Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2012

30610860

SPECIAL REPORT

Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management For 2012

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30610800

SPECIAL REPORT

Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management For 2012

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Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2012

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Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

#1 Healthcare in 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

#2 FMLA Paid Leave Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Feds Encouraging States to Legislate Paid Leave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Paid Sick Leave Benefits: What the Numbers Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

#3 Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

(the Dodd-Frank Act) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Best Practice: Employee Communities Drive Engagement at Top Company . . . . . . . . .10

#4 Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Blogging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

FTC Guidelines on Testimonials and Endorsements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Best Practice: 5 Reasons to Focus Your Social Media Recruiting on LinkedIn . . . . . .15

Best Practice: Using Social Media to Communicate Sustainability Achievements . . . . .17

#5 Environmental Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175 Reasons Why You Need a Green Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Best Practice: Energy-Saving Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Best Practice: Do You Have a Recycling Policy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

#6 Workplace Wellness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21What Is Wellness? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Legal Issues Related to Workplace Wellness Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Best Practice: Suggestions for Wellness Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Best Practice: 13 Inexpensive Tips for Encouraging Wellness Program Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

#7 Classifying Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Topic: Amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Recordkeeping Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

IRS Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Wage and Hour Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Best Practice: How to Prepare for an Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

#8 Retirement of Baby Boomers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Teamwork, Participation Are Generally Important to Baby Boomers . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Healthcare, Technology Skills Among Baby Boomers’ Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Succession Planning: A Strategy for Meeting Talent Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Best Practice: Retirement Policies to Protect Your Organization and Prepare Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

#9 Identity Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36FACTA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Red Flags Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Best Practice: Protecting Employees from Identity Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Breach of Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Best Practice: Preventing Security Breaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Employers’ Private Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

#10 Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41Benefits of Good Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Causes of Ineffective Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Encouraging Employees to Communicate Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Tools for Better Communicating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Best Practice: Avoid Scheduling Meetings on Friday Afternoons or Monday Mornings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2012

Introduction

The role of Human Resources is changing as fast as technology and the globalmarketplace. Historically, the HR Department was viewed as administrative over-head. HR processed payroll, handled benefits administration, kept personnel filesand other records, managed the hiring process, and provided other administrativesupport to the business. Those times have changed.

The positive result of these changes is that HR professionals have the opportunityto play a more strategic role in the business. The challenge for HR managers is tokeep up to date with the latest HR innovations—technological, legal, and other-wise.

This special report discusses the top 10 best practices in HR management for2012—in other words, how HR managers can anticipate and address some of themost challenging HR issues this year. This report will give you the information youneed to know about these current HR challenges and how to most effectively man-age them in your workplace.

#1 Healthcare in 2012

The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), asamended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HCERA),collectively referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), launched an extendedperiod during which far-reaching changes to the American healthcare system willtake effect. These reforms are built on the current employer-based system and areimpacting every employer in the country.

Reform on this scale is multifaceted and continues to take effect in uneven incre-ments between 2012 and 2018.. We’ll cover what has to be planned for in 2012,2013, 2014, and 2018 as the pieces of the reform package come into play. Keep inmind that the two biggest pieces of the reform process, the individual mandateand employer play-or-pay, don’t take effect until 2014.

2012Benefits Summary Requirement. By March 23, 2012, a summary of benefits andcoverage explanation that meets the national standards for providing a summaryof benefits and coverage must be provided to applicants at the time of application,to the enrollee before the time of enrollment or reenrollment, and to a policy-holder or certificate holder at the time of issuance of the policy or delivery of thecertificate. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), InternalRevenue Service (IRS), and Department of Labor (DOL) have issued proposednational standards for providing the summary of benefits and coverage explana-tion. The agencies are soliciting comments on factors that may affect the feasibilityof implementation by that date.

1© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 30610800

Quality of Care Reporting. No later than March 23, 2012, requirements for use bygroup health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individualhealth insurance coverage to report benefits and healthcare provider reimburse-ment structures that improve health outcomes through the implementation ofactivities are to be issued.

Examples of activities to be reported include quality reporting, effective case man-agement, care coordination, chronic disease management, and medication andcare-compliance initiatives; activities to prevent hospital readmissions through acomprehensive program for hospital discharge that includes patient-centered education and counseling, comprehensive discharge planning, and post-dischargereinforcement by an appropriate healthcare professional; activities to improvepatient safety and reduce medical errors through the appropriate use of best clinical practices, evidence-based medicine, and health information technologyunder the plan or coverage; and wellness and health promotion activities. Plansand insurers must annually report whether the benefits under the plan or coveragesatisfy these elements.

2013Health Insurance Administration Simplification. Rules establishing a singleset of operating rules for eligibility verification and claims status should have beenadopted by July 1, 2011, and take effect January 1, 2013. Rules for electronic fundstransfer and healthcare payment and remittance rules must be adopted by July 1,2012, and take effect January 1, 2014. Rules for health claims or equivalentencounter information, enrollment and disenrollment in a health plan, health planpremium payments, and referral certification and authorization rules are to beadopted by July 1, 2014, and take effect January 1, 2016. Health plans must docu-ment compliance with these standards or face a penalty of no more than $1 percovered life. The penalty takes effect April 1, 2014.

Medicare Tax. Effective January 1, 2013, the Medicare Part A (hospital insurance)tax rate on wages goes up by 0.9 percent (from 1.45 percent to 2.3 percent) onannual earnings over $200,000 for individual taxpayers and $250,000 for marriedcouples filing jointly. There is also a 3.8 percent Medicare tax assessment on invest-ment income from interest, dividends, royalties, rents, gross income from a trade orbusiness, and net gain from disposition of property for individuals earning over$200,000 and families earning over $250,000.

FSA Contribution Limit. Effective January 1, 2013, contributions to a FlexibleSpending Account (FSA) for medical expenses are limited to $2,500 per yearincreased annually by the cost-of-living adjustment.

Elimination of Tax Deduction for Part D Subsidy Payment. Effective January1, 2013, the tax deduction for employers that receive Medicare Part D retiree drugsubsidy payments is eliminated.

Requirement on Employers to Inform Employees of Coverage Options.Employers are to provide to each employee at the time of hiring (or with respectto current employees, not later than March 1, 2013), written notice informing theemployee of the existence of an Exchange, including a description of the servicesprovided by such an Exchange, and how the employee may contact the Exchangeto request assistance; if the employer plan’s share of the total allowed costs of

2 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2012

benefits provided under the plan is less than 60 percent of such costs, theemployee may be eligible for a premium tax credit under Section 36B of the Inter-nal Revenue Code of 1986 and a cost-sharing reduction under Section 1402 of thePPACA if the employee purchases a qualified health plan through the Exchange;and if the employee purchases a qualified health plan through the Exchange, theemployee will lose the employer contribution (if any) to any health benefits planoffered by the employer and that all or a portion of such contribution may beexcludable from income for federal income tax purposes.

2014Individual Mandate. United States citizens and legal residents will be required tohave qualifying health coverage beginning in 2014. Those who do not have cover-age will be required to pay a yearly financial penalty of the greater of $695 per person (up to a maximum of $2,085 per family) or 2.5 percent of householdincome, phased in from 2014–2016. Exceptions will be given for financial hardshipand religious objections.

Employer Play or Pay—The Employer Mandate. Effective in 2014, employerswith more than 50 employees that do not offer coverage, and have at least one full-time employee who receives a premium assistance tax credit, must pay a fee of$2,000 per full-time employee. The first 30 employees are not counted for assessingthe fee. Employers with more than 50 employees that offer coverage but have atleast one full-time employee receiving a premium tax credit will pay the lesser of$3,000 for each employee receiving a premium credit or $2,000 for each full-timeemployee. Employers that offer coverage will be required to provide a voucher toemployees with incomes below 400 percent of the poverty level if their share ofthe premium cost is between 8 percent and 9.8 percent of income to enable themto enroll in a plan in an Exchange and will not be subject to the above penalty.

Large Employer Automatic Enrollment Requirement. Effective in 2014, largeemployers with more than 200 full-time employees that offer coverage will berequired to automatically enroll employees in the employer’s lowest cost plan ifthe employee does not sign up for employer coverage or does not opt out of cover-age. Any automatic enrollment program must include adequate notice and theopportunity for an employee to opt out of any coverage.

Insurance Exchanges for Individuals and Small Businesses. By 2014, state-based American Health Benefit Exchanges and Small Business Health OptionsProgram (SHOP) Exchanges, administered by a governmental agency or nonprofitorganization, are to be operating so that individuals and small businesses with upto 100 employees can purchase qualified coverage.

Guaranteed Issue, Renewability, and Rating Variation Requirements. Effec-tive January 1, 2014, insurers will be required to guarantee issue and renewabilityand allow rating variation based only on age (limited to 3-to-1 ratio), premium rating area, family composition, and tobacco use (limited to 1.5- to-1 ratio) in theindividual and the small group market and the Exchanges.

Annual Limits. Effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2014,plans and insurers may no longer impose annual dollar limits on coverage.

Limit on Waiting Periods. Effective for plan years beginning on or after January1, 2014, insurers and plans must limit any waiting periods for coverage to 90 days.


Wellness Incentives. Effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1,2014, employers may offer employees rewards of up to 30 percent (increasing to 50 percent, if appropriate) of the cost of coverage for participating in a wellnessprogram and meeting certain health-related standards.

Preexisting Condition Exclusions. The application of preexisting conditionexclusions for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2014, is prohibited.

Comprehensive Health Insurance Coverage. Effective for plan years beginningon or after January 1, 2014, a health insurance issuer that offers health insurancecoverage in the individual or small group market must ensure that such coverageincludes the essential health benefits package that includes at least the followinggeneral categories and the items and services covered within the categories:

� Ambulatory patient services

� Emergency services

� Hospitalization

� Maternity and newborn care

� Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioralhealth treatment

� Prescription drugs

� Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices

� Laboratory services

� Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management

� Pediatric services, including oral and vision care

Limits on Cost Sharing and Deductibles. Effective for plan years beginning onor after January 1, 2014, a group health plan may not provide any annual cost shar-ing in excess of those that apply to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

2018Excise Tax on Cadillac Plans. Effective January 1, 2018, an excise tax is imposedon insurers of employer-sponsored health plans with total values that exceed$10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage.

#2 FMLA Paid Leave Initiatives

Most employers struggle with managing leave of absence issues, understandingFamily and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) laws, and even knowing when a familymedical leave of absence is covered by state or federal law. As employers in Con-necticut, California, New Jersey, and Washington state know, state and municipalpaid leave initiatives are now taking hold in many places.


Although paid family medical leave of absence laws have failed to pass at the fed-eral level for many years, many state Legislatures have recently taken up the fightby proposing laws to enable employees to take various types of paid leave. Accord-ing to the National Council of State Legislators, at least 19 states had some form ofpaid leave initiative on their legislative calendars at the beginning of 2011.

In California and New Jersey, employees are already entitled to paid benefits dur-ing certain types of family leave. On October 1, 2012, Washington state’s paid familyleave law will go into effect. The state law grants employees up to 5 weeks of familyleave insurance benefits, with a maximum weekly benefit of $250 per week.

Some states and municipalities have chosen to require paid sick leave for theiremployers. In June 2011, Connecticut became the first state in the nation to man-date paid sick leave exclusively for service workers such as waiters, cashiers, andhairstylists. Under the state paid sick leave law, service companies with 50 or moreworkers in the state must provide service workers 1 hour of sick time for every 40 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per calendar year.

The District of Columbia’s Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008 entitlesemployees covered by the District Family and Medical Leave Act to paid sick and“safe” leave for use under certain circumstances. The amount of paid sick leavegiven to the employee depends on the size of the employer and may be used byan employee for any of the following reasons:

� Physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition of the employee;

� Obtaining professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventive medical care,for the employee, provided that the employee makes a reasonable effort toschedule such leave in a manner that does not unduly disrupt the operationsof the employer;

� Caring for a child, a parent, a spouse, domestic partner, or any other familymember who has a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition orneeds for diagnosis or care; or

� If the employee or the employee’s family member is a victim of stalking,domestic violence, or sexual abuse, provided that the absence is directlyrelated to social or legal services pertaining to the stalking, domestic violence,or sexual abuse.

