Putting guidelines in place is the best way to eliminate any misunderstandings that may arise between employees and management because of a lack of understanding of management expectations.

Clearly written policies will also go along way when addressing issues such as inappropriate behavior, or poor performance.

Employee policies do not need to be long or complicated tomes. A few clearly written sentences that highlight your expectations is all that you need.

Although there are many policies that may be part of a company’s employee manual, there are nine employee policies that are important policies for any small business:

1. Probationary Period
2. Confidentiality Policy
3. Time Away From Work
4. Use and Access of Company Property
5. Internet and Social Media Use in the Workplace
6. Telecommuting Policy
7. Workplace Behavior
8. Disciplinary Policy
9. Termination Policy

Over the next several weeks, I will highlight each of these policies in detail as part of my “Small Business Employee Policies” series.

Dianne Shaddock is the Founder of Easy Small Business HR.com, a website which provides “Quick and Simple Human Resources Strategies for Small Businesses, Non Profits, and Entrepreneurs. Go to EasySmallBusinessHR.com for more tips on how to hire and manage your staff more effectively.

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The Benefits of Hiring a Professional Employer Organization (PEO)

A PEO is an outsourcing service that takes on a company’s administrative tasks in regards to the human resource and payroll functions. Key tasks such as payroll, health insurance, and employee benefits are some of the functions of a professional employer organization. It is a cost-effective solution for management personnel in both time and money – an ideal service that adds to the bottom line.

9 Steps to Picking the Right PEO

1. Determine the services that you require for your business. Some companies are only interested in outsourcing payroll functions while others desire the whole package of human resource administration.

2. Be sure to meet personally with the operators of potential PEO organizations. You want them to be as interested in your success as you are.

3. Ask for and follow up on references. Ask pointed questions of other clients of the PEO as to how the service has benefited their business.

4. Look for professional employer organizations that belong to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations. NAPEO is the largest national trade association for PEOs.

5. Find out who will be administering your services at each PEO. Are they qualified to handle your needs? Do they have the requisite education and training? You’re looking to make your business life easier not create another problem.

6. Understand how the employee benefits are tailored and how the employee benefits are funded. Determine if they fit the needs of you
and your employees. Is the PEO fully insured, self-funded or partially self-funded?

7. Get a detailed proposal on the full breadth of services offered before signing the contract.

8. Review the service contract carefully. Use the services of your lawyer if you feel more comfortable. Be sure that each party’s responsibilities and liabilities are clearly defined. Look for a guarantee on the PEO’s service as well as the termination/cancellation clauses.

9. Be sure that the PEO meets all requirements for the state it is operating in.

Choosing the right PEO for your business is no different than hiring personnel for your company. You want to make sure you get the right fit for your business and that it truly opens up more time for you to concentrate on opportunities. So, ask the important questions and consider the answers carefully. You’ll be glad you did.

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Don’t:

Leave the task to someone who does not have direct supervision of the worker being fired. If you are their direct supervisor, you have the ultimate responsibility to deliver the “bad news”.

Why? Not only does it put the person who does not supervise the employee in an unfair and uncomfortable position of being the messenger of your decision, but it makes the affected employee feel dismissed, angry and resentful. Sit with your employee and be clear with them as to why they are being fired. If you have been communicating with your worker prior to notifying that they will be let go, (and I hope that you have), the fact that you have reached the point where they will be fired should not be a surprise to them.

Don’t:

Fire an employee on the spot unless the actions are so egregious that it requires immediate removal from the workplace.

Why? It is critical to be consistent with how you determine what acts of employee conduct or misconduct rise to the level of firing an employee. All businesses no matter how small should have basic standards in place that highlight your expectations relating to employee conduct or behavior in the workplace and the consequences of violating these standards. Firing an employee without having company standards in place that show that you have specific expectations of employees and their behavior complicates situations where an employee feels that they have been treated unfairly.

You should always investigate all situations that are brought to your attention whenever possible. This means talking not only to the employee in question, but any other staff members, customers, or clients who may be able to provide details that will inform your decision to keep or fire the employee.

If you don’t have any standards or policies in place, the best approach for firings involving less complicated work violation situations may be to give the employee a warning that their actions are inappropriate and then clearly highlight your expectations moving forward. Let them know that any future violations will result in termination. Document the date that the employee received this information and place a note in their file.

