters
• Review your employee handbook to identify any changes needed based on new laws, policies and/or procedures
• Review and update employee addresses in preparation for W-2 distribution
• Review and update job descriptions
• Finalize the HR Budget for 2015
• Finalize focal process for 2015
• Finalize company goals
• Determine dates of company holidays for 2015
• Finalize and announce any new benefits/employee perks for 2015
• Renew any annual memberships and subscriptions
• Schedule annual reviews with employees
• Deal with any lingering employee relations issues

Begin planning how you will meet the requirements of the mandated employer-paid sick leave legislation that goes into effect July 1, 2015. Also, the DOL has published a new poster that must be posted by all CA employers.  The DLSE also published the revised Notice to Employee which now lists information required about employee’s paid sick leave. The new law amended Labor Code Section 2810.5 to require the Notice to Employee, a form required for all California nonexempt employees, to include information about the employee’s right to paid sick leave. Even though the requirement for employers to provide paid sick leave does not start until July 1, 2015, the revised Notice to Employee and the poster must be used by employers starting January 1, 2015. Therefore, the old Notice to Employee published by the DLSE will be effective only until the end of 2014.

In addition, think back over the year and reflect on what went well and what didn’t go well from an HR standpoint. Are your employees engaged and productive? If not, do you see any trends that you could work on turning around in 2015? Are there any employees who stand out as particularly high potential? How will you develop and retain them in 2015?

You may also want to consider an HR Audit after the first of the year to ensure that your processes, practices and reporting are effective and compliant.

Giving some thought to these things now, and then putting a plan in place to address them after the first of the year will get 2015 off to a good start!

If you would like to schedule an HR Audit, or need help creating or updating your Employee Handbook, please contact me at Connect to HR, LLC at michelle@connecttohr.com.

It’s that “open enrollment” time of year, and for companies with 50 or more employees it’s also time to plan for the requirements that will start in 2015 and 2016 as the result of Health Care Reform.

As of January 1, 2015, employers with 100 or more full-time employees must provide health benefits  to at least 70% of those employees (this increases to 95% starting in 2016) or be fined $2,000 annually for each full-time employee (except the first 30 employees).  Employers with 50 – 99 employees have until January 1, 2016 before they have to comply with the requirement. Companies with fewer than 50 full-time employees are not affected by the requirement.  A full-time employee is defined as someone who works at least 30 hours a week. However, it’s important to note that for the purposes of the Affordable Care Act, two people working half-time count as one full-time employee.

Companies with fewer than 50 employees who offer their employees health care coverage and contribute at least 50 per cent of employees’ premium costs may be eligible for tax credits. Find out more on the Covered California website.

Open enrollment is also a good time to think about additional, non-healthcare related  benefits you might want to offer your employees.  If you are planning to hire after the first of the year, a good benefits package can be a great recruiting tool.  Here are some ideas:

• Direct deposit. Providing your employees with the option of having their check automatically deposited to their bank account saves them time and often results in additional perks from their bank for them.
• Credit union membership. There’s no cost to the company and many benefits to the employee.
• Amusement park/local attraction discounts. You can sign up at no charge as a company for employee discounts.
• Community hours. Offer your employees a certain number of paid hours off to spend in community service at their favorite charity or their child’s school.
• Wellness programs. Weight-loss challenges, group walks at lunch, activity-tracking competitions.
• Lunch & Learn events with guest speakers. For example, financial planners, estate planners, nutritionists, etc.
• “Green” initiatives. Ride your bike to work day, eWaste recycling, contests for the best “green” ideas.
• Service Awards. Recognize and reward employees with 5, 10, and 20 years of service.
• Paid membership for professional organizations related to the job.

Benefits over and above those required by law contribute to the company culture, show the employees you care, and help in attracting and retaining talent.

Helping teams move successfully through the stages of team development – forming, storming, norming, performing – depends a lot on how well the team leader promotes effective communication, and provides opportunities for the team to bond. These opportunities are often presented in the form of team outings, “trust” exercises and group dinners.  Why not do something different? Something that will not only help the team, but also help the community in which they work: a team volunteer event.

In addition to bringing the team closer together and helping those in need, team community service can develop the skills of individual team members. Put someone who is not in a leadership role in charge of the event. Put someone else in charge of communications. Build collaboration by letting the team research and decide on the organization they will help.  These skills will then translate back to the job and result in a higher performing team.

