Doc Your Thoughts

We have an employee, Sam, who’s been a problem lately. His manager and I talked about firing him on Friday. However, today he filed a workers’ compensation claim. The injury may be valid but how does this affect our ability to fire him as planned?  [click to read more …]

How to Terminate

I need to fire an employee but it’s my first time. How do I do it?  [click to read more …]

Who Signs?

As the owner of my company, I’m the only person who can sign checks. Am I required to have a second signer?  [click to read more …]

But You Didn’t Document

I recently terminated Sam, my employee. I had several discussions with him about his performance but he didn’t listen and improve. He said I couldn’t fire him since I hadn’t written him up. Is that true?  [click to read more …]

WEBINAR: Successful Separations

Employees eventually separate from companies, in one way or another. Whether that separation is voluntary or involuntary, you need to understand how to handle the legalities. Plus, in today’s lawsuit-crazy times, you want to avoid common mistakes. You will also receive the paperwork we use for separations.  [click to read more …]

Managing After the Fact

I currently have an employee on a leave of absence who is due back in three weeks. We don’t want her back. While she’s been gone, we have found so much that she didn’t do well or even do at all. Is it okay to tell her we don’t want her back?  [click to read more …]

Vax Madness

I want to stick my head in the sand and ignore all the craziness I’m hearing about vaccination mandates. How do I know what actually affects my employees?  [click to read more …]

Timing is Everything

Contrary to Federal law, California law is very specific when it comes to minutes and even seconds an employee works. They don’t vary, which helps, but you do need to understand the language.  [click to read more …]

Retention Ending

“I’ve managed to keep most of my employees working over this past year and they’ve seemed fairly happy here. However, lately, I’ve seen signs that make me think they aren’t as happy as I thought and are looking for a new job.”

Your HR Survival Tip

Congratulations on retaining your employees when so many companies have had layoffs because of the pandemic. Employees have felt lucky to keep their jobs over the past year and haven’t wanted to do anything that might put their name on the layoff list. However, that doesn’t mean they feel their current position is the best job ever or even the best they can do.

The clock is ticking. Companies had to dramatically downsize and even close in the past year… but that’s ending and companies are looking to kickstart their businesses again. As more and more employees are vaccinated and feeling safer, they will be assessing their job and the job market. In fact, there is a study that shows nearly 50% of employees will be looking at their options.

One of the reasons we’re expecting this is because employees are becoming less fearful of taking a chance on a new company and  [click to read more …]

Retaining Those Documents

“I have a few boxes of old employee files in my warehouse. Is it okay to just throw them out?”

Your HR Survival Tip

The documents in employee files have a required shelf life. The length of retention is often related to the laws concerning how much time an employee or entity has to make a claim and or file a lawsuit where those documents may be needed. Even when you are no longer legally required to keep the documents, attorneys suggest you keep them for the life of the company… just to be safe. This is much easier now that we can digitize those docs. However, be sure to store the digital files on a protected drive so only authorized employees can access them.

No matter what the document may be, do not destroy anything while the employee still works for you. If your managers keep separate notes or records, ask for copies if an employee’s manager is changing or leaving. Below is a very basic list of minimum retention requirements:

Recruitment, hiring, and job placement records — 3 years or longer for any claim or litigation about your hiring practices. Payroll records, including timecards, time-off accruals, schedules,  [click to read more …]