Be proactive and summarize your expectations of all employees in writing including the consequences for misconduct. Give a written document to all of your employees that highlight your expectations. Employees deserve to know what is expected of them, as well as the consequences of certain actions or behaviors in the workplace.

Do:

Fire workers who have crossed the line of what is considered egregious inappropriate behavior if you are absolutely certain based on the facts that the employee is guilty of misconduct. Behaviors that might require immediate dismissal if proven are:

• Violence against others
• Sexual harassment
• Threats
• Bringing weapons to work

Remember to be proactive and have written standards in place that highlight the company’s position on employee conduct and behavior. Be careful to fully investigate any complaints before making the decision to fire a worker. If you are not sure if a worker is guilty of any violation and you need time to learn more in situations such as the ones described above, suspend the employee with pay until you are able to research the situation and talk to all of the individuals involved.

Do:

Respect the privacy and confidentiality of everyone involved by meeting with your employee(s) in a private area; (it’s o.k. to have a management person present if appropriate as a witness).

Do:

Tell your employee the reason for the termination. Have a letter prepared briefly summarizing the reason for their being fired, the date of the firing and when their benefits will end, (if applicable).

Give your employee their last paycheck if at all possible when you notify them that they are being fired. If this is not possible, let them know when they can expect to receive their last check and that it will be mailed to their home.

It is recommended that you consult with an employment law attorney if you do not have a dedicated human resources professional in place to help you through these more complicated situations.

Dianne Shaddock is the Founder of Easy Small Business HR.com, a website which provides “Quick and Simple Human Resources Strategies for Small Businesses, Non Profits, and Entrepreneurs.

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What can you do to tip the odds in your favor? The answer appears simple–satisfy more customers. But, if you want testimonials, referrals and repeat customers, don’t just satisfy them—you have to deliver knock-your-socks-off service!

In order to give your customers what they want, you must know what they want – assuming won’t guarantee out-of-this-world customer happiness.

Measure customer satisfaction
Here’s where a targeted client satisfaction survey comes in—it takes the pulse of where your clients are on the happiness scale.

Human Capital Strategies has been conducting a customer survey for the past two years. It is now part of their strategy to maintain clients and increase referrals. Jason Knight, Founder states, “We focus on fulfilling our company’s mission statement, which makes a promise to our customer about the quality of service we provide to them. It made sense to ask them how we were doing.”

Target areas to improve
Knight targets communication, problem solving, fulfilling client expectations and whether services were completed in a timely manner. The 2009 Survey shows a high percentage of customers were satisfied with:

• Communication with clients 95.83%
• Timeliness of service and problem solving 100.00%
• Meeting client expectations in value of service 94.66%
• Ease of doing business with 97.92%

Take action
Although the numbers look good the past two years, Knight challenged his staff to improve the quality of their services to their clients. It must be working, because Christine Nichols was a finalist in the 2009 Phoenix Human Resources Manager of the Year (http://www.prlog.org/10433384-human-capital-strategies-celebrates-christine-nichols-selection-as-hr-director-of-the-year-finalist.html), and Human Capital Strategies was named a finalist for the 2009 Sterling Awards (http://www.prlog.org/10404152-human-capital-strategies-named-sterling-award-finalist.html).

It’s clear that one of the best ways to ensure success for your company is to ask customers how they feel about your service. If you fall short of their expectations, then up your game. Take action and then next year, take another survey

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You might also recognize behaviors that you want repeated, such as out-of-the-box thinking, team work or even timeliness and attendance.

Or, perhaps you want your recognition program to create a positive work environment.

Recognition prized by employees

Even if revenue is down, you can create an effective recognition program that does not have to cost a lot of money. Here are some tips for making your valued employees feel like they really are valued.

Say, “Thank you.”

Think about how a sincere, genuine expression of gratitude feels to you. It feels pretty good, doesn’t it? It’s the simplest, and often the best way to tell your employees that they are appreciated.

Thank them for great performance on special projects—as well as doing a good job on their regular responsibilities. Everyone likes knowing that they are contributing.

Recognize individuals and teams publicly

Foster an environment of recognition by recognizing the good work of individuals and teams at staff meetings. This can help motivate your employees to consistently perform at high levels.