Cities have also gotten into the act, requiring paid sick leave by local ordinance.For example, in San Francisco employers are required to provide 1 hour of paidsick leave to an employee for every 30 hours worked. Under the ordinance,employees are allowed to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick leave if they work fora small employer (fewer than 10 employees). Employees of larger employers canaccrue up to 72 hours.

Effective September 1, 2012, the city of Seattle, Washington, will require that employ-ees in the city accrue paid sick time. The amount of time accrued will depend onthe size of the employer, and permissible reasons for leave range from an absenceresulting from an employee’s or employee’s family member’s mental or physical ill-ness, injury, or health condition; accommodating the employee’s need for medicaldiagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition;or an employee’s need for preventive medical care. Also covered are situationswhen the employee’s place of business or a child’s school or place of care has


been closed by order of a public official to limit exposure to an infectious agent,biological toxin, or hazardous material, and for reasons related to domestic vio-lence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Feds Encouraging States to Legislate Paid LeaveIn order to entice the states to continue the move toward legislating paid leave foremployees, DOL is pitching in. The 2012 Fiscal Budget for DOL includes$23,000,000 to fund the fed’s State Paid Leave Initiative, which will provide grants toassist additional states to establish paid leave programs. Typically, the programs arestate-run insurance programs financed by employer and/or employee contribu-tions, and the programs offer up to 6 weeks of benefits to workers for reasons cov-ered under the federal FMLA who must take time off to care for a seriously ill child,spouse, or parent, or bond with a newborn or recently adopted child.

Under this initiative, grants would be provided to assist additional states in plan-ning and start-up activities relating to state family paid leave programs. These funds will be provided to states for preimplementation planning grants to supportactivities designed to position a state to enact legislation and prepare for imple-mentation and implementation grants.

Planning activities will include designing a program, establishing protocol for legis-lation to withhold taxable wages, defining family eligibility and benefits require-ments, and articulating start-up activities. Funds may also be used for activitiessuch as research and analysis, coalition building; stakeholder consultation; devel-opment of a financing model and benefit structure; and development of an out-reach plan; and will culminate in a blueprint for implementation.

Paid Sick Leave Benefits: What the Numbers ShowIn a recent report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) examining paid sickleave benefits, length of service had minimal impact on paid sick leave provisions,but several other worker and company characteristics did affect the provisions.(The report is available at www.bls.gov.) Additionally, BLS’s report reveals thatworker characteristics contributed to the differing employer costs associated withproviding paid sick leave benefits. The data contained in the report are from theNational Compensation Surveys on Employee Benefits in the United States andEmployer Costs for Employee Compensation.

Highlights of the report include:

� Private industry workers access to paid sick leave benefits varied by occupa-tional group and ranged from 84 percent for management, professional, andrelated occupations to 42 percent for service workers.

� 81 percent of employees earning wages in the highest 25 percent of the wagedistribution had access to paid sick leave, compared to only 33 percent foremployees in the lowest 25 percent.

� In private industry, employees received an average of 8 days of paid sick leaveafter 1 year of service, with large establishments providing an average of 11 days and small establishments offering an average of 6 days.


� The cost for sick leave per employee hour worked in state and local govern-ment was 81 cents compared to 23 cents in private industry.

� Higher paying occupations typically incur higher sick leave costs. For example,the average employer cost for sick leave benefits in management, professional,and related occupations was 53 cents per employee hour worked in privateindustry; the cost for service occupations was just 8 cents per employee hourworked.

#3 Ethics

Workplace ethics defines a standard of acceptable behavior on the job. It is a set ofrules by which to judge decisions and conduct in the workplace. Many corporateleaders who fail to act ethically have been prosecuted and incarcerated, and theU.S. Congress has legislated significant changes in financial reporting and otherlaws to enforce ethical behavior. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) and theFederal Sentencing Guidelines have placed strict legal requirements on coveredemployers. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (theDodd-Frank Act) created additional whistleblower protections.

Making ethical choices on the job, even for the ethically minded, is not always easy.There may be many reasons that drive people to cross the line and act unethically.Here are a few examples:

� Conflicts of interest force employees to choose between self-interest and theinterests of co-workers, the department, or the organization. Sometimes thechoice is between the interests of a customer and the interests of the organiza-tion, or between the community and the organization.

� It is sometimes hard to draw a line between personal and business relation-ships. Employees forge friendships with co-workers, yet may have to make pro-fessional choices that do not seem very friendly. For example, if a co-workerdoes something wrong, an employee may have to report the situation. If a cus-tomer with whom an employee has a good relationship tries to use the rela-tionship in some unethical way, the employee is in a difficult situation.

� Massaging the truth, telling “little white lies,” and failing to tell the whole storycan all have an effect on the outcome of a situation.

� Confidential information is exactly that—confidential and privileged. Ethically,employees cannot use any confidential business information for self-gain orpass along such information to benefit friends or family, whether that informa-tion is about the organization or its customers.

� Laws and regulations are another problem area. There are many confusinglaws. Even if an employee understands the law, he or she may not agree with it.It can be tempting to cut corners or forget about the details.

� Pressure to succeed, pressure to get ahead, pressure to meet deadlines andexpectations, and pressure from co-workers, bosses, customers, or vendors to


engage in unethical activities or at least look the other way can drive people todo things they would not normally do.

� Some people make unethical choices because they are not sure about whatreally is the right thing to do. Ethical problems are often complicated, and theproper choice may be far from obvious.

� Self interest, personal gain, ambition, and downright greed are at the bottom ofa lot of unethical activity in business. Also, there are those who simply neverlearned or do not care about ethical values. Because such individuals have nopersonal ethical values, they do not have any basis for understanding or apply-ing ethical standards in business.

� Misguided loyalty can cause employees to lie because they think that in doingso, they are being loyal to the organization or to their bosses.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act)The Dodd-Frank Act provides significant financial incentives for employees to disclose to government officials what they believe may be illegal conduct by theiremployers. Here is a summary of the laws affected by the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistle-blower provisions.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act. SOX prohibits retaliation against employees of publiclytraded companies who report acts of mail, wire, bank, or securities fraud; fraudagainst shareholders; or violations of any rule or regulation of the Securities andExchange Commission (SEC) to their supervisors or other appropriate officialswithin their companies or federal officials with the authority to remedy the wrongdoing.

The law also prohibits retaliation against employees who assist in any investigationof such violations or participate in any proceeding related to an alleged violationof these laws (18 USC Sec. 1514A). Employees claiming retaliation under SOX mustexhaust administrative remedies before bringing an action in court. Complaintsare handled by DOL. If DOL does not issue a ruling within 180 days, the employeemay seek a trial in federal court.

The Dodd-Frank Act clarified some unsettled SOX issues. For example, courts weresplit on whether SOX grants whistleblowers a right to a jury trial. The Dodd-FrankAct makes clear that jury trials are available under the law. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act amends SOX by adding the following provisions:

� Non-publicly-traded subsidiaries of publicly traded companies are now covered by SOX.

� Nationally recognized statistical ratings organizations are not covered by SOX.

� The statute of limitations is extended from 90 days to 180 days.

� Predispute arbitration agreements are prohibited under SOX.

� Individuals cannot waive their rights or remedies under SOX.

Securities and Exchange Commission Act. The Dodd-Frank Act created additional whistleblower protections under the SEC Act. Employees who provide


information regarding securities law violations are entitled to between 10 percentand 30 percent of monetary sanctions recovered that exceed $1 million. Employersmay not retaliate against employees who provide information regarding securitieslaw violations to SEC, assist in the SEC’s judicial or administrative investigations, ormake required or protected disclosures under SOX or other laws subject to SECjurisdiction.

Employees claiming retaliation may bring a claim in federal court, and if they prevail, they may be awarded double back pay, attorney’s fees, and other costs.Employees must bring their claim within 6 years of the retaliation, or within 3 yearsafter the employer knew or should have known of the retaliatory conduct; in nocase can a claim be made more than 10 years after the retaliation. Practicallyspeaking, this provision gives SOX plaintiffs the opportunity to bring a claim in fed-eral court without first following the administrative procedures required by SOX.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Dodd-Frank Act createda whistleblower program to protect employees who provide information related toviolations of the Commodity Exchange Act or assist in an investigation or judicialor administrative action based on such information. As with the SEC Act, CFTCwhistleblowers are eligible to receive 10 percent to 30 percent of any fines recov-ered by CFTC that exceed $1 million. Also, individuals may bring retaliation claimsin federal court. Predispute arbitration agreements are prohibited, as are waivers ofrights under the Act. However, unlike the SEC Act, complaints under the CFTCwhistleblower provisions must be brought within 2 years of the violation.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Dodd-Frank Act created a Bureauof Consumer Financial Protection and provides whistleblower protections foremployees who work in the consumer financial services sector. These employersmay not retaliate against an employee “performing tasks related to the offering orprovision of a consumer financial product or service” who has:

� Provided information to his or her employer, the Bureau, or any local, state, orfederal authority relating what the employee reasonably believes to be a viola-tion of one of the consumer financial services laws protected by the Bureau orother Bureau rules;

� Testified in any proceeding related to enforcement or administration of theConsumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, any of the other laws protected bythe Bureau, or Bureau rules;

� Filed or instituted any proceeding under federal consumer financial law; or

� Objected to, or refused to participate in, any activity, policy, practice, or assignedtask that the employee reasonably believed to be in violation of any law sub-ject to the jurisdiction of or enforced by the Bureau.

Employees who believe they have been retaliated against for taking any of theactions set forth above may file a complaint with DOL. If, after an investigation,DOL finds in favor of the employee, it will order the employer to take affirmativeaction to abate the violation. In addition, the employee will be awarded back pay,reinstatement, compensatory damages and, upon request, attorney’s fees up to$1,000. If DOL does not issue a final order within 210 days after the employee filedthe complaint, or within 90 days after it has issued a written determination on theclaim, the employee may file suit in federal court.


As with other whistleblower provisions under the Dodd-Frank Act, employees maynot waive their rights under this provision of the Dodd-Frank Act. Also, predisputearbitration agreements are prohibited.

False Claims Act. Under the False Claims Act, an individual may bring a courtaction, known as a qui tam action, against any person who knowingly makes afalse claim for payment from the government (31 USC Sec. 3729 et seq.). Employersare prohibited from retaliating against employees who participate in a qui tamaction. Employees who prevail on a retaliation claim may be entitled to reinstate-ment, as well as double back pay, special damages, costs, and attorney’s fees. TheDodd-Frank Act expanded covered individuals to include not only the whistle-blower but also “associated others.” It also provides that employees have 3 yearsfrom the time of the retaliation to bring a claim.

Best Practice: Employee Communities DriveEngagement at Top Company HP Advanced Solutions, located in Victoria, British Columbia, has been recognizedas a Psychologically Healthy Workplace by the American Psychological Associa-tion (APA) and was recognized as one of “Canada’s Top 100 Employers” by Media-corp Canada in 2010.

The APA award is very difficult to achieve, explains Greg Conner, vice president of Human Resources and Communications, with APA members surveying employees of nominated organizations, conducting on-site, one-to-one interviewswith employees, and conducting a rigorous review of each organization’s policiesand procedures.

HP Advanced Solutions (www.edsadvancedsolutions.com), with a total of 400 employees, was founded in 2004 and is expert in information technologyprocesses and hosting infrastructures services, says Cynthia Funnell, director ofMarketing and Communications.

With two distinct business lines, HP Advanced Solutions provides revenue manage-ment for the province of British Columbia, mainly through a call center with 50 agents collecting monies owed to the province, and a high technology divisionthat provides applications and mainframe services for the province as well assome government-owned corporations.

Conner explains that the company’s mission is to be the number one provider oflabor-friendly business process and technology services. Of the 400 employees atHP Advanced Solutions, 370 are unionized. The voluntary employee turnover ratewas only 6 percent in 2010 and 7 percent in 2009.