Research shows that companies who give back to their communities have better brand visibility, more highly-engaged employees and stronger relationships with their customers. With more than 60% of employees reporting that they are not engaged at work, providing opportunities to contribute in meaningful ways as a team outside of work may help them view the organization with new eyes and enthusiasm.

Here are a few organizations that have a strong tradition of helping the local community, plus opportunities for both monetary contributions and volunteer work.

Second Harvest Food Bank needs help packing and sorting the food it collects and provides to people in need in the community. This makes a great team event. Your employees may also want to help with food distribution.

You can also help Second Harvest by volunteering for or participating in the annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.

The Family Giving Tree offers several opportunities for group volunteering: Off-season product sorting; wish card sorting/collateral prep; and volunteering in the warehouse.

Save the Bay uses corporate volunteers to help in their restoration project of the San Francisco Bay.

The Silicon Valley chapter of the American Red Cross trains corporate groups to assist in disasters.

Additional group volunteer ideas are available at Volunteer San Jose.

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill

For many companies, the annual performance review is the only time managers and their employees have meaningful conversations about what is working well and what isn’t.  This creates fear and dread for the employee (How will I be rated? Will I get a raise?) and a burden for the manager (How do I evaluate 12 months of work? When will I find time to complete this form?).

Performance management should be a process, not just an event. In support of the annual evaluation there should be mini-reviews throughout the year. This helps both employees and managers track accomplishments and address areas for improvement in a more timely way. There should be “no surprises” during the annual review.

If you haven’t been managing performance throughout the year, Q4 is an excellent time to schedule a mini-review in preparation for formal reviews early next year.  Revisit the employee goals set earlier this year and have an honest, interactive conversation with your employees about progress, challenges, improvement needed. Think of these reviews as development opportunities vs. “report cards.” Consider both the employee’s strengths and how to further develop them, and areas where the employee needs to improve in his or her current role, or to advance to the next level.

One area that is absolutely essential to address immediately is problem performance. Ignoring it will not make it go away, and left unchecked it can damage team morale, customer relationships and even the overall business. Here are some tips for dealing with problem performance.

Set expectations. Be sure each and every employee understands what is expected of them in their role and as a member of the team and larger organization.

Identify issues quickly. Be present with your employees. Have regular meetings and one-on-ones to learn challenges and issues. Seek to understand the root cause – training, capability, unwillingness?

Document. Performance issues may ultimately lead to termination. Avoid legal risk by thoroughly documenting and time stamping observed behaviors and specific examples of where the employee is not meeting expectations.

Address the issue. Discuss the problem with your employee. They may not realize it’s a problem until you tell them. Revisit expectations and consequences. Keep to the facts: Situation (what happened) Impact (negative consequences of situation) Expectation (what is expected by when). Treat this as a teachable moment with the goal being performance improvement.

Follow up. Constructive discipline begins with a verbal warning and progresses to a written warning if there is no improvement. Be very specific about expectations and timeline. Document, document, document.

If you need help developing a performance management process, please contact me.

According to California law, hourly employees must be provided a meal period of no less than 30 minutes when the work period is more than five hours. The employee should be relieved of all work duty during the period. If, for a valid reason, the employee needs to be “on duty” during the meal period or may not leave the employer’s premises, the meal period is counted as time worked and must be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay.

It is the employer’s obligation to relieve its employee of all duties, but the employer is not obligated to ensure that no work is done. The first meal period must be provided no later than the end of the fifth hour worked, and a second meal period no later than the end of the tenth hour worked, if applicable.  With regard to rest breaks, employers must make a good faith effort to permit rest breaks in the middle of each work period. There should be one 10-minute rest break in the work period prior to the meal break, and one 10-minute rest break in the work period following the meal break.  Ideally, in a traditional 8 hour work day, one break would occur in the morning and the second break would occur in the middle of the afternoon.

Although this law seems pretty straightforward, it is often violated. According to the Community Law Center at Santa Clara University, 3001, 1,051 Labor Commission judgments have been recorded in Santa Clara County Superior Court against companies for work break violations.

Recently, a San Diego Superior Court judge certified a class action lawsuit that would allow the attorneys of four former Apple retail store employees to represent nearly 21,000 current and former hourly retail and corporate employees for alleged work break violations occurring between 2007 and 2012.

