HR Spring Cleaning--
Know Your Document Retention Guidelines

In the name of organization, HR professionals and managers alike have been known to accidentally discard a document, whether paper or electronic, that they shouldn't have. Therefore, in your quest to clean out overflowing file cabinets or email inboxes, take your time ... and know the law.

It's especially important to double-check any document related to the following topics before pitching them because the law often sets specific retention periods. Some key examples: 

HIRING. Under Title VII, job applications and resumes must be kept for at least one year from the date of submission, and pre-employment tests must be kept for one year from the date of the test. The Immigration Reform and Control Act requires you to retain Form I-9 for three years from the date of hire or one year after termination, whichever is later.

TERMINATION. Documents related to layoff, recall and reduction-in-force must be kept for at least one year from the date of the action, as per Title VII. 

PROMOTION AND DEMOTION. Title VII also stipulates that records of promotions and demotions must be kept for one year from the date of the action. 

WORK HOURS. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), time sheets or time cards must be kept for at least two years after the record is made. 

LEAVE. Under the FMLA, records of the dates of leave taken under the act must be kept for three years. 

ACCOMMODATION. Requests for reasonable religious accommodation must be kept for one year after the record is made, as per Title VII. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), requests for disability-related reasonable accommodation must also be kept for one year after the record is made. 

TRAINING. Under Title VII, documents related to the selection of employees for training opportunities must be kept for one year.

To ensure that emailed documents don't fall through the retention cracks, avoid using your inbox as a catch-all folder. This is crucial if your company has a system of deleting all messages contained in employees' inboxes after a certain number of days.

What you should do is create folders based on business needs. Turn off any automatic deletion features for these folders; consult with IT if necessary. Read a message, act on it as necessary (e.g., answer a question, follow a directive), and then delete or move it to a specific folder. Remember, sort emails according to subject matter, not subject line. 

Source: Capitol Information Group (CIG)

Can Simply Staring 
Be Considered Harassment?

A California Court of Appeal held that simply staring, even when it is not done in a sexually suggestive manner, may constitute sexual harassment. The court considered a case in which a female employee alleged a male employee stared at her two to 10 times each day, each stare lasting from several seconds to 10 minutes, though never in a sexually suggestive manner. She had earlier reported the same man to her employer for overt sexual harassment, at which time he stopped speaking to her and began a campaign of staring.

The court could not take the overt acts of harassment into account in the case because they were more than a year old and barred by the statute of limitations. However, the court held that a violation of gender-based harassment laws could be found based on the pattern of overt sexual harassment, followed by a complaint, followed by a retaliatory act; in this case, the staring. [Birschtein v. New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., 92 Cal. App. 4th 994 (2001)]

Source: 2011 California Labor Law Digest

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS!   

Can we rearrange worker's hours to avoid OT?

Q. We have employees who work from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. A job needs to be done on a Saturday. We want to ask the employees to take time off later in the week once they have hit 40 hours. Are we able to ask them to do that? — C.G., Arizona

A. Yes, unless you are party to a collective bargaining agreement or other contract that would prohibit you from doing so. You can manage the hours worked by employees to avoid having to pay overtime, even when doing so would result in removing the employees from working during their normal work schedules. 

One key point:  Make sure the working hours all fall within the same workweek. Under wage-and-hour laws, employers are able to define when their workweeks begin and end.

If, for example, your workweek ends on Sunday, then providing time off during the subsequent Monday through Friday schedule will not work as a way of avoiding overtime liability. And unless you are a public employer, you are not allowed to provide comp time in future workweeks as an alternative to paying overtime compensation.

Source: HR Specialist - Carl Crosby Lehmann (Editor)

On to our feature article ....

Essentials For Your
Employee Handbook

Employee handbooks 101: 7 essentials

While employee handbooks are not required by law, they can prove essential — especially for small business owners that can't afford to lose a harassment or discrimination lawsuit. The employee handbook has become an essential tool in the employer’s arsenal to defend against liability for employment decisions.

For example, an employer being sued for harassment needs to be able to show that it is committed to a harassment-free workplace and that a complaint procedure is available to employees. Those policies and procedures should be clearly defined — and identifiable in court — in your employee manual.

What's more, a well-written manual can help an employer defend against unlawful termination claims by reinforcing the company's "at will" status. Employee handbooks can preserve your right to hire — and fire — at will.

Protect yourself, your company and your career. Craft a customized, air-tight employee manual for your business.  

Have employees sign off ...
To preserve the "at-will" status of employees whom you may hire and fire at will, include provisions in the handbook that say employment is at will and that nothing in the handbook should be considered a contract or guarantee of employment. Document employees' agreement to this by having them sign and return an acknowledgment form.

Finally, make sure your staff, especially supervisors, know the handbook and follow its provisions. The best-written policy in the world isn't enough if your actions don't back it up.

Be sure to craft a policy in all of the most crucial employment areas:

Company Information	The Work Environment	Code of Conduct
Time Off	Workday Rules & Procedures	Compensation
Benefits	Employment & Hiring Policies	Safety & Health

Contact MJMS for guidance.

Source: Business Management Daily ©2010

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President and Principal Consultant: Margaret Jacoby, SPHR

Margaret Jacoby has more than 25 years of Human Resources and professional management experience in a variety of industries. She has designed human resources infrastructure and implemented systems to ensure compliance with state and federal employment laws. She has directed high quality human resources functions for small and emerging businesses, and served as an external consultant to a wide range of erse organizations, including non-profits.

Her work has included:

• Conducting H.R. Needs Assessments

• Drafting employee handbooks and policy manuals

• Conducting job analysis and developing position descriptions

• Conducting on-site compliance audits

• Counseling management on progressive discipline

• Drafting and review of employee disciplinary actions

• Providing mediation in employee/employee conflict

• Training employees/supervisors/managers in the implementation of human resources systems and policies such as Sexual Harassment

• Conducting workshops for business owners on H.R. compliance issues.

Ms. Jacoby has earned the nationally-recognized certification of Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the HR Certification Institute, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Ms. Jacoby’s professional affiliations include:

• Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA)

• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

• National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Los Angeles and Phoenix

• California Chamber of Commerce

• Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA)

• Long Beach Community Business Network (LBCBN)

• Institute for Management Consultants (IMC)

The information contained in this newsletter is provided as general information and is not a substitute for legal or professional advice. The information is provided by MJ Management Solutions, Inc. and while we endeavor to keep the information up-to-date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the newsletter or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.