Conner bases his employee-focused initiatives on the following foundation or prin-ciple that he mentions often: “When employees are engaged, they’re productive.Productive employees earn more money for their company. There are many exten-sive and cost-effective ways to create employee engagement and they ultimatelyimpact the bottom line [in a positive manner].”

Communities of Employees. One of his initiatives is creating and maintainingcommunities of employees that work together as cross-functional teams outside oftheir regular roles and work environments for the good of other employees, theorganization, and the outside communities surrounding HP Advanced Solutions.


The communities at HP Advanced Solutions currently include the Social and Charitable Community, the Development Community, the Health and WellnessCommunity, and the Sustainability Community. All of these consist of employeesvolunteering to participate with no designated end to their terms, says Conner.

The Social and Charitable Community plans events, such as Jeans Day, Halloweenparties, and Global Volunteer Days, says Conner. The Global Volunteer Days are Saturday events and generally attract 40 to 50 employees and family members,who work together at a community organization of their choice, explains Conner.The company provides a little seed money for supplies, he adds. The employeesare surveyed regarding the organizations that they’d like to help.

One Global Volunteer Day, for example, resulted in the dressing up of the barn and offices for the Victoria Disabled Riding Association, which provides horsebackriding opportunities for adults and children with physical and psychological disabilities.

Employee Recognition. The Development Community focuses on rewards andrecognitions for employees, says Conner. For example, there’s the Above andBeyond Award, given on a monthly basis to an employee doing something wellbeyond what is expected. Employees make the nominations for the award.

Conner says that at the company anniversary party held in December each year, the Development Community coordinates the presentation of employeerecognition awards. One award, named “Starting Strong,” is given to a person in hisor her first or second year of employment who demonstrates the attitude and ethics that everyone at the company would like to see.

“An award, Employee Excellence, is given out to the employee who embodies thespirit of productivity and also has great relationships with fellow co-workers andthe community,” explains Conner. “The Volunteer award is given to someone whovolunteers internally, in local communities, or even internationally. The Leadershipaward goes to the employee who demonstrates [excellent] leadership.”

The final community is Sustainability. “At the first meeting, we had 55 people. ThisCommunity is designed to look at ways we can be more environmentally sensitive.”

One significant change that came from Sustainability was to change all the printers to handle double-sided printing. It cut down on waste paper and saved 30 percent in the amount of paper used by the company, he explained.

These Communities provide only one aspect of what is done to strengthen the HPAdvanced Solutions work culture.

‘The Golden Rule.’ Conner comments, “It’s all about creating a workplace thatyou are proud to be part of. It helps to keep people engaged. It’s the secular versionof The Golden Rule—treating each other the way you would like to be treated. Ifyou operationalize that, you will have the kind of environment that you want andyou can demonstrate [the results of] that.”


#4 Social Media

Employers are recognizing that social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn,and MySpace can be useful marketing and recruiting tools. Likewise, employeeshave increasingly been utilizing social networking sites for a variety of uses, bothpersonal and professional. Although these sites can be beneficial, their use canalso have risks.

Discrimination. Some employers review social networking sites as a method ofscreening applicants. Generally, once an applicant or employee posts somethingon a public domain, such as a social networking site, an employer is free to view it.However, by viewing candidate profiles, employers may learn more information(e.g., race, disability, age, religion, family/marital status, sexual orientation) than theemployer could legally ask about directly. Therefore, it is critical that employersbase all interviewing and hiring decisions on job-related criteria. Employers mustalso be aware that everything they find on a social networking site may not be cur-rent, accurate, or even placed there by the prospective applicant, as users of thesesites sometimes “pretext” or pretend to be someone else.

Background Check Laws. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requiresemployers to obtain applicants’ consent when a third party conducts a back-ground investigation. Some states also have their own background check laws. It isunclear whether these laws would require consent from an applicant before anemployer or third party conducted an Internet search as part of a backgroundcheck. However, even if not legally required to do so, employers should considergetting consent so that applicants are on notice that the information they post onsocial networking sites may be reviewed by the employer.

Monitoring Employee Use of Social Networking Sites. There is little case lawaddressing the monitoring by employers of employees’ social networking posts.However, the few cases in this area suggest that courts will be reluctant to upholdan invasion of privacy claim (whether based on the federal constitution or statecommon law) when an employee voluntarily posts information on a public site.But the outcome may be different if employees set up an invitation-only site andhave an expectation that only invited users will be able to read their posts.

For example, a federal district court in New Jersey held that employees could pro-ceed with their invasion of privacy claim when they were fired after uninvitedcompany managers accessed their invitation-only Web discussions of workplacegrievances (Pietrylo v. Hillstone Restaurant Group, No. 06-5754 (D. N.J. 2008)). Thecourt also permitted the employees to proceed with their claim that the managersviolated the federal Stored Communication Act (SCA) and similar state law. Theemployees argued that one of the managers pressured an employee to providehim with her password to the site. The court reasoned that if proven, this wouldshow a violation of the SCA and state law, because authorization to view the sitewas not “freely given.”

In contrast, a California state court rejected an invasion of privacy claim by a college student who posted an essay highly critical of her home town on a socialnetworking site (Moreno v. Hanford Sentinel, 172 Cal. App. 4th 1125 (2009)). The student’s former school principal forwarded the post to a local newspaper that


published it. The student and her family were then subject to hostile treatmentfrom community members, including some death threats. The student claimed that the school principal invaded her privacy by sending the post to the newspa-per. The court rejected her claim, noting that she posted the essay on a social networking site available to anyone with Internet access. The court did, however,permit the student to pursue a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distressagainst the principal.

On the basis of these cases, employers should be aware that while it may not be aninvasion of privacy to access an employee’s public social networking site, actionstaken based on the information on the site may lead to liability under other legaltheories. Moreover, coercing an employee to provide access to a private site maybe an invasion of privacy, as well as a violation of federal and state law. Employersshould also keep in mind that some states have laws prohibiting employers fromtaking adverse action against an employee for engaging in legal activities while off-duty. An employer in a state with such a law may face liability if it takes adverseaction against an employee because of the employee’s legal activities shown on asocial networking site.

Practice tip: Because this area of the law is in its infancy, employers should con-sult with legal counsel before taking adverse action against an employee becauseof his or her posts on a social networking site.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Employers need to exercise cautionwhen disciplining employees for their use of social media. While an employer mayjustifiably believe discipline, or even termination, is appropriate when an employeeuses social media to criticize the company, the NLRB may interpret the same criti-cism as protected concerted activity.

The NLRB has issued several complaints against companies that provide insightinto how the NLRB views social media in the context of concerted action byemployees. In addition, the NLRB’s Acting General Counsel has issued a report oncases arising in the context of social media to assist practitioners and HR profes-sionals in this area.

Generally, if an employee uses social media for concerted activity, such as actingwith or on behalf of other employees regarding the terms and conditions ofemployment, the NLRB is likely to find the activity protected, even if the employeedisparages the employer. In contrast, employees are not protected by the NationalLabor Relations Act (NLRA) if they use social media to post their individual com-plaints about management or workplace policies.

For example, the NLRB filed a complaint against an ambulance company when it fired an employee who had posted negative comments about her supervisor on her Facebook page. In another case, an administrative law judge held that anonunion employer committed an unfair labor practice when it fired five employ-ees because of Facebook postings. One of the employees posted to her Facebookpage a co-worker’s comment that employees did not do enough to help the organization’s clients. This post generated angry responses from other employees,who defended their job performance and complained about working conditions.The judge noted that the employees were “taking the first step” toward group action to defend themselves against accusations that they could have reasonablybelieved would have been brought to management (Hispanics United of Buffalo,Case No. 3-CA-27872 (Sept. 2, 2011)).


However, employers may discipline or terminate employees because of their inap-propriate social media postings as long as the postings do not involve protectedconcerted activity. In one case, the General Counsel recommended dismissing anunfair labor practice charge against a newspaper that fired a reporter for sending“inappropriate and unprofessional” tweets from a work-related Twitter account. Thereporter criticized the paper’s copy editors, the city where the paper was located,and a TV station that made a spelling error on its Twitter feed. The employee hadbeen warned that his tweets were unprofessional and damaging to the newspa-per’s goodwill. The General Counsel found that the reporter’s actions did notinvolve concerted activity.

Likewise, when an employee used social media to air his “individual gripes” againsta manager, his activity was not protected. Here, the employee posted a Facebookcomment expressing frustration about a dispute with a manager over mispricedand misplaced items. Some employees responded to the posting expressing emo-tional support and asking why the employee was so wound up. The employee’scomments contained no suggestion that other employees engaged in group action,and the employees’ responses gave no indication that they interpreted his com-ments in such a way.

The Acting General Counsel’s report also addresses standards for social mediapolicies. Social media policies must be drafted so that they would not reasonablybe interpreted to deter employees’ exercise of their rights under the NLRA. Forexample, a policy that stated employees should be cautious about posts involvingthe employer that could be construed as inappropriate was considered too broadby the NLRB. This was because the policy contained no direction as to what wouldbe considered “inappropriate.” Thus, employers should include definitions, exam-ples, or other guidance in social media policies to clarify broad terms.

This area of the law is evolving. Employers should draft Internet and social mediapolicies carefully so that they do not prohibit employees from engaging in activi-ties protected by the NLRA, and these policies should be reviewed by legal coun-sel. Additionally, until the law is settled in this area, employers considering adverseaction against an employee who posted comments on social media about workingconditions may first want to consult with local employment counsel.

Employees’ Use of Social Networking Sites. Employers may find that employ-ees use social networking sites to post positive information about their organiza-tion’s products or work culture. Unfortunately, employee posts can also bedetrimental to employers. Therefore, employers should have policies in place set-ting forth their expectations regarding employee’s social networking as it relates tothe employer. Such policies should prohibit:

� Illegal harassment of co-workers or customers;

� Interference or disruption of work because of social networking; and

� Exposing trade secrets or other proprietary company information.

It is also a good idea to train employees on the proper and improper use of socialnetworking at or relating to work.


BloggingBlogging has grown quickly in recent years both with regard to the number of indi-viduals reading and posting to blogs and the number of blogs available on theInternet. There have been a number of highly publicized cases in which employeeswere disciplined or fired for disclosing confidential or proprietary informationabout their companies and/or describing their employers in an unflattering light.

Legal Considerations. When addressing blogging by employees, employersshould be aware of legal issues such as the employee’s right to free speech andfree association and the right to be free from restriction on off-duty activities. Manystates prohibit employers from taking action against employees who engage inlawful off-duty activities. However, blogs can also be used to harass or defame co-workers or others. If the company allows the employee to use company facili-ties to create or maintain the blog, the company may be liable for the illegalactions of the employee.

In order to prevent inappropriate blogging, employers should consider adding ablogging provision to any existing Internet or electronic communication policy orcreating a separate policy on blogging.

FTC Guidelines on Testimonials and Endorsements The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued guidelines requiring individualswho are paid to provide testimonials and endorsements on social networking sitesto reveal that they are being compensated (16 CFR 255.5). These guidelines couldaffect employers if their employees tout a product or service on a social network-ing site or blog without mentioning the employer/employee relationship. The FTChas stated that when determining whether to initiate an enforcement action, it willconsider whether the employer had policies and practices relating to employeeparticipation in social media. In the past, the FTC has brought law enforcementactions against companies whose failure to establish or maintain appropriate inter-nal procedures resulted in consumer injury. However, it is unlikely to bring anenforcement action against a company for the actions of a single “rogue” employeewho violated an established company policy.

Practice tip: In addition to the tips above, employers should make sure that theirblogging and/or social networking policies contain provisions requiring employ-ees to reveal their employment status whenever they discuss company products orservices using these media. Companies should also enforce these policies as amatter of good business practice and to ensure their credibility in case the FTCreviews a situation.

Best Practice: 5 Reasons to Focus Your SocialMedia Recruiting on LinkedInDo you focus your social media recruiting on LinkedIn? Or, do you prefer to use allsocial media avenues? Perhaps you’re avoiding social media for hiring or recruit-ing purposes altogether?

