What Benefits Does HR Audits Have on the Company?
There are a number of ways to generate profits for the company, and knowing where the exposures are is one benefit. Human resource audits provide employers with an objective tool to examine the human resource function and identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. While the scope of an assessment varies according to the organization’s objectives, compliance normally is one of its essential components. An examination of policies, procedures, processes and practices allows management to pinpoint areas where the organization is and is not complying with applicable employment laws and regulations. Once gaps in compliance are identified, potential risks can be examined and corrective actions taken.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Suing Employers Over Wage Issues, A Major Area of Concern
Companies have a lot of employee concerns, but wage and hour issues should rank among the top. Most wage and hour complaints are over unpaid overtime and misclassification of workers as independent contractors instead of employees, which means employers do not have to pay unemployment insurance, payroll taxes or workers compensation, according to experts.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Is There Away Not to Become a Target for Immigration Compliance?
Know how ICE thinks, so you don’t become a target for their investigations. Over the last two years, the government has focused its efforts on immigration compliance. This includes targeting businesses for I-9 audits, monitoring H-1B workers, resuming Social Security No-Match letters and launching new online resources for verifying a person’s eligibility to work in the United States. It’s important to keep your business in compliance to avoid monetary penalties and possible criminal charges.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Industries that ICE is Targeting – Is it Yours?
Immigration Custom Enforcement is targeting industries for compliance audits. It was been recently reported by the Farm Employer’s Labor Service (FELS) that the EVP of NCAE (National Council of Agricultural Employers) was informed by credible sources that ICE field agents will once again focus their I-9 audit investigations on high-profile agriculture and restaurant employers to surpass their 2,496 I-9 audits and 3,291 work site enforcement cases conducted in 2011. More specifically, they are again (no surprise) targeting high-profile/maximum press coverage employers, the biggest farms and restaurants, and employers who were previously audited and/or had issues with DOL or DHS in the past - who can now expect to be be revisited in 2012.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
ICE TURNS UP THE HEAT ON COMPLIANCE
Form I-9 compliance is one of those areas senior management must be aware. In the past, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (or ICE, formerly known as the INS) limited its enforcement sanctions to relatively small fines; however, this is no longer the case. Under the Obama administration, the ICE has established a practice of significantly increasing the number of I-9 audits performed and of levying substantial fines on companies that fail to comply with federal regulations. According to testimony provided by Secretary Napolitano to a U.S. House of Representatives Committee, since 2009, the ICE has conducted more than 6,000 I-9 audits of U.S. employers and issued more than $75 million in fines. Therefore, the risks for non-compliance are potentially costly.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Independent Contractor or Employee What’s The Difference?
If your company is not aware of the specific differences of independent contractors and employees, you could be in big trouble. In 2000, the Department of Labor commissioned a study through the unemployment system and found that 30% of workers were misclassified nationally. For employers, the benefits for keeping a worker as an independent contractor are significant savings in payroll, tax and overhead costs. At the same time a worker will forfeit their rights under FLSA and other benefits and protections provided to employees.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
ICE Has Its Eyes on the Hospitality Industry, Be Aware
The hospitality industry has been a favorite target of the DHS for years. On January 19, 2012, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced a Dayton-area restaurant was fined more than $20,000 for failing to comply with Form I-9 employment eligibility verification requirements.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Make Sure Your Business Is Focused on The HR Improvement Processes
Being aware of the best practices in Human Resources will aide your company in the long term. To deliver more value, the human resources function needs to spend more time accelerating operational improvement and less time on its traditional administrative and compliance activities. As Randy MacDonald, senior vice president of HR at IBM, told me, “It’s important for HR to decide what is core and non-core. Administrative responsibilities such as getting paychecks out on time are not core. In HR, we need to focus on what is important.”
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Is Your Company Prepared For Wage-and-Hour Disputes?