Please check your policies, procedures and practices to ensure they are aligned with state mandated meal periods and rest breaks. Violations can be costly.

If you need help developing or updating your policy handbook, please contact me.

I would like to introduce you to my colleague, Peggy Milovina Meyer.  Peggy is an expert in records management.  Prior to starting her own business, she worked in a variety of roles at Hewlett Packard.  Most recently, Peggy has been focusing on helping companies large and small set up systems to organize their paper and electronic records.  As year-end approaches, it’s a great time to consider adopting an HR records management system for your business.  In this guest blog, Peggy shares some of her best practices.

Companies today, regardless of number of employees, must comply with increasingly stricter employee records requirements. Throughout an employee’s time with a company, numerous documents are created – evaluations, benefit forms, job application, resume, confidentiality agreement, to name a few. It is easy to see how records management presents significant challenges to HR personnel.  This article presents the top five generally-accepted best practices for effective management of HR records.

Policy
Don’t overlook the importance of a policy.  A policy provides guidance to those responsible for handling records, taking any guesswork out of what needs to be done, to what, and when.  A policy is an excellent education tool as well as being part of a sound foundation for risk avoidance and business process control.

Processes and Guidelines
Once a policy is in place, guidelines and processes that support its purpose should be documented.  Guidelines are important for HR because they provide details not outlined in the policy regarding the many legal requirements governing how these records must be handled. For example, a policy may state that records must be stored with approved vendors, while the guidelines will list approved vendors and the approval process. Processes provide step-by-step instructions ensuring policies and guidelines are met.  Documented processes allow businesses to monitor processes for effectiveness, and can contribute to operations cost reduction.

File Structure
Creating a file structure aids in ensuring records are organized, stored, and only accessed by authorized personnel.  File structures should be simple, and set up to ensure similar records with the same access restrictions and retention periods are filed together.  Even if records are related, those with different retention and access requirements should be filed separately to avoid inappropriate access or destruction.

Privacy and Security
Businesses bear the responsibility for managing risk for employee records, no matter the location or format of those records. HR records that contain private, sensitive data like social security number, date of birth, phone number, or address, require a rigorous and consistent approach to security and access controls. Business owners must be able to demonstrate employee records are adequately protected and can only be accessed by authorized personnel.

Education and Audit
Policy, guidelines and processes do no good if employees are not made aware of them and their own responsibility in complying with them.  Creating an education plan that covers these topics is important to a successful records management program.  Consider including this material in new employee orientation as well as in a recurring refresh for all employees.

No program will be effective without periodic checks to determine how well employees understand and follow processes.  Performing annual audits and correcting issues promptly can be very effective in managing risk.

Combined, these best practices will help a business effectively manage their HR records, and can be used to accomplish the same in any other organization.  For more information, please contact Peggy Milovina Meyer, Records and Information Management Solutions at peggymilovina@yahoo.com.

Governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign into law shortly a bill requiring California employers to provide paid sick leave for all employees except those covered by collective bargaining agreements that already include paid sick leave, and providers of home healthcare services.  California is the second state to pass a sick leave law (Connecticut passed a similar law in 2011).

The law, which goes into effect July 1, 2015, applies to all employers, including government entities.  Starting that date, employers will be required to allow employees – both full-time and part-time – to accrue paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked, to a maximum of 6 days per year for full time employees and 3 days per year for part-time employees.

Employees may use accrued sick leave beginning on the 90^th day of their employment. Available sick leave may be used for the employee or a family member for care of an existing condition or preventative care.

The law also requires that employers:

• Display a poster with information regarding paid sick leave
• Notify employees in writing (e.g., on their paycheck) of the amount of sick leave available to them
• Maintain records for at least 3 years of hours worked, and paid sick leave accrued and taken by employees

Employers who unlawfully withhold paid sick leave from employees will be subject to penalties. Accrued but unused sick leave is not payable at the time of termination.

If you have an existing sick leave policy, review it prior to July 1, 2015, to ensure that it provides at least what will be mandated by the new law. If you do not have an existing policy, be sure you create one.

If you need help developing a new policy or haven’t reviewed your Employee Handbook recently, please contact me. Keeping your handbook up to date can prevent legal issues down the road.