According to a recent study, social media can save a lot of money when it comesto recruiting. The cost per-hire using social media is $377, while traditional methods


can run as high as $3,295 per hire. Plus, social media resources such as LinkedIn—which is specifically designed for business use—can quickly help you find the per-fect hire. Effectively incorporating this interactive technology into your recruitmentefforts can be a win-win situation for both your new hires and your organization.

In a BLR webinar titled “Online Recruiting: How LinkedIn Can Help You Find Talent,Network, and Build a Digital Referral Base,” Linda Duffy, president of LeadershipHabitude, outlined ways to meet recruiting challenges using LinkedIn.

The SHRM April 2011 Research Spotlight: Social Networking Sites and Staffingfound that more than one-half (56 percent) of the organizations currently usesocial networking websites when recruiting potential job candidates. This is a significant increase since 2008, when a little over one-third (34 percent) of organi-zations were using these sites as a recruiting tool. Duffy confirmed: “I believe if youfast-forward another 3 years, it will be virtually 100 percent because I think this isthe trend and the direction we’re going.”

Out of the 56 percent of the companies using social networking websites forrecruiting, virtually all of them (95 percent) are using LinkedIn.

LinkedIn may be your very best resource for making the connections that lead toqualified candidates and, ultimately, job offers. Social media in general has manyrecruiting benefits. Here are five reasons social media—and LinkedIn in particu-lar—are great for staffing and recruiting:

1. It’s in real time. Candidates can set up alerts to be notified of new job postingsand also can receive e-mails, texts, posts, and access websites on their phones.No more waiting on the news cycle to post a new classified advertisement. Nor-mal business hours don’t have to apply.

2. You can build a pipeline: Have candidates come to you! This is one of theunique things about using social media for recruitment. It’s a two-way commu-nication. LinkedIn also has groups users can join that allow them to see jobpostings immediately.

3. It’s viral (and that’s a good thing). LinkedIn demonstrates this as well as anysite—we are no longer communicating one on one; it’s one to many. This is thepower of the networking aspect of the site in which something you post canreach not only those who you are connected with but also potentially those theyare connected with as well. Additionally, a person can forward or share contentand connections and even post a comment on multiple sites at the same time.

4. It’s virtually free. Yes, you’ll have sunk costs if you want something fancy orhighly integrated … and you’ll also have labor to monitor and post your ad, butthe use of the site itself is free. If you post within a group on LinkedIn, there isno cost, but even if you post on their job section directly, it is only $195. Com-pare that to using offline agencies.

5. LinkedIn demographics tend to skew more professional than other socialmedia sites. While they have fewer users (120 million) than some other socialmedia sites, 70 percent are in the “workforce age population” of between 25 and 54 years of age. LinkedIn users tend to be more affluent and educatedcompared to those on Twitter and Facebook.

This makes LinkedIn critical for recruiting professional candidates; it’s a greatchoice for meeting your staffing and recruiting needs.


Best Practice: Using Social Media to Communicate Sustainability AchievementsYou have established a corporate sustainability program, and you are seeing posi-tive results. You have engaged employees, and they are working toward meetingcompanywide sustainability goals. You have faced challenges and have been cre-ative in creating a program that fits your organization. Now you want to share yourachievements with the outside world using social media. But the problem is thatthere are a lot of companies that are attempting to share their products and storiesas well. How do you get your company to rise to the top?

Jeannette Bitz and Marianna Grossman have shared five tips on Greenbiz.com forexpanding social presence in this increasingly crowded corporate sustainabilityrealm:

1. Be clear and passionate. Convey your goals and strategies clearly, and dis-cuss your company’s viewpoints on issues and the media. Avoid discussingyour company and its products, unless they bring an original idea to the conversation.

2. Identify the people with whom you want to communicate. Determineyour audience and learn who is leading the conversation. You will need tospend some time doing some research; look for groups on LinkedIn, Twitter,and keywords that will lead you to where the pulse of the sustainability discussion is located that pertains to you.

3. Determine your role in the social media world. Do you want to blog? Join groups? Take the time to determine the best social media tools for yourorganizations, and create accounts on the networks and forums that you feelare the best fit.

4. Become a part of the group. Once you have determined industry leaders,figure out what makes them influential. Find conversations in which you cancontribute, and add your opinions and ask questions.

5. Keep track. As you do with your sustainability program, keep track of yoursocial media progress. Have you identified a new business lead in an onlineconversation? Have you noticed an increase in the number of followers onyour blog?

#5 Environmental Responsibility

You know that green programs are good for business, so why is it so hard to getupper management buy-in? Maybe it’s because they don’t fully understand all ofthe benefits of a green program.

5 Reasons Why You Need a Green ProgramHere are some convincing reasons to help you pitch starting a green program atyour company.


1. It’s easy!Whether it’s a factory, plant, or general office space, opportunities tobe green are in every workplace. You can easily train workers to save energy,recycle, and reduce waste at little cost to your company.

2. Your competitors probably have one. If you want to stay competitive orgain an advantage, a green program will help you do that.

3. Your workers want it. Most employees are interested in how their companyis practicing corporate social responsibility. This is a great opportunity for youto shine in the eyes of your workers and be an employer of choice becausemost employees link positive environmental and social activities to brand reputation.

4. It’ll save money. It’s simple, cutting energy costs and waste will save yourcompany money. Simple tasks like printing on both sides of paper, turning offcomputers and lights during nonworking hours, and conducting water auditscan add up to huge savings for your company.

5. It’ll keep you ahead of the regs. If you play in the global market you’ll haveto follow several European directives like Waste Electrical and ElectronicEquipment, Restriction of Hazardous Substances, and Registration, Evaluation,and Authorization of Chemicals.

Best Practice: Energy-Saving Opportunities You’ll be amazed at how easily you can cut your energy bill and protect the envi-ronment for little or even no cost. Evaluate the best opportunities that will be mosteffective for your company:

1. Track your energy bills: You need to know how much you pay for electricity,natural gas, and fuel oil at your facility. Tip: Understand seasonal charges in your utility bill that can affect your energy-saving actions for heating andcooling.

2. Pinpoint equipment using the most energy: A small portion of the equipmentusually accounts for the greatest amount of energy consumption. Tip: Look forlarge pieces of equipment and equipment that runs most of the time or thathas periodic, but substantial, start-up energy requirements.

3. Identify no- or low-cost projects.

4. Get management support: Your goal is to show the value of energy-savingmeasures and the potential cost and productivity advantages of a more-aggres-sive energy-efficiency program.

5. Create an energy team at your plant: The team will track and report energyuses, identify energy-saving opportunities, develop an energy plan, and imple-ment cost-saving measures.

6. Develop an ongoing strategy to sustain plantwide efforts and to improve andmaintain energy-efficient systems.

7. Shut off any lights you are not using.

8. Use compact fluorescent lightbulbs. They use less than 25 percent of the elec-tricity of standard bulbs and last 10 times longer.


9. Seal drafty doors, windows, and holes around plumbing fixtures to keep outwinter cold and summer heat.

10. Use the energy-savings setting on all appliances, particularly air conditionersand refrigerators, as well as on office machines such as copiers.

11. Unplug computers, monitors, modems, cable boxes, and televisions when notin use. Better yet, plug them into power strips so it’s one easy switch to turnthem all off and on.

12. Unplug cell phone and PDA chargers when not in use. They use electricityeven when they aren’t charging!

13. Use green power. “Green power” is defined as electricity that is generated fromenvironmentally preferable, renewable sources such as solar, wind, geothermal,biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydro.

14. Switch to paperless bank statements and bill paying to save millions of treesand billions of gallons of water—plus the cost of stamps.

15. Drive less! Walk, bike, or take public transportation.

Best Practice: Do You Have a Recycling Policy?Businesses can save money by reducing the amount of materials and energy theyconsume and by recycling materials. A policy that establishes your organization’sstrategies for reducing consumption and recycling materials should include clearguidance on work procedures for conservation of energy and recycling. Thesestrategies can save money, improve employee morale, and enhance your organiza-tion’s image in the community.

Here are some tips and considerations for developing your company’s recyclingpolicy. Then join the conversation and tells us steps you’ve taken in your goinggreen journey!

Review of Policy.Your policy should state that it will be reviewed at least once ayear to make adjustments to any changes in law or changes in items that areacceptable for recycling.

Program Administrator.Your policy should identify the person to be contactedwhen there are any questions regarding recycling. This individual should be readilyavailable to answer questions regarding what items are to be recycled and torespond to suggestions for altering your recycling program.

Reduction in Paper Used.Your policy could encourage employees not to printor copy documents unnecessarily. Instead, you could encourage employees tomaintain electronic copies of a document rather than paper copies.

Packaging. If your business packages items for others, your policy should statethat you seek to minimize the amount of packaging used to reduce trash. Further,your policy should state that you encourage employees to make suggestions forreducing the amount of packaging while still protecting the product. Similarly, yourpolicy should encourage employees to make suggestions on when to use recycledmaterials in your packaging.


Circulating Materials. To reduce the number of copies of an item, you may beable to circulate one copy among several people. Additionally, you may want toimplement an e-mail, voicemail, or networking system to permit the routing ofinformation without producing a hard copy.

Confidentiality. If you have confidential documents, care should be taken toremind employees to discard those items properly. For example, you may requirethe items to be shredded before recycling.

Recyclable Items.Your policy should identify what items are to be recycled. Willyou recycle paper only? Newspapers? Aluminum cans? Plastics?

Use of Recycled Material.Your policy can encourage use of items made fromrecycled materials. Your policy can also encourage the reuse of items before theyare discarded. For example, copy paper printed on one side only can be recycledinternally to make use of the blank back side (or even be made into scratch pads).

Items Not to Be Recycled.Your policy should expressly describe any items thatshould not be placed in a container for recyclables. Otherwise, a few items that arenot to be recycled can ruin the contents of an entire container.

Cleaning. If plastic containers or aluminum cans are to be rinsed out beforeplacement in a recycling bin, you should advise employees of this in your policy.

Toxic Materials. Expressly identify any toxic materials that are not to be placedin the recycling bins. For example, if you recycle a variety of cans, but not paintcans or oil cans, your policy should expressly inform employees of these restric-tions. Similarly, if you recycle plastics, but not plastic containers for motor oil, yourpolicy should so state.

OSHA. There may be Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reg-ulations regarding the disposal of certain workplace items, for example, needles inhealthcare facilities. OSHA may also regulate storage of items in the workplace.Often, material safety data sheets will provide the needed information.

Environmental Laws.Various federal and environmental laws regulate the dis-posal and recycling of materials, e.g., paint products, oil cans, tires, car batteries, orglass bottles.

Recycling Laws. State or local laws may require certain businesses to recycle spe-cific items. Office buildings may be required to recycle soda cans. Further, severalstates and the District of Columbia have passed legislation requiring that newspa-pers sold in these areas contain prescribed amounts of newsprint produced frompostconsumer newspapers.

Color-Coding Containers. To make it easier for employees to readily identifywhich container to use for which items, you should consider color-coding the bins.

Location of Bins. Location sites should be convenient for employees to recycle.At the same time, you should not have so many sites that it creates a burden togather all the items.

Signage. Not only should your signs identify what a particular recycling bin is tocontain but it should also identify items not to be placed in the container. Forexample, your recycling bin for plastics ought to identify any item, such as plasticcontainers for motor oil, which are not to be placed in that recycling bin.


Safety.When identifying items that you will recycle, you should consider potentialsafety problems. For example, you may decide not to recycle glass because of therisk of breakage that may lead to a serious cut.

Pickup Times.You should determine the optimal time for the pickup of the recy-cled materials. For example, is one pickup a week sufficient? One pickup a month?Is morning, mid-afternoon, or some other time best?

Inefficiencies in Recycling. Some manufacturers of copiers and printers warnagainst the use of recycled toner cartridges. Such manufacturers suggest that therecan be some leakage of the material that may require the machine to be cleanedsooner than normal. Similarly, the use of the back side of a prior draft may causeyour printer or copier to jam, resulting in inefficiencies or repairs.

