Did you know that Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires you to keep certain records for each and every one of your non-exempt workers for at least 3 years?

Fortunately, FLSA does not require a particular form or method of record keeping. You just need to be able to provide the following in the event that a DOL representative asks you for it. Records should always be accessible at your place of employment, or headquarters/main location if you have multiple locations.

The following is a listing of the basic records that an employer must maintain*

• Employee’s full name and social security number.
• Address, including zip code.
• Birth date, if younger than 19.
• Sex and occupation.
• Time and day of week when employee’s workweek begins.
• Hours worked each day.
• Total hours worked each workweek.
• Basis on which employee’s wages are paid (e.g., “$9 per hour”, “$440 a week”, “piecework”)
• Regular hourly pay rate.
• Total daily or weekly straight-time earnings.
• Total overtime earnings for the workweek.
• All additions to or deductions from the employee’s wages.
• Total wages paid each pay period.
• Date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment.

*This list is provided by the Department of Labor and can be accessed in its entirety at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs21.htm.

The Department of Labor and Fair Labor Standards Act require by law that this information is accurate; keep this in mind as you review your business’s record keeping and payroll practices. Are you recording data as accurately and efficiently as possible or is there a better way to organize information each pay period?

Your HR Shield Advisor can offer assistance in selecting small business payroll or record keeping software, or, if you’re in the market for a payroll service provider; we can also help. HR Shield has many great referrals and partners for payroll processing – whether you’re a big company looking to make a switch, or a small one engaging a service provider for the first time.

A payroll service provider will keep all of the aforementioned data on record for you, and often sets up joint-access to all information so that it can be accessed anytime anywhere by the business owner or management.

To learn more, contact us today.

On the positive side, great benefits packages help attract and retain the very best employees. On the downside, as mentioned above, they’re an added expense.

Did your company file your taxes on time this year?  Does your tax bill leave you wondering how you can qualify for additional deductions?  The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit encourages small businesses to provide benefits for their employees by offering a generous tax deduction.  In the paragraphs below we’ll let you know just what you need to do to qualify and outline the potential impact to your bottom line.

What is the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit?

The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit is aimed at encouraging small businesses, less than 25 full-time employees, at offering health care benefits. For tax years 2010 through 2013, the maximum credit is 35 percent for small business employers and 25 percent for small tax-exempt employers such as non-profits or charities.

On Jan. 1, 2014, the rate will increase to 50 percent for small business employers and 35 percent for tax-exempt employers!

So, what does this mean for you? If you contributed 75,000 towards your employees’ health care premiums this past year (or previous years), and you qualify for a 20-percent credit, you’ll save $15,000! If you contributed 75,000 towards your employees’ health care premiums in 2010 and 2011 as well, that’s $45,000; a $15,000 credit for each tax year.

Even if you are a small company that did not owe taxes this year, you can carry the credit forward to upcoming tax years.

Does My Company Qualify?

If your company has less than 25 full-time equivalent employees, and you pay an average wage of less than $50,000 a year, then yes, you may be eligible for this tax credit. You must be paying at least half of employee health insurance premiums.

How Do I Claim This Credit?

You must use Form 8941, Credit for Small Employer Health Insurance Premiums, to calculate the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit. This form is available for download on the IRS website.

Need some help? Talk to your dedicated HR Advisor today at (877) 636-9525. New to HR Shield? Contact us for more information on strategically positioning your business for success through HR initiatives.

Beyond our natural desire to “know all,” as managers, we have an obligation to protect our workforce. What was he arrested for? Is he a potential threat to others?

When interviewing a candidate, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 limits us from making inquiries about prior arrests. In this case though, your person of interest is already an employee, and there are no federal or state laws preventing us from conducting an investigation.

If your company policy and employee handbook clearly states that an employee must notify the employer if they are arrested, and the employee does not notify you, they can be terminated for violating your company’s policy.

If you do not have an employee handbook or company policy that outlines the aforementioned policy, but would like to pursue termination, take precaution in moving forward and consult an HR advisor or employment law professional. An arrest record alone is not a valid reason for firing someone. The individual could have been arrested, but that doesn’t mean they are guilty.

Behavior on the other hand, is a reason to support termination, but only if the employee’s behavior (which led to the arrest) is job-related. If you own a trucking fleet and the individual was arrested for driving under the influence, that is job-related and poses a potential threat to your company and the employee’s day to day responsibilities.

Not all arrests need to lead to termination either. You may be able to temporarily suspend the employee or require that they take an administrative leave while the situation is under investigation. Again, the best approach before taking any action is to consult an HR advisor or employment law professional.

To get immediate answers, call (877) 636-9525 or click here.

