Author Archives: CorpStrat News

What to Know about the New CA Sexual Harassment Training Law

New Law Requires Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training for All Employees

The #MeToo movement has renewed attention on sexual harassment in the workplace. California, being at the forefront of workplace protections, passed several anti-harassment laws this year. More Importantly, California’s SB 1343 which requires employers with five or more employees to provide training to all employees (both supervisory and non-supervisory) by January 1, 2020.

This new law is certainly a dramatic shift from the current requirements, which have been in place for more than a decade long, but nonetheless, a necessary one. Current law requires employers with at least 50 employees to provide supervisors with two hours of sexual harassment prevention training within six months of hire and every two years thereafter.

Now, the threshold number of employees that triggers coverage under the law has been lowered to five, and non-supervisory employees are included in the training mandate.

Ultimately, sexual harassment in the workplace is a risk that California employers simply cannot afford. Driven by high-profile sexual harassment and assault cases in the workplace, California lawmakers have taken it upon themselves to ensure most employers, even those with just a few employees, minimize their risk by requiring training for all employees.

It’s important to know that your business may soon be out of compliance with California’s new mandatory sexual harassment training for all employers with 5 or more employees.

Key Takeaways

Employers with at least five employees must provide: (1) Two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to all supervisory employees; (2) One hour of sexual harassment prevention training to all non-supervisory employees.
Part-time and temporary employees, plus independent contractors count toward the minimum employee count of five employees. Must be done by January 1, 2020.
Training must occur within six months of the employee starting the position (and every two years thereafter).
Sexual harassment prevention training may be conducted individually or as a group.
Sexual harassment prevention training may be in conjunction with other training and may be given in shorter time segments, as long as the two-hour requirement for supervisory employees and the one-hour requirement for non-supervisory employees is met.

Contact CorpStrat to learn how our CorpStratHRPro package can help you comply – and a host of other HR related tools and services.

Why You Should Have Job Descriptions

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While there is no “law” that requires that an employer has set job descriptions, writing job descriptions is an important step in planning your staffing programs. They form the foundation for many important processes such as job postings and recruitment. Here’s how it will pay off for your business.

Cover Your Company, Legally

As an example, for remaining in compliant with the ADA, you’ll want to make certain that the description of the physical requirements of the job is accurate down to the offer letter.

A Useful Communication Tool

Aside from any absence of legal reasons to have one, practical reasons weigh strongly in favor of having them. For example, job descriptions can be useful communication tools to tell employees exactly what tasks you expect them to perform. Job descriptions may also address quality or quantity of performance standards, or even work rules that apply to a particular job. Without such clear communications, employees may not perform to your expectations.

Find the Right Fit

Job descriptions can help identify particular skills or abilities that are necessary for a position or the environmental pressures that apply to the position. A good job description tells the applicant what the position may involve or require. After reading the job description, some applicants may decide that they are not a good fit for the position or are not interested in it. If an applicant withdraws his or her application, then a prospective employer cannot be held liable for any “adverse action” under any applicable laws.

Guide the Interactive Process

Some state or federal laws require reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. Job descriptions can help with the interactive process that such laws require. A job description serves as a starting point for what the employer believes to be the essential job duties. The applicant or employee then must identify which of the listed duties he or she cannot perform.

Once those duties are identified, the employer and individual with a disability can begin an interactive dialogue about what accommodations may help the individual to perform those duties without being an undue hardship on the employer or without creating a direct threat to the individual or others. A job description can also be helpful in soliciting the advice of professionals such as physicians, chiropractors, counselors or rehabilitation therapists about whether the individual can actually perform a particular job.

Describe Legitimate Minimum Qualifications

If a job requires a particular certification, such as a commercial driver’s license, a particular degree, or professional designation, list it in a job description. Similarly, if a negative drug test is required before starting or continuing work, that should be stated in the job description.

Another objective, minimum qualifications can be listed as well, including such basics as the need for good attendance and the ability to work well with others. Then, if a person seeks a position and does not possess the required certification or qualifications, you have a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for not placing the person in the job.