Charitable Donations. If you have items that have outlived their usefulness toyour company but are still in working order, you may want to consider giving suchitems to a charitable organization that could use them.

#6 Workplace Wellness

In this age of skyrocketing healthcare costs, it isn’t surprising that wellness is atopic of discussion at home, in our schools, at all levels of government, and in theworkplace. There is evidence that an effective workplace wellness program willresult in a healthy return—both in terms of employee productivity and reducedhealthcare costs.

However, in order to realize this return, employers must make sure wellness pro-grams are well-focused and well-executed. In other words, wellness programs musttarget the health concerns of employees and their families. In addition, the com-pany must communicate with employees about the program and its benefits tomake sure it is being used effectively.

Workplace wellness program offerings may vary from simple things, such as dis-counts in membership fees at health clubs and in weight loss programs, to specifichelp with managing chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. As with any workplace program, employers must consider federal and state lawswhen setting up a workplace wellness program.

What Is Wellness? The concept of wellness encompasses every aspect of our lives. In 1979, Dr. Bill Hettler, cofounder of the National Wellness Institute (http://www.nationalwellness.org), developed a model called The Six Dimensions of Wellness,which is generally accepted by the wellness community. The six dimensions are:

� Physical—Bodily health through exercise, nutrition, and abstaining fromharmful activities, such as smoking

� Emotional—Emotional health through learning to recognize, express, andcontrol feelings and moods


http://www.nationalwellness.org

� Intellectual—Mental health through developing creativity, learning ability, andproblem-solving skills

� Occupational—Job satisfaction through learning individual aptitudes andskills and finding meaning in work

� Social—Community connections through learning the part we play in ourinterconnected world

� Spiritual—Larger life questions through learning to choose and live by a setof values that give meaning to our lives

Legal Issues Related to Workplace Wellness ProgramsEmployers have a great deal of flexibility in designing wellness programs. However,it is a good idea to review any program with an attorney, and employers shouldwork closely with insurance providers if the wellness program will offer financialincentives or benefits through group health plans. There are a number of laws tobe aware of when developing and implementing these programs.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The ADA requires employers to offer a reasonable accommodation to anemployee with a known disability, and it prohibits employers from making medicalinquiries or requiring medical examinations (unless job-related and consistentwith business necessity). It is also unlawful under the ADA to take any adverseemployment action based on an individual’s actual or perceived disability.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has offered employerssome guidance on the ADA’s restrictions on medical inquiries and examinations.Under the guidelines, an employer may conduct medical examinations and activi-ties that are part of a voluntary wellness and health screening program. Therefore,offering employees the opportunity to voluntarily participate in health screeningprograms for high blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring is not likely to vio-late the ADA as long as there is no penalty (economic or otherwise) for not partici-pating. Employers must treat any information acquired as a confidential medicalrecord.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), HHS, and the IRS pub-lished rules in 2006 that provide guidance in complying with the nondiscrimina-tion provisions of HIPAA. The rules also provide guidance on the implementationof wellness programs.

HIPAA nondiscrimination provisions generally prohibit group health plans fromcharging similarly situated individuals different premiums or contributions orimposing different deductible, copayment, or other cost-sharing requirementsbased on a health factor. Health factors include health status, medical condition(including both physical and mental illnesses), claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, genetic information, evidence of insurability(including conditions arising out of acts of domestic violence), and disability.


However, there is an exception that allows plans to offer wellness programs if theymeet certain criteria.

Under the regulations, examples of wellness programs that comply with HIPAA’snondiscrimination requirements without having to satisfy any additional standards(assuming participation in the program is made available to all similarly situatedindividuals) include:

� A program that reimburses all or part of the cost for memberships in a fitness center;

� A diagnostic testing program that provides a reward for participation and does not base any part of the reward on outcomes;

� A program that encourages preventive care through the waiver of the copayment or deductible requirement under a group health plan for the costs of, for example, prenatal care or well-baby visits;

� A program that reimburses employees for the costs of smoking cessation programs without regard to whether the employee quits smoking; and

� A program that provides a reward to employees for attending a monthly health education seminar.

A wellness program that conditions a reward on an individual satisfying a standardrelated to a health factor must meet these five requirements:

1. The total reward must be limited. Generally, it must not exceed 20 percent ofthe cost of employee-only coverage under the plan.

2. The program must be reasonably designed to promote health and prevent disease.

3. The program must give individuals eligible to participate the opportunity toqualify for the reward at least once per year.

4. The reward must be available to all similarly situated individuals. The programmust allow a reasonable alternative standard (or waiver of the initial standard)for obtaining the reward to any individual for whom satisfying the initial standard is medically inadvisable or unreasonably difficult due to a medicalcondition.

5. The plan must disclose in all materials describing the terms of the program theavailability of a reasonable alternative standard (or the possibility of a waiverof the initial standard).

National Labor Relations Act

Employers who have negotiated a collective bargaining agreement with a unionare required by the NLRA to bargain over “wages, hours, and other terms and con-ditions of employment.” Therefore, a union may claim that a wellness program is aterm or condition of employment that mandates bargaining. Employers shouldalso check the governing collective bargaining agreement to see if a wellness pro-gram falls under a subject they have agreed to negotiate. For example, a bargainingagreement may mandate negotiation over the amount of employee-paid insurancepremiums, but not health insurance or other employee insurance benefits.


Internal Revenue Code

Depending on the incentives and benefits included in an employer’s wellness pro-gram, there may be tax consequences for the employer and the employee. Forexample, some employee incentives may constitute taxable income for employees.Generally, the value of an incentive is includible in the employee’s gross income(e.g., gift cards, memberships to off-site exercise facilities). However, there are someexceptions, including:

� Free or subsidized access to a gym or athletic center that is operated by theemployer and located on the employer’s premises,

� Discount on employee contribution required to participate in employer-sponsored health plan, and

� Contributions to an employee’s flexible spending account.

In addition, a discount to an employee’s healthcare insurance offered as an incen-tive to employees who participate in a wellness program would probably not beconsidered taxable income for employees. Employers are well advised to obtainguidance from a tax professional as tax laws are complex and regulations canchange frequently.

State Laws that Protect Off-Duty Conduct

Several states have laws protecting the off-duty conduct of employees. Some states,including Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada,New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia,have “Smokers’ Rights” laws that protect individuals from discrimination on thebasis of the lawful use of tobacco products outside of the workplace. Other states,such as California, have broader coverage that includes any lawful activity occur-ring away from the employer’s premises during nonworking hours.

When designing a wellness program, employers should review state laws prohibitingemployment discrimination to be sure the program complies with state requirements.Once a program is in place, employers should take steps to ensure that employmentdecisions are not based on conduct that is protected by law. It is necessary to keep inmind that Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) may preempt state lawwhen a wellness program is part of an employee benefit plan.

However, ERISA will neither preempt state laws that have only a “tenuous, remoteor peripheral connection” to employee benefit plans, nor will it preempt stateinsurance laws. If a wellness program is challenged based on a state law that pro-tects off-duty conduct, ERISA’s preemption clause may come into play—but itwould depend on whether the program is part of an employee benefit plan withinthe meaning of ERISA’s preemption clause.

A federal court decision demonstrates the difficulties that arise when a mandatorywellness program conflicts with an employee’s off-duty conduct (Rodrigues v. The Scotts Company LLC, No. 07-10104 (D. Mass. 2008)). In this case, the employerinstituted a mandatory wellness program that included a tobacco-free policy prohibiting “smoking of tobacco products by its employees at any time and at anyplace, whether or not in the workplace or during work hours.”

The applicable state law does not have a provision prohibiting discriminationagainst employees who use tobacco products. The employer used random testing


of employees to enforce its policy. When it subsequently discharged an employeewho tested positive for nicotine, the employee filed a lawsuit based on variousclaims. Ultimately, the court ruled the former employee could pursue his lawsuitbased on his claims of invasion of privacy and a violation of ERISA, but not on hisclaim of wrongful termination or a violation of the state civil rights law.

Note: Because state laws and regulations vary widely, employers should have theirwellness programs reviewed by an attorney familiar with applicable state laws, particularly if employee participation in a wellness program is mandatory.

Best Practice: Suggestions for Wellness ProgramsIdeas that employers can use in their wellness programs are as varied as theemployees in an employer’s workforce. It may take some trial and error to find theones that create an enthusiastic response and achieve high levels of participation.Some successful programs have included one or more of the following:

� Voluntary screening to check blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and other risk factors

� Personal finance education and counseling

� Smoking cessation program

� Financial incentives for voluntary participation in healthcare assessment

� Reduced copayments for drugs that treat asthma, diabetes, hypertension, andother chronic conditions

� Health insurance discounts for nonsmokers

� Health insurance surcharges for smokers

� Discounted gym memberships

� Partnering with local restaurants to provide healthy lunch options

� Reimbursement for membership in Weight Watchers® or other weight management programs

� Healthy food options in company cafeteria or vending machines

� On-site medical facility, fitness center, and pharmacy for employees’ use

� No out-of-pocket cost to employee for preventive care, e.g., annual physicalexam, well-child exams, mammograms

� Flu vaccinations

� Newsletters, e-mail notices, bulletin board postings, and other awareness strate-gies to increase participation in wellness initiatives

Both large and small employers can implement wellness programs that helpreduce the cost of health care and improve the health of employees. Carefulassessment of workforce needs, tailoring of programs to meet those needs, and acomprehensive health management strategy are all components that will help anemployer’s wellness program succeed.


Best Practice: 13 Inexpensive Tips for Encouraging Wellness Program ParticipationBeyond the actual physical activities, most wellness programs need a little incen-tive to encourage participation and especially to keep people participating afterthe initial excitement has worn off. Here are some tips from the New York StatePhysical Activity Coalition:

1. Provide incentives like T-shirts, caps, aprons, or paid time off.

2. Hold contests or other fun worksite competitions:

� “Wellness Project of the Month”

� “Set Your Goal” competition

� Employee/management and interdepartmental challenges

� Health trivia game on computer with prizes to the winners

3. Announce and publicize a monthly health theme.

4. Conduct recognition activities for employees making efforts at healthierlifestyles:

� Bulletin board announcements.

� Personally signed letters from the CEO congratulating employees on theirhealthy behaviors.

� Publicity for success stories or the healthy employee of the month.

� Recognition for the coordinators of wellness activities.

5. Provide bulletin boards for health information exchange and for people towrite milestones they have achieved in health (e.g., New Year’s resolution, mileswalked, pounds lost).

6. Provide child care so that parents can participate in wellness activities.

7. Have the company health practitioner set a time (weekly, monthly) to checkblood pressure, body fat, and weight.

8. Provide one-on-one counseling for high-risk employees and people with dis-abilities by establishing wellness mentoring programs. (Note: Take care withthis one so you don’t run afoul of discrimination laws.)

9. Develop a team for brainstorming ideas and to help with wellness activities.

10. Conduct a survey to assess what topics employees want to pursue.

11. At all meetings:

� Start with a stretch, and take a relaxation break in the middle.

� Conduct a wellness activity.

� Recognize an employee birthday or other special event.

12. Rotate departmental responsibility for wellness activities.

13. Utilize college interns to assist with developing and running wellness projectsand events.


#7 Classifying Employees

Topic: Amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Recordkeeping RegulationsDOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) intends to update the FLSA recordkeepingrequirements to foster openness and transparency, to increase awareness amongworkers, and to encourage greater compliance by employers. DOL is considering aproposed rule requiring covered employers to notify workers of their rights underthe FLSA, and to provide information regarding hours worked and wage computa-tion. Any employers that seek to exclude workers from the FLSA’s coverage will berequired to perform a classification analysis, disclose that analysis to the worker,and retain that analysis to give to WHD enforcement personnel who might requestit. The proposal will also address burdens of proof when employers fail to complywith records and notice requirements.

