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“I haven’t been paying furloughed employees the emergency paid sick leave but just heard I might need to do it. Am I in trouble?”
Your HR Survival Tip
We have been subjected to ever-changing opinions and rules about COVID-19 since February…and now we have more. Most of these changes have not been backdated so you shouldn’t get in trouble for following the guidance current at that time. The latest changes include:
FFCRA for Non-Working Employees — Originally, only employees actively working were eligible to receive the FFCRA (Families First/CARES) money for emergency paid sick leave or emergency paid childcare leave. Now, anyone still in your employ may qualify for FFCRA money even if there is no available work for them (e.g., furloughed or sitting employees). Note: We don’t believe this applies to employees on a leave of absence.
FFCRA Documentation — You may not require documentation for a COVID-related leave PRIOR to the employee starting the leave. The employees will still need to provide documentation but they may begin the leave and then provide backup as soon as it’s practicable.
CDC Quarantine — The CDC is now only recommending a quarantine of 10 days after a positive test (rather than the original [click to read more …]
We all know the independent contractor scene has been dramatically altered in the past two years. First, the California Supreme Court instituted the ABC test in March 2018, then AB5 was passed in October 2019. Now the Labor Commissioner’s Office is acting on those changes by filing lawsuits against companies.
Mobile Wash, Inc. — This Bellflower company was recently sued by the Labor Commissioner’s Office (LC Office) for misclassifying workers as independent contractors rather than employees. The claim is at least 100 workers were misclassified because those workers did not pass the ABC test. In addition, the company is charged with paying those workers less than minimum wage because the workers were not reimbursed for expenses incurred.
As the company name implies, workers went to customer locations to provide services. The workers were required to use their own vehicle (plus buy gas and insurance), pay for their Mobile Wash uniforms, and pay for cleaning equipment and supplies. In addition, the company charged the worker a $2 transaction fee for every tip left on a credit card. The LC Office also found unpaid overtime, rest and meal break violations, and failure to provide paid sick leave.
Uber and [click to read more …]
“I’ve been reorganizing duties as I’ve begun bringing employees back to work. How do I let my employees know what’s now expected of them?”
Your HR Survival Tip
It seems any major financial crisis, such as a recession or pandemic, results in companies finding new and better ways to be more efficient and more profitable with fewer employees. The changes initially made are based on immediate necessity but then you realize what you’ve done can actually work well going forward. Major changes require a different approach but the following works well for tweaking workloads.
You’ll start with an initial conversation with the employee to inform them you have made changes based on business needs changing, reorganizing the workflow, reorganizing the work to better match skills…whichever reason fits your scenario. Then provide the employee with those changes via memo or updated job description.
We prefer a revised job description because it has many purposes and, in this situation, provides a better overall description of what the job now entails rather than just listing the changes. Ideally, you provide a job description to candidates when hiring, use it to keep employees focused on their responsibilities, and have it play a [click to read more …]
“I don’t know how to handle all the possible exposures I’m hearing about from employees. Nothing seems to work for both the employee and my company.”
Your HR Survival Tip
Not surprisingly, companies are receiving more and more reports of employees who may have been exposed. We don’t know of any single solution that will work for everyone but we can tell you what some companies are doing.
It’s important to remember that without COVID symptoms, there is no financial help for the employee from the government. The employee must have symptoms AND be talking with a doctor or getting tested to qualify for the Families First money (emergency paid sick leave for 2 weeks).
There are three primary exposure solutions we’re hearing about but each has a negative:
Super Safe — You have an employee who was “possibly exposed” go into self-quarantine for 2 weeks. Give some thought about how many of your employees may be potentially exposed at any one time and that those employees won’t be paid during the quarantine period since they don’t have symptoms. The negative is the employee is unpaid for two weeks and you’re low on headcount that could affect your [click to read more …]
Several clients have asked us what a safety protocol should include. We have provided below a very basic plan designed for offices but this is not one of those situations where one plan can work for everyone. You should take these concepts and expand on them based on your work environment for offices or field job sites.
ABC Company Safety Protocol
In order to create a safe working environment for you and for our customers, we have implemented the following protocols:
Before Leaving for Work
You must self-check to confirm you do not have any symptoms.If you do have symptoms, do not go into work but call your supervisor immediately.
Upon Arrival at Work
You must have your temperature taken (and show it is below 100 degrees).You must sign off that you do not have any of the symptoms listed on the sign-off sheet.(Symptoms include cough, headache, the recent loss of taste or smell, fever or chills, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea.)