Justify an Employee’s Exempt Status

Job descriptions will not, by themselves, determine whether a person should be exempt or nonexempt under applicable wage and hours laws. A job description must first accurately reflect the duties of a particular position. In addition, other elements of the applicable exemptions must also be present with respect to each individual worker to qualify as exempt.

But if you claim a person is exempt from minimum wage, timekeeping and overtime requirements under the “executive” exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the job description should state that the employee manages a “recognized department or subdivision” of the company and regularly supervises at least two or more full-time equivalent employees every week. Other managerial duties should also be referenced in the job description.

Similarly, for those employees that you are attempting to qualify as exempt under the “administrative” exemption, the job description should state that the employee “regularly exercises independent judgment and discretion about matters of significance” or words to that effect. Again, describing duties that involve such independent judgment and discretion, such as “negotiates” or “decides,” would also be helpful.

Do a great job of describing what you expect, and you have a greater chance of getting exactly what you want from your team members. The ROI is up to you.

6 Ways to Secure Payroll Processing and Fraud Prevention

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Payroll processing is a core function for organizations to be able to compensate their employees for the work they are doing. A payroll system also holds a massive amount of sensitive employee information.

If best practices to secure payroll processing are not properly implemented, sensitive information is left vulnerable, which can put both the employee population and the employer at serious risk of fraud, embezzlement and a host of legal issues potentially resulting in millions of dollars in damages.

To prevent that outcome from happening to your organization, you can use these strategies to help keep your payroll processing secure from inside and outside threats of fraud.

Fraud Prevention

Keep your payroll software up to date (if you are using an automated platform currently)

For those organizations who use automated software to run their payroll processing, the number one thing they need to do is make sure the software is up-to-date. This ensures that their payroll processing has all the latest deployed codes and firewalls to help prevent from devious intent from online thieves outside the organization.

Businesses should be working diligently with their I.T. department to keep up-to-date on the best security practices.

Provide common sense online security protocol for employees

Failure to secure payroll processing can often be attributed to human error. As it’s 2018, we’re still struggling to motivate our employee populations to keep online security top-of-mind. Employees who practice bad online security practices put themselves and their organization at risk to the following hazards:

Phishing schemes
Malware
Trojan horses
Spam
Ransomware
Spyware
Viruses and more

Human resources, I.T., and leadership need to make some decisions on what strategies and company initiatives they perform to help keep payroll processing secure from fraud by putting data security at the forefront of their operations.

Restrict payroll access diligently

This one should be simple to implement. Simply allow access to payroll and the sensitive information it holds to the select one or a few employees whose job it is to run processing for the organization. You’re going to have stakeholders in different departments who may need access to data in payroll, however, everyone needs to be accounted for in this process.

Organizations need to keep an updated list that specifies who has access to payroll. This will allow them to immediately check back on their list easily in the event some payroll shenanigans are afoot in the company.

Be wary of 3rd parties

It’s normal for internal people or departments to need specific information from the payroll department at various times. However, businesses are always being spammed by 3rd party companies looking to acquire the data they hold.

In the event, your organization is considering sharing payroll processing data with a 3rd party, it’s important that businesses consult with their state labor department for clarification on work-related information releases. These businesses should also create a documented procedure that forces whoever wants data from payroll to sign and acknowledge it for auditing purposes later.

Disposal of older documentation

Businesses need to keep their legal documentation cleaned up and disposed of properly. Even if the information is old, it can still lead a person with fraud on their mind to other places that can harm employees and employer interests.

Organizations should be auditing their sensitive payroll documentation held online, or hard copy in the office for older and unneeded materials. By cleaning out the older, sensitive data in their filing systems, businesses will not have to worry about it getting into the wrong hands. They will also have less to sift through when it comes to tax season or other auditing duties.

Secure your payroll area(s)

Whether the department is on-premise or located on another campus, organizations should be doing the following to their physical space to secure payroll processing:

Desks should be positioned so computer screens are not facing any windows or doors
All physical documentation should be locked up at all times when not being used
The doors to payroll should always be locked with access only allowed to assigned personnel
For offsite operations, the rules above apply

New Service Allows U.S. Workers to Get Paid Daily Instead of Weekly

Here’s how it works

Workers are notified, typically on their smartphones, at the end of their shifts that they have an hour to tap half their pay and are asked if they wish to do so. The money is instantly downloaded onto their debit cards. No taxes are deducted until employees receive their paychecks. And, there’s no fee for workers, though businesses may pay more in administration costs each month.