The current recordkeeping regulations require covered employers to keep speci-fied payroll records and other information but do not require that such informa-tion or other information regarding a worker’s employment or exemption status bedisclosed to the worker. This is an issue of transparency and is critical to workers’understanding of their legal rights and responsibilities.

Employers covered by the FLSA are currently required to provide notice regardingthe Act and to keep records on wages, hours, and other items, as specified inrecordkeeping regulations established to ensure compliance with the various pro-visions of the Act. Most of the information required to be kept is of the kindemployers generally would maintain in ordinary business practices. Requiredrecords generally include the employee’s name, address, date of birth (if under 19 years of age), hours worked per day and per week, regular rate of pay (non-overtime rate) when overtime is worked, amount of straight time earnings andovertime pay for each workweek, and deductions from or additions to pay.

The regulations also specify the records an employer must keep in order to con-firm that particular exemptions from some of the FLSA’s requirements may apply.Employers must keep additional information on certain employees who are home-based or work under uncommon pay arrangements or to whom lodging or otherfacilities are furnished or other special requirements apply.

Updating the recordkeeping requirements to promote transparency is expected toencourage greater levels of compliance by employers, to enhance awarenessamong workers of their status as employees or independent contractors andemployee rights and entitlements to minimum wage and overtime pay, and to facil-itate DOL enforcement.

IRS Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement ProgramThe IRS Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP) will enable manyemployers to resolve past worker classification issues by voluntarily reclassifying


their workers. The program is designed to increase tax compliance and reduce theburden for employers by providing greater certainty for employers, workers, andthe government. Under the program, eligible employers can obtain relief from federal payroll taxes they may have owed in the past if they prospectively treatworkers as employees. The VCSP is available to eligible businesses, tax-exemptorganizations, and government entities that have erroneously treated their workersor a class or group of workers as nonemployees or independent contractors, andnow want to correctly treat these workers as employees.

To be eligible, an applicant must:

� Consistently have treated the workers as nonemployees in the past,

� Have filed all required Forms 1099 for the workers for the previous 3 years; and

� Not currently be under audit by the IRS, DOL, or a state agency concerning theclassification of these workers.

Interested employers can apply for the program by filing an application for theVCSP, Form 8952, at least 60 days before they want to begin treating the workers asemployees.

Employers accepted into the program pay an amount effectively equaling just over1 percent of the wages paid to the reclassified workers for the past year. No interestor penalties will be due, and the employers will not be audited on payroll taxesrelated to these workers for prior years. Participating employers will, for the first 3 years under the program, be subject to a special 6-year statute of limitations,rather than the usual 3 years that generally apply to payroll taxes.

Wage and Hour InvestigationsWHD is responsible for administering and enforcing a number of federal laws thatset basic labor standards. If the employer is subject to these laws, the investigatorwill verify that workers are paid and employed properly according to the lawsadministered and that youths under the age of 18 are employed as provided by thechild labor provisions.

WHD does not require an investigator to previously announce the scheduling ofan investigation, although in many instances, the investigator will advise anemployer before opening the investigation. The investigator has sufficient latitudeto initiate unannounced investigations in many cases in order to directly observenormal business operations and quickly develop factual information. An investiga-tor may also visit an employer to provide information about the application of, andcompliance with, the labor laws administered by WHD.

WHD does not typically disclose the reason for an investigation. Many are initiatedby complaints. All complaints are confidential, so the name of the worker, thenature of the complaint, and whether a complaint exists may not be disclosed. Inaddition to complaints, WHD selects certain types of businesses or industries forinvestigation.

WHD often targets low-wage industries because of high rates of violations or egre-gious violations, the employment of vulnerable workers, or rapid changes, such asgrowth or decline, in an industry. Occasionally, a number of businesses in a specificgeographic area are examined. The objective of targeted investigations is to


improve compliance with the laws in those businesses, industries, or localities.Regardless of the particular reason that prompted the investigation, all investiga-tions are conducted in accordance with established policies and procedures.

During an investigation, DOL representatives visit a business and gather data onwages, hours, and other employment conditions or practices in order to determinecompliance with the law. WHD does not require an investigator to previouslyannounce the scheduling of an investigation, although investigators will oftenadvise an employer before opening the investigation. The investigator has sufficientlatitude to initiate unannounced investigations in many cases in order to directlyobserve normal business operations and develop factual information quickly. If violations are found, the employer may owe back pay, face penalties, and beadvised by DOL to make changes in employment practices in order to avoid future violations.

The WHD investigator will identify himself or herself and present official creden-tials. The investigator will explain the investigation process and the types ofrecords required during the review. An investigation consists of the following steps:

� Visitation and inspection of the business under investigation.

� Examination of up to 3 years of records to determine which laws or exemp-tions apply. These records include those showing the employer’s annual dollarvolume of business transactions, involvement in interstate commerce, andwork on government contracts. Information from an employer’s records willnot be revealed to unauthorized persons.

� Examination of payroll and time records, and taking notes or making transcrip-tions or photocopies essential to the investigation.

� Interviews with certain employees in private to verify the employer’s payrolland time records; to identify workers’ particular duties in sufficient detail todecide which exemptions apply, if any; and to confirm that minors are legallyemployed. Interviews are normally conducted on the employer’s premises. Insome instances, present and former employees may be interviewed at theirhomes or by mail or telephone.

� When all the fact-finding steps have been completed, the investigator will ask tomeet with the employer or a representative who has authority to reach decisionsand commit the employer to corrective actions if violations have occurred. Theemployer will be told whether violations have occurred, what they are, and howto correct them. If back wages are owed to employees because of minimumwage or overtime violations, the investigator will request payment of back wagesand may ask the employer to compute the amount due.

DOL looks for complete, accurate, and unambiguous pay records for everyemployee for each pay period from the past 3 years. As a result, it is imperative thatemployers strive to keep accurate, well-organized wage and hour records that canbe produced quickly.

In general, employers in the following categories must comply with the wage andhour requirements of FLSA:

� Employers engaged in interstate commerce or the production of goods forinterstate commerce

� All hospitals, schools, and public agencies


Employees in firms not covered by the FLSA might still be protected under the Actif their individual work involves interstate commerce or the production of goodsfor interstate commerce.

Tip: If an employer believes that it may have wage and hour issues, it should con-tact an attorney experienced in wage and hour investigations as soon as possible.An experienced attorney can provide details about the employer’s rights andresponsibilities from the outset.

The FLSA prohibits employers from discharging or discriminating against anyemployee who files a wage and hour complaint or who provides information dur-ing a DOL investigation. As a result, employers should be cautious not to discour-age employee cooperation with wage and hour investigations or to respondnegatively to any employee who files a wage and hour complaint.

Best Practice: How to Prepare for an InvestigationIn order to prepare for a wage and hour investigation, consider taking the follow-ing steps:

� Appoint a company representative or legal counsel to interact with the DOLinvestigator.

� Before providing information or documents to DOL, the representative or attorney should determine the scope of the investigation and review all documents before handing them over to DOL.

� Prepare a legal and factual “position statement” for the investigator, outliningany compliance steps taken by the organization.

� Provide managers with relevant information and interview employees inadvance so that everyone is better prepared to respond to the investigator’squestions.

� Do not discourage employee cooperation with wage and hour investigationsor respond negatively to any employee who files a wage and hour complaint.

Cooperation Is Essential

Employers should demonstrate their willingness to cooperate with DOL investiga-tors and to adjust their procedures and policies as necessary to avoid violations inthe future.

How to Prevent an Investigation

Here are some strategies to prevent a wage and hour investigation:

Avoid unfair compensation practices. Make sure employees are compensatedin a consistent manner. If an employer’s pay practices are consistent, complaintsare less likely to arise, and the employer will be in a better situation if DOL doeslaunch an investigation.

Understand the regulations. It is important that employers take the time andmake a concerted effort to understand and familiarize themselves with the FLSA. It is the law, and if employers fail to follow the law they may face litigation or aDOL audit.


Train. Train managers so they are fluent in the language of the FLSA.

Analyze state versus federal law. Determine whether the state’s wage and hourlaws conflict with federal law, then follow the law that is most beneficial to theemployee.

Pay past overtime due. If it is determined that an employee is wrongly classifiedas exempt, the employer should determine how many overtime hours theemployee has worked in the past 2 years, then pay the employee the overtime due.The employer should also have the employee sign a release to free the employerfrom further liability. Paying past overtime due to employees now will be far lessexpensive than paying them in a DOL settlement.

Respond to internal complaints expeditiously. If an employee files a wageand hour complaint internally, the employer should take it seriously. Since manyinvestigations are prompted by an employee’s complaint, employers might be ableto prevent an investigation by addressing an employee’s initial internal complaint.

Seek compliance assistance from DOL. Various compliance tools and informa-tion are available on DOL’s website at http://www.dol.gov.

Conduct a self-audit. Employers can hire attorneys to audit their companies—orthey can do it themselves before DOL initiates an investigation. Conducting a self-audit helps ensure compliance with federal and state laws. As part of an audit,employers should:

� Review job descriptions to determine whether they are still accurate, reflectthe jobs being performed, and reflect the skills necessary to perform the job.

� Review employees’ actual job duties to ensure that they still fall within theadministrative, executive, professional, computer, or outside sales exemptions.

� Make sure overtime for nonexempt employees has been properly calculated.For instance, bonuses and shift premiums should be included in the calcula-tion of the regular rate of pay.

� Make sure the required posters have been hung in the appropriate places inthe workplace.

#8 Retirement of Baby Boomers

Teamwork, Participation Are Generally Important to Baby BoomersEach generation of employees has a set of common values and attitudes that grewout of influences during their formative years. For example, Baby Boomers grew upin a time when rights were a big issue—in schools, voting booths, housing, andworkplaces. They came to work with the notion that they had rights as employeesand employers had to respect their rights.


Here are some other common values and attitudes of Boomers (i.e., those bornafter World War II and on into the early 1960s):

� Boomers brought with them the optimism of the 1960s and the belief thatchange could and should occur, and that at work as everywhere else in theirlives, there were lots of possibilities within their grasp.

� This generation has been more interested in career and personal growth thanthe previous generation.

� They have also tended to value self-gratification and self-interest more than loy-alty and dedication to the organization.

� However, Boomers, for the most part, have been big on teamwork and partici-pation. And when they moved into positions of power in the workplace, theyput an emphasis on these strategies, which have been widely adopted andhave proved very successful in American enterprises of all kinds.

Healthcare, Technology Skills Among Baby Boomers’ ConcernsDo your supervisors understand the concerns Baby Boomers have? Here is a list ofcommon concerns that you can pass along to supervisors:

� Baby Boomers are interested in healthcare benefits. Statistics show that peoplein their fifties and sixties begin to experience more health problems and dis-ease.

� Boomers are generally concerned about retirement. Some of the older onesare already retiring. The younger ones are busy saving for retirement. Many ofthem are empty nesters. They’ve finally gotten their kids through college andnow it’s time to pump up the 401(k).

� Baby Boomers may be concerned about keeping up with workplace changesand new technologies. Some may find this more difficult than it is for theyounger generations.

� Boomers are often concerned about maintaining their status and position asthey face more and more competition from the up-and-coming GenerationXers.

� And finally, many Boomers are concerned about having more leisure time.They’ve been working for a long time and many have put in long hours on thejob over the years. Now they want a little more free time to enjoy themselves.

Succession Planning: A Strategy for Meeting Talent NeedsTraditionally, succession planning focused on an orderly transition at the top of thecompany. Companies would plan for the time when a chief executive officer, presi-dent, chief financial officer, or other key manager would retire or move on to newopportunities. The focus would be on a smooth transition to new leadership, mak-ing sure the company stayed on track during the transition.


Succession planning has taken on a whole new level of importance today as com-panies anticipate changes in the workforce. One of the most notable is the aging ofthe workforce and the significant “brain drain” many companies will experience asBaby Boomers begin to retire.

The BLS reports that over one-third of the civilian employees working for the fed-eral government are eligible for retirement, and 34 percent are over 50 years of age.The same situation exists, but to a somewhat lesser degree, in the workforce as awhole. Therefore, employers can expect that federal and state governments will behiring large numbers of replacements from available employees to fill positions inboth the private and public sectors.

