With only a few more weeks left in 2017, are you ready to wrap up the year? Download our 2017 Year-End Checklist for Human Resources to make sure you’re on track. Start 2018 off right with these updates to your Employee Handbook.
Employee Handbook Updates
Discrimination (family leave, caregivers): This year there has been a lot of discussion on gender inequality in parental leave. Make sure your policy isn’t out of date – you can grant separate leave time for birth/labor recovery and bonding time. Be sure to take into account parents who foster and adopt, too.
Disaster Preparation: We saw several significant disasters in 2017 and public scrutiny of how employers handled staffing issues and leave during these incidents. Be proactive – put a policy in place and train all management and supervisors on how to handle staff issues during disaster. Check out this disaster preparation article from HRDive.
Reasonable Accommodations under ADA: Even if an employee has exhausted their FMLA leave, the ADA is still in effect, which can include leave requests as a reasonable accommodation. Companies should consider these other accommodation needs when reviewing their handbook, and may want to include that an exemption may be granted as an accommodation.
FLSA and independent contractors: Does your company use independent contractors? Even if you aren’t as big as UBER or other high-profile companies experiencing employment disputes, it is imperative to have clear and updated policies to protect your business if employment issues arise. These policies hold implications for unemployment benefits, worker’s compensation, and other disputes.
Drug Testing: Stay on top of state laws regarding medical marijuana, 29 states and Washington, D.C. had legalized so far.
Paid-Time Off, Flexible Schedules, Flexible Holidays: Mental health and discrimination related to time-off policies have been on our radar. This is a good time to evaluate if your time-off policies are truly effective for your business and employees. A one-size-fits-all approach to any benefit, is likely not the best to serve your team and recruit top talent. New on the horizon are flexible holiday options, allowing employees to choose which holidays are most important to them and their family.
Looking for more Year-End content? Check out these resources:
Looking for more from your Broker? Contact Austin today to find out about our other services to help simplify HR which include benefits administration, 1094/1095 preparation, employee handbook creation, total compensation statements, employee communications, and more!
Sources:
https://www.hrdive.com/news/6-updates-to-get-your-employee-handbook-ready-for-2018/511375/
https://www.hrdive.com/news/a-quick-guide-to-disaster-preparedness-in-the-workplace/504320/