Nominate staff for professional awards

If employees are members of professional organizations, find out if they might be eligible for recognition from their organization. It will only cost you a little time in research and to fill out and submit applications and supportive information.

Pass on compliments from clients

If your clients express appreciation for a job well done, make sure your employees hear about it. It’s nice to know that your job makes a difference to customers.

Coach employees

Help your staff perform even better by coaching them on new responsibilities or their current responsibilities if you’d like improvements. Regular job performance reviews help your staff know what is expected of them and how they’re doing in meeting those expectations.

Human resources create formal program

Talk with your human resource director to establish effective, consistent ways to acknowledge employee excellence. A formal program will help you to establish an environment of recognition.

If you do not have a human resources department, there are professional human resources consultants who can help create a program that motivates, reinforces excellence and creates a work place that acknowledges outstanding performance.

(NOTE: Image courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net)

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An ASO is an organization that independently handles many of your employee needs. This includes payroll processing, paying medical benefits, as well as handling employee taxes. Another organization that is similar to an ASO is the professional employer organization or PEO.

The main difference between the two types of organizations is who is responsible for the employees. A PEO leases the employees to you for a percentage of their pay. An ASO has no claim on the employees and charges a straight fee for its services.

Here are some ways to find out if an ASO will reduce cost and increase productivity of your business.

Is your human resources department taking too much of the budget, or could you use less of a burden in your payroll processing? Often many staff members will be needed to do the said administrative work for the company. By utilizing an administrative services organization you will be reducing the workload on your current staff members and may be able to reduce the cost of payroll processing.

Does your company need help with medical benefits administration and support? If you are finding it difficult to provide the necessary health benefits to your employees, you could be setting yourself up for a difficult, perhaps even legal issue in the future. By enlisting the help of an ASO, you will be placing these detailed responsibilities upon another organization.

Does your company accurately understand all of the minute details about local, federal and state tax practices? Also does your company have the ability to stay informed in all of these areas and keep up with current practices? If you decide your company could stand to outsource these responsibilities, you could place these responsibilities on an administrative services organization.

Finally the real question is; has administrative work become a nightmare for your current staff employees? Has work become difficult to manage or prone to mistakes? Any mistake on payroll could cost a few hundred dollars or more, and when you add the IRS penalties you could incur, your company could stand to lose a great deal of money. ASO’s often employ the use of a human resource information system, or HRIS. An HRIS is an intelligent database system that tracks and manages your employees. With access to the HRIS, you could follow and manage your employees and ensure things are running smoothly.

Whether or not your company could use an administrative service organization is up to you. If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may want to look for ASO’s in your area that can provide the services at a price you can afford. An administrative services organization provides payroll and employee benefit reliability. One thing is certain; an administrative services organization could make your business more manageable.

Visit ASO & Human Resource Services for assistance with your ASO questions.

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A professional employer organization (PEO) and administrative service organization (ASO) are organizations that provide services for your human resources, payroll and employee needs. Providers vary in size and stature, but should all specifically focus on your company’s and employees’ needs. They are a team of qualified human resource personnel, who take on many tasks specifically designed to increase in-house efficiency. A PEO/ASO even can take care of workers’ compensation and other important time consuming tasks. By outsourcing these responsibilities to an external organization, your company could save a large sum of money.

1. Simplify The Hiring Process

A PEO/ASO will save your company money by speeding up your application process. Most small companies do not have a dedicated human resource staff to evaluate new employees. This causes current staff members to evaluate new employees, a situation that is less than ideal. The current staff member will be less adept at judging new applicants than qualified human resource personnel. Also using current staff members to evaluate new employees will divert them from their daily tasks. A PEO/ASO doesn’t actually tell you which employees to hire, but will save time by refusing any applicants that don’t meet your minimum requirements. A PEO/ASO will take on the front end of your hiring process and help bring qualified personnel to your door.

2. The Best Deals In Workers’ Compensation

Another great way a PEO/ASO will save money is through workers’ compensation insurance. If you are running a relatively low risk business, you may not need to worry much in this area. However, if you are running a high risk business, like construction, then a PEO/ASO may be a huge benefit to your organization. PEO/ASO’s can save costs on workers’ compensation insurance. They can provide this because of two reasons; they are providing insurance at high volumes and may get better rates, and they often have a working relationship with carriers, medical providers, and claims departments.