Limiting the money available to 50% of their paychecks encourages saving. What’s more, is the one-hour window to draw the money discourages impulse purchases later in the day.

Seventy-eight percent of workers are living paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet, according to a CareerBuilder survey conducted in the spring.

Long term studies are not available yet to help understand if the ability to get paid each day will help employers attract, retain, reward, or improve productivity in any way. However, the signal that employee-driven tools and strategies are taking a front seat to a traditional business protocol is obvious.

For these and all other Payroll, HR, and Benefits related services CorpStrat is here to help. Contact us today to learn more.

Hire to Fit Your Company Culture

The Value of Culture

Poor hiring decisions can be extremely costly for your company, in terms of business interruption, wasted recruiting and training resources, lower employee morale and more.

You may realize that an individual is not a good fit, or a new employee may choose to leave if the job doesn’t match his or her expectations. In both circumstances, many of these separations are due to the fact that the hired individuals did not fit the company culture and therefore lacked productivity, creativity and/or morale.

Culture is the unifying element that holds everyone in an organization together. Unlike an established mission statement, culture encompasses the written and unwritten behavioral norms and expectations of those within the company. Culture can set one company apart from others, and it can include the value of work-life balance issues, the way the company is organized, the extent to which leaders follow through on mission statements and many other factors.

Companies looking to hire individuals that fit with their culture must first identify and understand it. For instance, if your organization recognizes personal achievements and awards individuals for a job well done, then a team-oriented employee might not be the best fit. But if your company values the total team performance versus the contributions of just one individual, then someone looking for personal recognition might not be as satisfied working for your company.

Ultimately, if the fit is not right between the company and individual, then both will lose interest and the relationship will probably fail.

Importance of a Good Fit

Finding employees who are a good fit for the organization produces the following benefits:

Improved employee retention.
Enhanced employee performance because most individuals at the company share similar values and aspirations. When people share a common purpose and similar attitude, it can encourage people to perform better.
Improved alignment from the top to the bottom and employees may view leadership more positively.

Screening to Find a Cultural Fit

Developing a screening process that integrates prescreening based on your company culture can be accomplished with the following steps.

Ask employees at various levels of the organization how they see your company culture. Then, identify the similarities that arise among individuals—motivations, values, core competencies, etc.
When you can identify what makes the organization successful, you will know what to look for during the selection process. This technique is also helpful in avoiding hiring discrimination allegations because you have defined the key characteristics of your culture, which help you logically and fairly justify your hiring decisions.
Create a brand to describe your organization to potential employees.
Depict your culture accurately so that candidates can filter themselves in or out based on how you describe the company. If they do not see themselves fitting into your culture, they may not even apply.
To make branding more real for prospective employees, provide messages from executives, testimonials from various employees, virtual job tours, etc.
Have candidates complete an online assessment as part of the recruitment process to screen potential candidates based on their qualifications, personality, and other factors. Use properly validated assessments that meet legal and professional standards.
Ask questions about traits that you cannot or do not want to train someone how to do (being self-motivated, possessing integrity, etc.). Questions should determine if candidates have values and competencies that match with the company’s culture.
Ask behavior-related questions and then rate open-ended answers on a scale.
Ask for examples of situations in which candidates faced dilemmas or problems and successfully overcame them.
Role-play during the interview process to observe candidates in action. Or, allow them to try out the position for a day to see if it seems like a good fit for them (and for you).
This step would come after all interviewing is complete, and reference checks and resume verification checks are also done.
Know the laws applicable to hiring.
Create metrics for measuring cultural fit by determining cost-per-hire, time-to-fill, and quality-of-hire data.
Make sure management is trained on how to properly interview for behaviors.
Maintain accurate records of all your hiring decisions. During an audit or discrimination claim, you will need to produce valid justification for your decisions.
Human resources should stay on top of monitoring, learning and studying the culture of the organization, and then design policies that align with the culture. HR should constantly be asking if the organization is truly what it claims, if it needs to modify the culture to be more competitive and if it is remaining compliant with all hiring laws.