Is there someone in your company aware of the ever changing regulations from the Department of Labor and how you must comply. What’s the trendiest flavor of employee lawsuits these days? Retaliation for wage-and-hour complaints. Here’s a case that illustrates the growing danger to employers.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
DHS Checks All Size Companies For Their Form I-9
The ICE audit is not restricted to big companies and audits can be done for small businesses as well. Big players may hire employees trained in the I-9 process; however it is imperative irrespective of the scale of business that you comply with federal regulations in maintaining I-9 forms. Employers under the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act are required to use DHS’s Form I-9 to document employment eligibility and can be held criminally liable for violations.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Is Your Company Conducting Annual HR Compliance Audits?
Annual HR compliance audits will uncover areas the company should be concentrating its efforts. If the audit is conducted with internal resources, or with a non-lawyer outside consultant, everything connected with the audit is subject to discovery in litigation relating to employment practices. If an employer uses its outside employment law firm to conduct the audit, the attorney-client privilege may protect communications between the business and its attorney, but the actions taken as a result of the audit are subject to discovery. If the same counsel ordinarily defends the business in employment litigation, the company’s own lawyer may be a fact witness if the audit becomes evidence in the case, and would be precluded from representing the company in the case. Because of these factors, an audit should be performed with full recognition that its results (and, under some circumstances, information accumulated during the audit) may be discoverable and admissible as evidence in a case against the company.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
2012 Will Offer Employers Additional Employment Laws
Employment laws for 2012 will continue to offer challenges to employers. Calling all employers! Wondering what workplace issues to focus on in 2012? Here are the top five employment law issues employers should keep an eye out for in 2012.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Form I-9 Inspections of Employers Nationwide Continue
Don’t be surprised when ICE comes calling. This is the largest I-9 inspection action since ICE issued 1,000 NOI’s in November 2009 but, unlike the 2009 action, ICE did not publicize its most recent enforcement effort. (For more information on previous inspection actions see our earlier Alerts on this topic.) Nationally, from fiscal year 2009 to date, ICE has initiated I-9 inspections against nearly 4,000 businesses resulting in nearly $7 million in fines.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Companies Must Know How to Legally Lay Off Their Employees
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
How Important Is the Accuracy of Your I-9 Forms?
If companies are not concentrating on the accuracy of their Form I-9’s fines and penalties are right around the corner. The U.S. government recently released statistics that indicate $7.1 million in fines were levied during the first half of 2011. Although immigration raids have been common before, the focus of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today is on auditing and investigating employers to determine if they are satisfying the I-9 form requirements and if they are knowingly or unwittingly employing illegal workers.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
I-9 Compliance in 2012: What Companies Need to Know
The Form I-9 will pose additional problems in 2012, are you ready? In the last few years, the federal government has initiated I-9 audits with increased vigor as a result of both substantially increased funding and public debate about illegal immigration. The audits continue to include companies of all sizes across industries and geographic areas with a continued focus on so-called crucial infrastructure companies (transportation, food, energy, chemical production, among others). These audits should cause companies of all sizes and across the entire United States to review and re-think their I-9 compliance strategies.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
What HR Topics Will You Be Watching in 2012
2012 will pose extreme issues for employers and employees. As we close the books on 2011, many businesses are looking at strategies and tactics for the new year. Given recent waves of market uncertainty, this year poses a unique challenge for decision-makers and C-level executives. While there are numerous financial considerations ranging from healthcare compliance to tepid consumer confidence, human resource managers have been forced to align their practices with the evolving global economy.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Are Employers Aware of Injuries at the Workplace?
Labor Law Violations Affecting Restaurant Workers
Restaurant workers are being affected by labor laws. If you’ve ever worked as a server at a restaurant, then you know what a slow shift is like. After eight hours on the floor, you only help a handful of tables, and some are inevitably bad tippers. Your base hourly wage probably doesn’t exceed $2.13, and so you end up receiving compensation below the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
Has Your Company Adopted A Formal Separation Process With Employees?
Company’s should not separate employees from the organization without good reasons. If you are terminating someone and they feel dis-respected they will feel angry. If they feel like they have been mistreated they will look for something to file a lawsuit on. And if you have not been incompliance in wage and hour, or EEO matters, or safety or a myriad of other things that is what they will hang their hat on.
W. Garnett & Associates
Human Capital Management
1-303-658-9342
