Amid your HR team’s already packed schedule of things to do each day, compliance and risk management may not be at the top of the list. But it’s critically important that you keep it on everyone’s radar screen to avoid potentially devastating penalties, lawsuits, or other negative consequences.
Start With Your Policies and Procedures
When it comes to your HR policies and procedures, here are some steps to ensure compliance:
- Meet with department leaders to ensure policies and procedures are feasible for each of them. Involving them helps guarantee that your guidelines are understood by and make sense to all employees.
- Use the right channels of communication. Consider your specific audience and convey information using media and platforms they are most comfortable with and can readily access. Remember to accommodate employees who don’t have access to computers at work by installing a shared computer or TV screens in breakrooms or throughout the worksite. In-person meetings and bulletin board postings can be effective, as well.
- Set deadlines for policies and procedures to be acknowledged. You might want to hold weekly meetings with managers to confirm they are working with their teams on compliance understanding. Email reminders can also be helpful. Make sure you include contact information in case people have questions.
The Value of a Compliance Audit
An HR compliance audit is an excellent way to discover any compliance shortfalls or inefficiencies in your practices to protect your business and uncover best practice recommendations. Your audit should include independent analysis of your company’s HR practices (from recruiting/hiring through separation), wage and hour practices, benefits administration, personnel documentation and record keeping.
The Benefits of HR Technology
With today’s increasingly complex reporting and compliance requirements, investing in the right HR technology can pay huge dividends, including:
- Greater efficiencies from “hire to retire” reporting, compliance, and communications.
- Empowerment of your managers with self-service tools and dashboards that show company analytics and trends.
- 24/7 access for employees to all their benefit and payroll information.
Your Human Resource Management System (HRMS) should:
- Allow custom certifications for your employees and give you control over the content they will remember the most.
- Enable the uploading of multiple software programs for optimal effectiveness.
- Provide flexibility with folders and organization and reduce clutter for end users.
- Send task alerts, reminders, overdue notifications, and renewal notices.
Need Help With Compliance?
Partner with HR Works, Inc. for a proactive, practical approach to ensuring HR compliance and minimizing risk. Our comprehensive menu of HR solutions includes compliance audit services, HRMS technical expertise, and more. We look forward to hearing from you today.
