Author Archives: CorpStrat News

Wrap Them up – Before Your Competition Does

Tom Peters, a best-selling author of many books on management, stated the following.
“Some employees are worth a lot of money…. some employees are worth a hell of a lot more money.”

Don’t think for a minute that your competitors don’t know who your best people are; they do. They also, by default, know who the “not so good” employees are. Every business remains vulnerable.

What happens in a thriving economy is the best employees to become highly sought after. They often pay no attention to how the economy is doing in general, but in a great economy, they know that they will have more opportunities. These are opportunities they do not have to seek out. What does it take to keep the best? It takes recognition, rewards, strategy, and commitment.

It’s an Employee Market

2019 marks the lowest unemployment rate in U.S. history. Those employed are valuable assets: those unemployed may be functionally unemployable – or simply not skilled and/or not trainable for various reasons. You have to retain to be successful.

Don’t Wait!

As a leader, you must be proactive because if you hesitate, or delay implementing or improving the size, shape and value of any “Golden Handcuffs” you are offering, your better employees won’t wait while you figure it out.

Golden Handcuffs

“Take away my factories, my plants; take away my railroads, my ships, my transportation; take away my money; strip me of all of these but leave me my men and in two or three years, I will have them all again.” — Andrew Carnegie

A ‘Golden Handcuff’ is a way to describe a specific plan that addresses an annually funded tool to retain and reward a Key (or class of) Key employee(s) – but restricts their access over time.

In general, a Golden Handcuff is a selective executive accumulation plan offers customized to selected key corporate executives…a benefit over and above those provided to all employees by a qualified retirement plan or any other employee benefit plan.

This is typically a non-qualified arrangement (non-ERISA) between a corporation/entity and selected set of key executives in which the entity promises to pay the executive a specified benefit at a specified period of time, generally annually, with a restriction on the employees’ access to or vested interest in the accumulated asset. Most plans also have a survivor benefit to the executive’s family.

Get to work retaining and rewarding your top performers – before your competition does.

The Legal Implications of Personality Testing

Find a Strategic Partner

Our Client

Located in Los Angeles, California, Motolease LLC is changing the motorsport finance industry. Motolease is a financial services company that offers unique consumer leasing programs through Motolease authorized dealers. It designs solutions exclusively for the motorcycle and powersports markets to help even the most credit-challenged riders. While its dealers benefit from serving an untapped market segment, it provides a much needed second chance to those who are underserved by the traditional financial solutions. As a result of over 90% approval rate, their dealers gain a huge competitive advantage in its market.

Their Challenge

Unlike other financial services out there, Motolease is a very progressive company! With its forward-thinking, Motolease is constantly looking for new ways to streamline its current processes, while also remaining compliant to the HR guidelines. Because of this, they find it extremely important to not just have a payroll and HR provider but also a strategic partner.

From the beginning of its relationship with its previous payroll company, Motolease was finding it difficult to get its employees’ attention. Daily calls would go unanswered and emails were forgotten and left without a response for several weeks. It seemed as if Motolease was constantly trying to put out fires without any help, leaving no room for strategizing a new plan for the future. This is where CorpStrat stepped in.

Our Recommendation

CorpStrat recommended its branded “21^stCentury Payroll and HR Solution,” which includes dedicated advisors for Motolease. These dedicated advisors allow Motolease to reach out to its point of contact and strategize its various goals from a payroll, HR, and business process perspective.

“I need to let you know how exceptional Angela Adams is. She is on top of her work, provides exemplary payroll service, has an answer for everything, is extremely organized and—on top of all that—she is very personable and professional. I’ve been in HR for 15 years and employees of Angela’s quality are like unicorns – they are extremely rare,” said Roz Gamble, Vice President of Corporate Operations.

The Results

When fully implemented, CorpStrat’s fully integrated 21^stCentury Payroll and HR solution helps to save Motolease hours of every pay period, especially when it comes to capturing pay and employee data. We also were able to totally revamp its employee handbook and provide a resource for any Human Capital Management questions it will receive in the future. Discover your company’s level of HR Efficiency today with this simple test here.

To learn more about CorpStrat’s 21^stCentury HR Solution, email us at communications@www.corpstrat.com or give us a call at (818) 377.7260.

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.