In this new environment, succession planning has a broader focus. Companiesmust plan not only for staffing needs at the top of the company but must also iden-tify and plan for future human capital needs at all levels–planning for the futuregrowth and success of the company. If the company is not prepared and has notinvested in its key employees, when the need to fill a position arises, the companywill likely find itself looking outside the organization in competition with otherpublic and private employers.

Developing a Succession Plan

In many organizations, a succession plan is a document developed by the HumanResources department, distributed to managers, and then put on a shelf. This typeof plan is of little value to a company.

To be of real value, the plan must include input from senior management, an analy-sis of the company’s current and future needs for talent, a plan for identifyingemployees who will be trained and mentored to fill key roles in the future, and aplan for recruiting outside talent to make sure the company has the skills andexperience it needs. Once this is done, the plan must be implemented, and man-agers and supervisors at all levels of the company must be evaluated on their workin developing employees.

Study the demographics of the company. Early in the process, it is important toanalyze the current workforce. Is “brain drain” going to present a significant prob-lem for the company, and if so, when and in what areas or jobs? Knowing whenand where there will be key vacancies or a need to replace accumulated skills andknowledge will help focus on future needs as well as current vacancies when newemployees are recruited and hired.

Link strategic goals with human capital needs. Identify the talent, skills, andexperience the company will need over the next 5 to 10 years in order to achievegoals and continue to be successful. This will include the knowledge, skills, abili-ties, experience, education, core competencies, and even personality traits that willbe needed to fill top management positions and other positions that will be key tothe company’s long-term success.

Let senior management play a role. As noted above, a succession plan docu-ment that sits on a shelf is not helpful. Armed with demographic information andinformation on the talent, skills, and experience the company will need over thenext 5 to 10 years, Human Resources managers need to involve senior managers in the planning process so that succession planning and the development ofemployees are adopted as strategic goals. Senior management will be more likely


to participate in the process if it is linked to their own strategic goals and the long-term strategic goals of the company.

Senior management must play a central role both in developing the plan and mak-ing sure it is properly implemented, including:

� Reviewing and adjusting the 5- to 10-year analysis of talent, skills, and experi-ence to make sure it is aligned with the long-term goals of the company

� Identifying key positions and the skills and experience necessary to fill them

� Using data that are readily available and can be gathered at regular intervals

� Identifying high achievers or high potential employees already working for thecompany who will be targeted for mentoring and cross-training so that theycan fill key positions in the future

� Providing project work to targeted employees in order to expand their knowl-edge and experience and prepare them for future leadership roles

� Supporting recruiting efforts aimed at hiring individuals with the skills andexperience needed now and in the future

� Evaluating managers and supervisors at all levels of the company on how wellthey develop and mentor employees

Notifying Employees

Critical to the effectiveness of any succession plan is employee awareness of sucha plan. Employees who are aware of the employer’s succession plan and programwill be more likely to self-identify through performance. Employees who fit withinthe employer’s succession plan will derive comfort and security from a tangible,well-laid-out plan for their future.

In order to establish a written succession plan and policy, the employer shouldconsider the purpose of the plan (e.g., to identify employees with skills and poten-tial to succeed within the organization and to ensure that outgoing employees are replaced with high-quality candidates from within) and any procedures forsuccession planning (e.g., schedule for review of plans, identification of criticalpositions, past plan performance, and future modifications of the plan).

Identifying Key Positions and Skills

A critical step in the process is to specifically identify the key positions that will betargeted in the succession plan. This usually includes management-level positions.It may also include highly specialized jobs that are essential to the company’s abil-ity to meet current or future goals.

Once the positions are identified with the help of senior management, it is impor-tant to understand what the knowledge, experience, training and education, skills,personality traits, and other necessary requirements are for these positions. Oncethe company understands what it needs, it can look at current employees andidentify individuals with the potential to fill these key positions. In addition, thecompany can identify gaps in the skills and experience of current employees andthen make a concerted effort to fill those gaps when hiring employees from out-side the company.


Identifying High-Potential Employees

Also critical to the succession plan is the process of identifying employees that willbe targeted for training and mentoring so that they will be ready to step into keypositions when openings occur. It is helpful to consider these criteria:

� Work history, including progression into more responsible positions, and pastexperience that might be helpful in a future position

� Job performance over time

� Education and training

� Demonstrated willingness to take initiative on new projects and to suggest new ideas

� Employee’s own interests and career goals

� Personality profile if the company uses this type of assessment

� Ability to get work done and to meet deadlines

� Ability to work as part of a team and to motivate others

� Understanding of the company’s products and customers

� Training needs of the employee in order to be ready for more responsible management positions

Once an employee is identified through this process, the next step is to develop anindividualized plan for the employee. The best development plans include a men-tor relationship with a successful senior manager, cross-training, and project workthat provides leadership opportunities for the employee. Even though some class-room training may be appropriate, managers generally learn more relevant skillsthrough observation and practice. The development plan should focus on makingsure the employee has the skills, training, traits, and experiences necessary to fillone of the key positions if and when there is an opening.

Setting Development Goals

Once individual high-performing and high-potential employees have been identi-fied, development goals should be set, including establishing projects or workactivities for development, setting the time frames for development goals, determin-ing the resources needed, setting measurements, and agreeing on the action neces-sary to set and carry out development goals. Once goals have been set, theindividual’s career coach (usually the manager) should be assigned and their roleshould be clearly established.

Best Practice: Retirement Policies to Protect Your Organization and Prepare EmployeesA policy on retirement can take many forms. Some companies confine themselvesto specifying the minimum retirement age and briefly outlining the way in whichthe company will observe an employee’s retirement, for example, by holding a spe-cial dinner for the retiree and his or her spouse and fellow workers. Others have


well-organized preretirement counseling programs. And still others have retirementpolicies that are primarily pension plan summaries.

Preretirement planning and preretirement counseling programs have multiplied inrecent years. Enlightened employers today realize that it is to their advantage, aswell as their employees’, to provide some form of preparation for retirement living.Such programs give the company a good name in the community, thus aidingrecruitment and public relations efforts.

The passage of the 1986 amendment to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act(ADEA), which eliminated mandatory retirement for most employees, forced manyemployers to reconsider their retirement policies. Faced with the possibility that anincreasing number of older workers will stay on the job, these employers have triedto promote a policy that will ensure that their older workers are treated fairly. It’snot an easy situation to handle in many cases, as thousands of age discriminationsuits can readily attest.

#9 Identity Theft

FACTAThe Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) requires employers, regard-less of size, that collect personal information or consumer reports about customersor employees for a business purpose to safeguard such information and to use rea-sonable measures to destroy the information before it is discarded. FACTA isenforced by the FTC. Reasonable measures to destroy personal informationinclude:

� Burning, shredding, or pulverizing documents so that they are impossible toreconstruct.

� Destroying or erasing media or electronic files that contain consumer reportsso that they cannot be recovered.

� Conducting due diligence before hiring a document destruction contractor todispose of personal information. Due diligence could include reviewing anindependent audit of a disposal company’s operations and/or its compliancewith the law, obtaining references for the disposal company, requiring that thedisposal company be certified by a recognized trade association, or reviewingand evaluating the disposal company’s security policies or procedures.

Employers may face penalties if they do not comply with the Act. Any employerwhose action or inaction results in the loss of personal information can be finedby federal and state government and sued in civil court. Employees are entitled torecover actual damages sustained if their identity is stolen because of theemployer’s inaction or damages up to $1,000. Employees may also bring classaction suits against employers for actual and punitive damages.

Create a plan. To comply with FACTA, employers should develop a written secu-rity plan describing how personal information will be protected. Having a written


plan will help demonstrate that the employer has taken affirmative steps to protectpersonal information in the event that the FTC conducts an investigation or abreach actually occurs. According to the FTC, a security plan should:

� Designate an employee who will be responsible for implementing the plan.

� Identify what and how personal information is collected and retained and therisks to the security of the information.

� Design and implement measures to safeguard both physical and electronicpersonal information.

� Retain only the personal information that is needed for the business.

� Train employees on the security policy.

� Develop a plan for handling a security breach that does occur to mitigate anydamage and repair the breach.

Employers should also reevaluate and modify the plan as needed.

Red Flags RuleThe FTC red flags rule required by FACTA outlines specific requirements to helpeliminate identity theft. As originally enacted, the rule applied very broadly tofinancial institutions and creditors, defined to include businesses or organizationsthat regularly provide goods or services first and allow customers to pay later (12 CFR 41.90). The Red Flags Program Clarification Act of 2010 (the Act) clarifiesthe definition of “creditor” to exclude those that advance funds on behalf of a per-son for expenses incidental to a service provided by the creditor to that person (15 USCA 1681m(e)). The practical effect of the Act is to narrow application of thered flags rule by excluding businesses that bill consumers for goods or servicesthat have already been provided.

Red flags are patterns, practices, or specific activities that indicate possible identitytheft. A red flag can be any of a number of things, including an application thatappears to have been forged or altered, use of an account that has been inactivefor a reasonably long time, or notification from a customer that he or she is notreceiving account statements.

Covered entities must develop an identity theft program that incorporates relevantred flags. In addition to identifying red flags, the identity theft program should con-tain procedures for detecting red flags and appropriate responses. An appropriateresponse will depend on the degree of risk posed by the red flag and may involvecontacting the customer, changing passwords, or notifying law enforcement. Iden-tity theft programs must be updated periodically to reflect changes in risks fromidentity theft.

To assist covered entities in complying with the red flags rule, the FTC has pub-lished Fighting Fraud with the Red Flags Rule: A How-To Guide for Business that canbe accessed at http://www.ftc.gov.(Note that the FTC will be amending this publi-cation in light of the Clarification Act.) The FTC has also published a template withan online form to assist organizations and businesses at low risk for identity theft; itcan be found at http://www.ftc.gov.


The FTC has stated that it would be unlikely to recommend bringing a law enforce-ment action if the risk of identity theft is slight. Specifically, it would probably notbring an action against entities that know their customers or clients individually,perform services in or around their customers’ homes, or operate in sectors whereidentity theft is rare and they have not themselves been the target of identity theft.

The FTC has addressed frequently asked questions about the red flags rule that canbe accessed at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu.

Best Practice: Protecting Employees From Identity TheftWhile identity theft is becoming an increasingly common problem, there are stepsemployers can take to help protect their business and employees from such aninvasion. When choosing the best alternative for protecting your employees andyour company from identity theft, consider the four types of protection available:

� Computer protection such as antivirus, antispyware, and wireless security

� Guidance on protecting against a variety of exposures of personal data fromshredding documents, to opting out of marketing databases, to tracking data inSocial Security, motor vehicle, medical, and financial databases

� Credit monitoring at varying levels of frequency, sometimes with alert servicesin the event of credit inquiries or changes

� Insurance coverage, sometimes including assistance with identity recoveryactivities

Specifically for computer security, there are a number of things employers andemployees can do to prevent identity theft:

� Be aware of “phishing scams” or fraudulent e-mails and websites that imper-sonate legitimate businesses and trick employees into providing personalinformation.

� Avoid clicking on links to websites provided in e-mails.

� Install computer security software.

� Use discretion when opening e-mail attachments.

� Share e-mail addresses selectively.

� Permanently erase hard drives before discarding computers.

� Use passwords.

� Provide personal information only if the website is secure.

� Use caution when instant messaging.

Protection as an Employee Benefit

One solution that provides an affirmative defense against potential fines, fees, andlawsuits is to offer some sort of identity theft protection as an employee benefit. Anemployer can choose whether to pay for this benefit. The key is to make the protec-tion available and have a mandatory employee meeting on identity theft and theprotection you are making available, similar to what most employers do for healthinsurance.


http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/redflagsrule/faqs.shtm

Breach of SecurityIn order to stem the tide of identity theft in the workplace and elsewhere, manystate Legislatures have passed so-called “breach of security” laws covering employ-ers and other organizations that maintain unencrypted individual personal infor-mation such as Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, stateidentification card numbers, account numbers, credit card numbers, or debit cardnumbers.