1. They provide prevention and protection from legal liabilities
2. They provide tangible guidelines for your employees
3. They minimize employer and employee misunderstandings
4. They provide comprehensive answers to frequently asked questions
5. They create an overall better working environment

One of the biggest mistakes we see small to medium sized businesses make is forgetting to update their employee handbooks. Because employee handbooks play such a crucial role in reducing a company’s legal liabilities, they must be revised yearly with legal updates to remain compliant with company, state and federal regulations.

Your employee handbook may be violating employment laws and regulations set forth by the EEOC and NLRB (National Labor Relations Board), and you may not even be aware of it. For example, did you know that it is unlawful to prohibit employees from talking about their wages or working conditions on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter? The NLRB recently changed employer rights surrounding social media limitations; if your employee handbook contains a social media policy, you best review it!

Are you already a member of HR Shield? HR Shield Memberships include free employee handbook creation (and updates) – contact your advisor today!

If you’re new to HR Shield or interested in membership, call 1-877-636-9525 now and we’ll email you a user name and password that gives you instant access to HR Shield. There you’ll find a collection of forms and resources for your entire management team. You’ll also have immediate access to a dedicated HR Advisor to assist you with updating your handbook.

The Commission has the power to file lawsuits against companies with discriminatory practices. A number of laws preventing discrimination in the workplace demand equal pay for equal work, and prevent discrimination on the basis of the aforementioned factors. The EEOC is also responsible for investigating and pursuing companies or employers charged with sexual harassment.

Each year, the EEOC publishes statistics that reflect charges of employment discrimination and resolutions broken down by each of the statuses enforced by the Commission.

Here at the 2012 Employment Discrimination Statistics, outlining the total charges, by state, and breaking the charges down into different types of discrimination.

The highest number of charges was filed in the state of Texas, with 8,929 claims accounting for 9.0% of all US workplace discrimination claims. Florida is next, with 7,940 claims accounting for 8.0% of the total for the US.  California is close behind that with 7,399 claims accounting for 7.4% of the US total.  Other states with over 4,000 claims were Georgia, Pennsylvania, Illinois and North Carolina.

Alternatively, the state with the lowest number of charges was Montana, with only 13 complaints! Disability, Retaliation and Sex were the state’s primary complaints.  States with less than 50 complaints were Vermont, Rhode Island and Maine.

Does your workplace need help with specific employee situations? Looking for someone to manage discrimination claims or mediation hearings, and support an overall happier and healthier working environment? HR Shield’s expert team is ready to work for you, so that your organization doesn’t make this year’s list!

What happens if state law requires payment of a higher minimum wage than the federal law (which is currently $7.25 per hour for covered non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act)?

In states where the state law requires a higher minimum wage, the higher standard applies. But, did you know that the federal law only requires a minimum wage of $4.25 per hour for workers under the age of 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment?

After 90 consecutive days of employment (or the employee reaching his or her 20^th birthday), the employee must then receive a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. In this particular case, if you are the employer of employees under the age of 20, you are going to want to refer to your state law’s specifications. If the state requires a higher standard, that is what will apply.

If your company operates in multiple states, and has employees in multiple states, you will need to review each employee’s particular state minimum wage (the state in which they reside and work in).

Need some help? With HR Shield, you get instant access to all the information, training, forms and expert advice you need to keep your workplace in compliance and protect your bottom line. We’ll help you identify exactly which regulations you need to satisfy and what you need to do to stay compliant across the board including the Fair Labor Standards Act and minimum wage specifics.

For more information, just contact us!

Unfortunately resolutions and commitments to bettering one’s self in the New Year always start out strong, but eventually many of us end up falling back into the same routine we were trying to get out of. Balancing work and personal life is always a common resolution. People want to make more time for their families, and get out of the office every now and then.

Here are some tips that may make sticking to your New Year’s resolution of “better balancing your life” a little bit easier:

• Designate one day per week when nothing work-related will be addressed. No getting stuck at the computer, no answering phone calls, no stressing out. Many of us have demanding jobs that require attention in the evenings or even weekends. But as we all know too well, the second we sit in front of our computers to address something, 5 minutes can become 15 and then 15 becomes a few hours. Pick your day to avoid work responsibly! If it’s your day off, go ahead and take it! Plan something outside of the house with family or friends, away from distracting communication devices!
• Take your lunch break. Stop eating lunch at your desk, or worse, skipping lunch. Get outside for 20 minutes to a half hour each day during your lunch break. Go do something! It will help clear your mind, and prevent you from feeling “trapped in the office” all of the time.
• Commit to a healthy hobby. Whether it’s playing Ultimate Frisbee with friends, going to Pilates, or throwing a baseball around with your kids, commit yourself to a healthy hobby. Even 2 or 3 days a week will help break up your week and guarantee that you’ll be doing something other than work!

