Employers have a lot on their plates. There are a myriad of compliance issues that must be routinely addressed in order to ensure smooth operations. Across the nation the Department of Labor is actively pursuing employers found in violation of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Midnight, Sept. 30, is looming and without a continuing resolution or bipartisan appropriation agreement, the likelihood of a government shutdown increases. Employers must be prepared to manage workloads and morale. It is well known that low employee morale negatively impacts productivity and engagement. It’s therefore critical that employers consider sensitivity and tact in drafting policy around a shutdown.

While on client site, sitting in Leadership meetings, attending training, there is always one key initiative all companies are talking about right now: How do we attract top talent and, how do we get those people to stay?

“Uh oh Human Resources is in the building!” “Shhh…don’t say anything Human Resources is here!” “I better not say that because there is our HR person!” As a professional providing HR outsourcing, I believe we have all heard these statements or something similar. Now at first glance, this could provide a bit of a chuckle, but let’s take a deeper dive into the real background noise of it all.

What is an Employee Handbook and Why Do We Need One? An Employee Handbook is a guide that gives organizations a tool to communicate the expectations, role and responsibilities, as well as current policies and procedures within the organization to all employees. Legally there is no requirement for companies to provide an employee handbook; it does however, offer confirmation of processes and procedures if ever questioned legally. When a company reaches 15 employees, it's time to implement an employee handbook as a best practice. This is because at 15 employees, several federal acts apply such as the Civil Rights, Americans with Disabilities, and the Pregnancy Leave Act.

As HR professionals, one of the hardest parts of the job is communicating to an employee the decision to separate them from employment. Whether it be a performance related termination, or a financially related layoff; it is never an easy task. I find layoffs particularly difficult when it has nothing to with the employee’s actual performance, and everything to do with seniority or salary. More often than not, the delivery of bad news falls to the HR professionals with the belief that we know how to handle these situations the best, right?