Breach of security laws dictate that organizations that gather and store such infor-mation on computer systems must give notice of any unauthorized access of thecomputer security system protecting unencrypted personal information. Generally,notice must be given in the most expedient time possible in writing or by elec-tronic notice or conspicuous posting.

Best Practice: Preventing Security BreachesEmployers of all sizes should take steps to protect their computer networks fromunauthorized access, and there are a number of measures they can take in orderto prevent security breaches. For example, employers can:

� Create an incident response team, often called a Computer EmergencyResponse Team (CERT), which is available around the clock and includesinformation technology personnel, legal counsel, public relations specialists,and employees that can address customer relations issues.

� Determine what and where personal information is collected and maintainedand the security risks to the information.

� Require service providers and business partners that handle personal informa-tion to follow your organization’s security policies.

� Collect the least amount of personal information possible.

� Use technology that can detect unauthorized access to personal information.

� Develop a record retention policy to maintain necessary documents anddestroy those that are no longer needed in a secure manner.

� Encrypt personal information that is stored electronically.

� Develop a policy to protect the security of unencrypted electronic informationand physical records.

� Have a preemptive emergency response plan that identifies whom to contactin the event of a breach, what steps will be taken to investigate and contain abreach, steps to ensure that any vulnerabilities in the system have been elimi-nated, and procedures for communicating with third parties.

� Conduct training for employees on security issues.

Security breaches can be extremely harmful to employers not only because of the legal implications but also because of the potential for loss of reputation, cus-tomer trust and loyalty, and a drop in stock prices. While no policy can completelyinsulate an employer from security breaches, measures can be taken after a breach to limit the damage. A swift and effective response to a security breach is a vital


component of restoring an employer’s reputation and complying with the legalobligations imposed by state law.

Employers should take into account these tips whether or not their state hasenacted a breach of security law:

� Instead of trying to cover up a breach, report it in a timely manner and offerhelp to affected individuals.

� Investigate the breach and determine its scope.

� Contact law enforcement officials.

� Determine the organization’s notice obligations under applicable state law andprepare the required notice.

� Contact CERT immediately.

� Have the employee(s) that detected the possible breach take notes on whatthey observed.

� Notify upper management via telephone or in person rather than e-mail.

� Notify employees of a possible breach on need-to-know basis.

� Contact legal counsel or the legal department.

� Contact public relations specialists, if necessary.

� Follow up after the breach by conducting meetings and briefings, taking appro-priate remedial action, and improving your security policy, if necessary, to pre-vent future breaches.

As mentioned, many states have laws that mandate what employers must do whena security breach occurs.

Employers’ Private InformationEmployers also have an interest in maintaining the privacy of certain information,such as trade secrets, customer lists, and other proprietary information. Carefullydrafted noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements can help protect the privacyof such information and provide employers with a legal cause of action in case anemployee or former employee violates such an agreement.

Additionally, the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a criminal statutethat was originally enacted to prevent unauthorized access to government com-puters and to deter hackers, has been used by employers in suits against employ-ees for, among other things, breach of noncompete agreements andmisappropriation of trade secrets (18 USC Sec. 1130). The CFAA allows a privateright of action when anyone furthers a fraud or obtains anything of value byaccessing a computer without authorization or by exceeding authorized access.Note that these cases have met with mixed success, as courts are split on whetherthe CFAA applies when an employee misappropriates information from a com-pany-owned computer.


#10 Communications

In most instances, when employees are asked what they like least about their jobs,they will cite a problem with communication. In fact, in BLR’s National EmployeeAttitudes Survey (NEAS), participating organizations across the board were ratedlowest on questions related to communication, while at the same time, employeeswho took the survey said communication was very important to them. Becausecommunication is a very important factor in employee satisfaction and engage-ment, making sure the right information is communicated effectively is very impor-tant to Human Resources professionals and managers.

First, it is important to understand what types of information employees feel theyaren’t getting. It might be that employees don’t have a good understanding of whatis expected of them or how they fit in the organization. In other cases, it might bethat management does not provide employees with information about how theorganization is doing or the direction in which it is heading.

Employees might feel they aren’t well compensated because they don’t have anyinformation on the value of benefits and their total compensation package. Theymight feel they are not being acknowledged for their hard work. Another problemarea related to communication is how conflict is handled in the workplace, whichrequires a unique set of communication skills.

Benefits of Good CommunicationCommunication is the process by which people create and share information and ideas with one another to reach mutual understanding and get things done.Effective communication is the foundation of positive and cooperative workingrelationships. Good communication benefits the workplace in many ways, including:

� Improving the flow of vital information

� Improving employee morale by making sure employees know what isexpected and what the rewards are for a job well done

� Serving as the basis of effective teamwork

� Ensuring accountability in a department because all employees know who’sresponsible for what

� Providing greater consistency, because all employees have gotten the samemessages about procedures and work rules

� Leading to better quality because mistakes are avoided

� Improving productivity

Causes of Ineffective CommunicationUnfortunately, workplace communication isn’t always effective. In fact, employeesatisfaction surveys consistently rank communication as one of the weakest areasin most organizations. There are numerous obstacles that can cause communica-tion to break down, including:


� Too many links in the communication chain causing messages to quicklybecome distorted

� Too many messages communicated at once

� Confusing or ambiguous messages resulting in the receiver of a messageunderstanding the communication differently from what was intended

� Unclear expectations causing the communicator to be unpleasantly surprisedby the results

� Incomplete communication by managers who do not take the time to listencarefully to the response

� Failure to consider the audience

Encouraging Employees to Communicate BetterEven with the availability of technology, communication begins with interactionamong people. Employees, from the top down, need to focus on communicatingworkplace issues, concerns, changes, advances, and other information to oneanother. Employees feel empowered when they are “in the know,” and this helpsenhance overall employee morale. There are a few ways to focus your employees’energy on improving communications:

� Spread the word about the company’s efforts to improve communications, andobtain regular feedback and ideas from employees.

� Audit current communication successes and shortfalls.

� Put together a team to work on improving employee communications.

� Create a plan to improve communications in your company and periodicallymeasure whether you have succeeded.

� Train managers and executives to be better communicators.

Tools for Better CommunicatingIt is important to consider your audience when you determine what communica-tion tools you will use to communicate a certain piece of information. Do all of your employees have access to e-mail? Are all of your employees on-site? Dosome of your employees work only on specific days? Do some of your employeeshave jobs on the line that prevent them from attending meetings? Keeping thesethings in mind, there are a variety of methods for enhancing communication in the workplace.

Intranet

A company intranet is a great place for posting information on a variety of topicsfor employees, particularly if most employees have a computer. For those employ-ees without a computer, consider having one or a few computers, depending onthe number of employees without computers, centrally located and available foremployees to check the intranet.


Company Newsletter

Company newsletters are a great way to communicate changes, successes, andimportant information to your employees. Traditionally, print newsletters are stillused, but more and more companies are leaning toward electronic newsletters to either replace or supplement their print newsletters. Electronic newsletters areless expensive and information can be dispensed in almost real time if needed.Newsletters can be published daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Once again, it is importantto make sure all employees have access to newsletters distributed electronically.

Meetings

Meetings are an effective way to bring employees face-to-face, which is particularlyappreciated when the news is good and the purpose of the meeting is to showemployees are valued. Meetings are also a good forum for allowing employeequestions or discussion on a topic and for obtaining employee thoughts, concerns,and ideas. Meetings can be companywide, or held at the department, team, or individual level, depending on the nature of the information to be communicated.Meetings can be a difficult method of communication when certain employeesare unable to leave their post—for example, employees working on an assemblyline or on a customer service hotline.

Telephone and Conference Calls

Telephones and conference calls are effective tools for communicating with indi-viduals or groups of employees who are not present at the worksite. If materials orprinted information will be distributed at a meeting, arrangements will have to bemade to ensure access to the material for those participating by phone.

Web Conferencing and Webinars

Web conferencing and webinars allow employees to hold live meetings or presen-tations over the Internet. Employees can sit at their computers at different officelocations and attend a Web conference. This type of conference can be very effective when members of a team are working at different locations or for thoseemployees who telecommute.

E-Mail

E-mail is an easy way to disperse information to a large group of people at once.Unfortunately, the overuse of e-mail can make employees feel isolated, lackingface-to-face contact. In addition, many people consider e-mail to be a casual formof communication and don’t take the time to make sure the information theyintend to convey is actually conveyed. Often, a short, succinct e-mail is interpretedby the reader as a sign that the sender is unhappy. Because neither the sender northe recipient of the e-mail can see or hear the other, there are no cues that wouldhelp them interpret the message. For this reason, the sender of an e-mail must takecare to consider how the message might be received and whether it is better deliv-ered in person or by telephone.

E-mail is a form of written communication and should be written with the samecare as a memo. E-mails are stored on company computer systems, and once sent,the sender has no control over where they are forwarded. As a result, an e-mailshould be considered a permanent written record. This is much different from thecasual conversations people have face-to-face or over the phone.


Bulletin Boards

Well-organized and up-to-date bulletin boards are an effective, convenient, andinexpensive way to communicate with employees, especially workers who do nothave access to a computer at their workstations. Whether or not an organizationprovides separate bulletin boards for employees’ use, there should be a written policy on the type of information that may be posted and who must approve anyinformation before it is posted.

Social Media

Social media, including blogs, podcasts, social networks, and wikis, can be used to build community, gather feedback, and make updates more engaging. For example, daily, weekly, or as-needed podcasts can provide a venue for managersand executives to talk to their employees via the intranet. Employees can listen to the podcasts from their computers. While social media can be a great way tocommunicate with all employees at once, it shouldn’t be a complete substitute for face-to-face communication.

Letters or Memos to Staff

Letters and memos to staff are a good way to document that a communication hasbeen made. It is important that the communication be very clear. An unclear mes-sage provided in a letter or memo might leave employees feeling they have no wayto ask questions or clear up any concerns.

Employee Surveys

Employee surveys can be an effective and efficient way to obtain information froma large group of employees. A well-written survey provides feedback on howemployees feel about the organization, their role in the organization, their compen-sation and benefits, and communication at each level of the organization. Forlarger organizations, it may be possible to look at and compare results for differentparts of the organization. In addition, conducting the survey year after year pro-vides information on how management is doing in areas in which the surveyresults showed improvement was needed.

One benefit of an employee survey is building a sense among employees that theirfeedback is important. In order to make the survey successful, the management ofthe organization must be prepared to share the results with employees and takeaction as appropriate in response to employee concerns. Conducting a survey andthen leaving employees feeling as if they weren’t heard or that nothing is actuallygoing to be done in response to feedback obtained in the survey may actuallycause more harm to employee relations than good.

Best Practice: Avoid Scheduling Meetings on Friday Afternoons or Monday Mornings For offices that operate a Monday through Friday workweek, probably the worsttimes to schedule meetings are Friday afternoon or Monday morning. On Fridayafternoon, everyone is thinking about the weekend. Action items or assignmentsthat come from the meeting may be forgotten or lose their meaning over the week-end. Monday mornings are a time to adjust to being back to work after the


2 days off. Meetings scheduled first thing Monday morning give employees little orno time other than the weekend for preparation.

Unless there is an absolute necessity, you will find your meeting to be more pro-ductive if scheduled at times other than Friday afternoon or Monday morning.Resist the temptation to squeeze that extra meeting into the week during less thandesirable times. Beyond scheduling, you should also know how to plan and lead afocused, structured meeting.

Your employees will be able to do more productive things during weekend transi-tion times. You may also find that you didn’t need to have a meeting after all. Butdo keep the donuts and share them with everybody anyway!

Conclusion

We hope that you found the information contained in this report useful. BLR strives to provide Human Resources professionals with practical and easy-to-use information on a wide variety of topics. If you would like to see the completelibrary of publications available through BLR, please visit our website atwww.blr.com or call our Customer Service Department at 800-727-5257.


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Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2012