3. Employee Benefit Administration

PEO/ASO’s are organizations that will manage the complex world of employee benefit administration from the simple functions of collecting the necessary premiums to remit monthly payments to the carrier, to monthly invoice auditing and billing reconciliations. Most importantly, COBRA administration has gotten substantially more complex with the passing of the Stimulus Package making complying with regulations even more difficult. Having an outside organization for these issues will save a considerable amount of time (and likely money).

4. Say Goodbye To Payroll Processing

Another way a PEO/ASO can save your staff time is by taking care of payroll and administration services. PEO/ASO’s can prepare and deliver payroll to your employees, as well as, take into account the necessary taxes. These taxes include Social Security, Medicare, FIT, SIT, FUTA, SUI and others. Your PEO/ASO can manage vacation and sick time accruals as well. Moreover, your PEO/ASO prepares and files all of your quarterly and annual reports, FICA, FUTA, and SUTA, W-2s, etc., freeing up more time for your employees to focus on their core responsibilities.

5. Outsource HR – The Easy Way to Resolve Disputes

By outsourcing employee issues such as compensation, payroll, unemployment claims and other problems you will save yourself a ton of headaches. Furthermore, by adding a third party that can help in any disputes between an employer and the employee, you will be providing an easy way to resolve any issues out of house. Not having to deal with these kinds of issues in-house is enough of an incentive for many companies to use a PEO/ASO.

These are five great reasons a PEO/ASO could save your company a substantial amount of money. By outsourcing many tasks to another organization, you will be decreasing your liability, as well as, the amount of on-site employees you have in your business, reducing labor costs. Not every PEO/ASO is the same for the best fit for your company. Click on the link below to learn important details you will want to know before hiring a PEO/ASO.

Go here for more on PEO and ASO services.

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Notice: Arizona businesses who do work for the US Government

A business coalition, including the U.S. Chamber and SHRM, has lost in its effort to have a court overturn the federal regulation requiring federal contractors to start using the E-Verify Program for federal contracts that are entered into or modified after September 8, 2009.  The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Maryland on August 26, 2009, turned down all arguments raised by the plaintiffs and has opened the door for the rule to be applicable as planned on September 8, 2009. There is no word on whether or not the decision will be appealed.  The USCIS Web site has a federal contractor page as well as a series of Q&As on the rule that explains its provisions and application.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is launching a bold, new audit initiative today by issuing Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to 652 businesses nationwide – which exceeds the total number ICE issued throughout all of last fiscal year. The notices alert business owners that ICE will be inspecting their hiring records to determine whether or not they are complying with employment eligibility verification laws and regulations. Inspections are one of the most powerful tools the federal government has to enforce employment and immigration laws. This new initiative illustrates ICE’s increased focus on holding employers accountable for their hiring practices and efforts to ensure a legal workforce.

“ICE is committed to establishing a meaningful I-9 inspection program to promote compliance with the law. This nationwide effort is a first step in ICE’s long-term strategy to address and deter illegal employment,” said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE John Morton.

Department of Homeland Security

Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This form requires employers to review and record the individual’s identity document(s) and determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual.

In FY 2008, ICE issued 503 similar notices throughout the year. In April, ICE implemented a new, comprehensive strategy to reduce the demand for illegal employment and protect employment opportunities for the nation’s lawful workforce. Under this strategy, ICE is focusing its resources on the auditing and investigation of employers suspected of cultivating illegal workplaces by knowingly employing illegal workers. The nationwide initiative being launched today is a direct result of this new strategy.

The 652 businesses being presented with NOIs for a Form I-9 audit have been selected for inspection as a result of leads and information obtained through other investigative means. Due to the ongoing, law enforcement sensitive nature of these audits, the names and locations of the businesses will not be released at this time.  If you receive a notice, you should consult with your counsel. However, best practices would require that you: a) respond promptly (or obtain an extension of time to do so), b) do not take any action which could be viewed as tampering with the I-9s or underlying documents, c) initiate an internal review of your practices and an audit, and d) maintain copies of all information and documents provided to DHS.

Note that while you can always take action as to deficient I-9s after you respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), you should date such action as of the date taken and not backdate signatures or alter documents.

For guidance or assistance with hiring practices click here to speak to professionals.

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