While at Work
You must wear a face mask/covering over your mouth and nose whenever:You leave your office or work station [click to read more …]
“I want to pay my employees a commission of $20 for every successful upsell of our products to a current client. How do I set that up?”
Your HR Survival Tip
Employees are often excited about an opportunity to earn extra money. Let’s first make sure you are using the correct terms and processes for it so you remain in compliance with California law.
In California, a commission is only available when the “salesperson” is actively involved in making and closing the sale and earning a percentage of the sale. You must have a written commission plan signed by each employee with specific details, in accordance with the law. In your case, commission is the wrong term for what you’ll pay.
Since your employees will earn a flat $20 for each upsell, this is considered a non-discretionary bonus. It’s non-discretionary because it is expected whenever they successfully upsell a client. It’s a bonus because it is a flat dollar amount instead of a percentage of the sale.
The only negative is, in CA, a non-discretionary bonus is subject to overtime for the period it covers. For example, if an employee’s bonuses are earned and paid each pay period, you [click to read more …]
“I’ve been working with my insurance broker for many years. Lately, when I’ve asked him a question based on something I heard, I find myself worrying about the answers he gives me.”
Your HR Survival Tip
As with any profession, it’s important to stay up-to-date with the changes in your industry and with technology being used in the industry. Too often, when we start working with a new client, we find the insurance broker doesn’t know the answer to our questions…and we believe they should.
While loyalty is a fabulous thing, you may have to decide if your loyalty really belongs to your broker or to your employees. You may not like “breaking up” with your broker but you do need to take responsibility for the choices you make affecting your employees. We all use brokers to provide us with those choices.
We recently heard a client’s broker say he wasn’t really “techie,” so he was unaware that technology started playing a big role in insurance enrollments years ago. Whether you are enrolling directly online with the carrier or using an online broker-provided service like Ease, being able to have employees enroll online (by smartphone or computer) is [click to read more …]
“I’m tired of paying out vacation when someone terminates. How can I offer vacation without accruing it?”
Your HR Survival Tip
You can front-load vacation so it doesn’t need to be accrued but that doesn’t eliminate the need for a payout upon termination. The only other option is an unlimited paid time off (PTO) plan but it has problems of its own to consider.
A California appeals court recently ruled a company’s unlimited PTO plan wasn’t done correctly and the result was the plan was accruing for purposes of that particular case. The court was very specific that the results were based on this particular case and may not apply to other plans.
CA doesn’t require companies to provide vacation time. However, if you offer paid time off, any accrued time is considered earned wages and cannot be taken away from the employee. Accrued time must either be used as paid time off by the employee or be paid out. This is why it’s critical you have a cap on accruals (which must be at least 150% of their annualized accrual) so you limit their accrual balance.
If you’ve been thinking about implementing an unlimited PTO plan, add [click to read more …]
“An employee called me to say he might have been exposed to COVID-19 over the weekend. What should I do?”
Your HR Survival Tip
Many people are confused about time off related to COVID-19. As calls from employees reporting possible exposure are increasing, companies are realizing they aren’t quite sure what they can or should do. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provides emergency paid sick leave but only if the employee qualifies.
Typically, to qualify for FFCRA paid sick leave, the employee must have symptoms and is seeking a diagnosis. Here are a few scenarios:
Bob has symptoms and decides to quarantine himself for 2 weeks but does NOT seek a medical diagnosis or advice from a doctor.Generally, this will be unpaid time off but Bob could use any accrued sick leave.Bob has symptoms and seeks a medical diagnosis or advice from a doctor.Bob will be eligible for FFCRA emergency paid sick leave for up to 2 weeks.Bob has no symptoms but believes he has been exposed recently and plans to self-quarantine.Until Bob is showing symptoms, this will be unpaid or accrued sick time off.Bob has no symptoms but has a doctor’s note stating he should [click to read more …]
“I finally received my PPP (Payroll Protection Program) funds but I am finding it hard to get employees to return to work. Unemployment is either paying them more than they earned each week with me or at least enough so they’d rather not work for nearly the same money. What can I do?”
Your HR Survival Tip
You’re not alone with this particular dilemma! We have heard the same thing from several clients. Even those companies that don’t have PPP money but are ready to slowly start back up are having similar problems. However, the PPP money requires you to maintain a certain headcount for the funds to be forgiven so you may have to make a hard decision about those employees.
Employees First
Employees are often making more on unemployment right now due to the extra $600 they are getting each week. You could sympathize with their desire to receive more money right now and allow them to stay on unemployment. However, please keep in mind they are turning down work and therefore, legally, are committing fraud by continuing on unemployment… where they are attesting they are “willing and able to work” each week. You might [click to read more …]
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