These 3 tips were brought to you by HR Shield. We encourage you to share these tips with your co-workers, promoting an overall healthier working environment. Balancing your work and personal life is often a challenge, but it’s easier than you may think! Follow the abovementioned tips for a happier and healthier you!

For more topics on employee health and wellness, click here.

A Human Resources Audit is the evaluation of all persons, systems, processes, practices and projects within your organization’s human resources department. A comprehensive audit performed by an HR professional will identify needs for improvement but most importantly will determine whether your organization is in compliance with the ever-changing rules and regulations of employment law.

Human Resources Audits should be performed by an unbiased individual outside of your organization in order to ensure the best review (and advice) possible. And, it’s important to conduct these audits routinely. Employment laws can affect any stage of the employment process and the only way to avoid costly fines and lawsuits is by constantly maintaining compliance.

There’s one more benefit of audits, for both you and your employees: they ensure you’re maintaining a happy and productive workforce. Because an HR Audit will review practices and employment-related programs within your organization, an audit will identify employee dissatisfaction or areas with a need for improvement. This reduces turnover and boosts the overall moral of the workplace.

Concerned about compliance or looking for some better practices to streamline your HR processes? HR Shield currently includes a FREE Compliance Survey & Employee Handbook with each new membership. And, you’ll get instant access to an extensive online library of forms, templates and training tools on everything from job interview tips to performance reviews and compliance.

Did we mention that each new client gets their very own HR Advisor as well? Each HR Shield Advisor has a minimum of ten years HR experience coupled with extensive business expertise in companies of all shapes and sizes.

Contact HR Shield today for more information, or sign up now by clicking here!

What is Mobile Recruiting?

There’s no doubt about it; we live in a digital age. Since every business professional today seems to be on the go and accessing everything and anything from their smartphones, mobile recruiting has become one of the newest (and most popular) trends in HR.

Mobile recruitment, also called “mRecruiting,” is the ability to recruit and engage a possible job candidate via their mobile device.   This new technology allows for organizations to deliver a digital call to action and capture a candidate’s phone number right off the bat. For example, when a candidate is standing in line at a business location or even a job fair, a sign could read “text JOB21 to 88899 to receive information on retail management positions.”

This allows for the recruiting company (or employer) to not only engage the individual, but it will also add them to their distribution/contact list where they are able to promote other job openings or important information.  Several organizations are in the process of developing compelling mobile campaigns in order to engage qualified prospects.

Many of the mobile recruitment sites permit job alerts to be sent out and received on smartphones, allowing potential new-hires the chance to review possible positions remotely and allowing them to have constant contact with the ever evolving job market.

Can mobile recruiting benefit your organization?

In a country where nearly everyone is mobile and the numbers continue to increase each and every day? YES! With society becoming more and more tech-savvy and our younger mobile-addicted generations entering the workforce, mobile recruiting appears to be a wave of the future.

Contact your HR Shield Advisor today in order to learn more about this recent trend. Mobile recruiting can allow you to attract the most desirable candidates in your industry!

Millennials are individuals born between the years of 1980 and 2000, and they’re very busy taking over the workplace!  Why? Because they can do anything they set their heart to! They’ve been raised by devoted parents, have very structured lives and their relationships are very diverse (just to name a few characteristics of this generation).

Millennials’ “can-do, will-do” attitude may be a bit daunting for Baby Boomers in the workforce who have exhibited brand, vendor and customer loyalty and don’t tend to accept changes as frequently as the younger generation.

But, there’s no reason to create a great divide; let’s look at the tremendous amount of opportunity in preparing Team Millennials for leadership and success.

• Structure: As mentioned above, Millennials love structure. This should make tasks and deadlines more manageable within your workplace. Schedule every hour, day, week and month. Not only will Millennials enjoy the structure, you’ll enjoy the efficiency.
• Respect: Millennials respect you… they want your feedback; they want your leadership. So don’t be afraid to give it to them. But, it’s a two way street. Don’t forget to respect the Millennials…they’re full of new ideas, ideas that may help shape the future of your Company. Respecting one another and approaching new ideas with an open mind is critical.
• Teams: Millennials are used to interacting with people of all ages, religions, nationalities and backgrounds… Use this as an opportunity to build stronger teams at work. Don’t be afraid to partner up separate departments on various projects or company goals.
• Retain: Remember, they’ve been told they “can do” anything. Promote personal development, growth, and their future with your Company. If they don’t feel needed or respected at your place of employment, they’ll move on… quickly!

The reality is that Millennials will be taking over countless companies before you know it. Ask yourself: Are you preparing them, or are you hindering them? The years ahead contain tremendous opportunity for all if you promote a positive working environment.

Streamline your human resources administration with HR management best practices from HR Shield. Call and meet your HR Advisor (877) 636-9525, or contact us for more information.