How Do You Improve Compliance with HR Policies?

What policies should a small business have?

When deciding which policies your small or mid-sized business needs, first you should evaluate which policies are required by federal, state, and local laws. This may include policies around anti-harassment, at-will employment, or workplace safety. Second, consider policies that may not be mandated but will support your company’s compliance with applicable labor laws and regulations.

Some key HR compliance policies include:

• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Anti-harassment and anti-discrimination
• At-will employment
• Work hours and attendance
• Health and safety
• Leave and time off
• Data protection and privacy
• Code of conduct
• Remote work
• Social media

As HR compliance laws and guidelines are constantly evolving, it’s important to have strategies in place to ensure that your company avoids legal issues and maintains a fair workplace with current policies. You can subscribe to government and legal newsletters, join professional associations, consult with legal counsel, use HR software that updates with new regulations, or rely on the services of an experienced professional employer organization (PEO) such as G&A Partners to stay current and in compliance.

How do you improve compliance with HR policies?

Policies and procedures outline expectations for employees and give guidance on how to handle specific situations. This ensures consistency in how employees are treated and that the company is in compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations. You can ensure compliance in the workplace with specific strategies, including:

• Clear and accessible policies: All employees should have easy access to HR policies, either in a printed handbook or available online.
• Consistent training: Offer a combination of workshops, webinars, Q&A sessions, and e-learning courses to educate employees about HR policies and legal requirements.
• Regular reviews: Schedule and conduct regular reviews and audits to ensure compliance with HR policies and to identify gaps before they become serious issues.
• Use technology: Take advantage of HR software that manages compliance tasks, tracks training, and checks for policies that comply with current laws.
• Enforce policies: Timely enforcement of policies is key, as employees are less likely to abide if they know there are no consequences. Additionally, ensure that enforcement is handled fairly and consistently.

7 Steps to Audit and Update Your Company Policies

HR compliance laws and regulations are subject to change because of new legislation or interpretations. That’s why it’s a good idea to conduct regular audits of your company policies and procedures to help identify areas that need to be updated to comply with local, state, or federal laws or to encompass new company processes and best practices.

Following is a proactive, seven-step policy audit process:

1. Determine the scope of the audit: If this is your company’s first audit, begin with a comprehensive review of all company policies and procedures. Moving forward, you may conduct audits on specific areas, such as workplace safety policies or compensation and employee benefits policies.
2. Create a plan: Identify goals, assemble an audit team, and create a timeline for completing the audit.
3. Gather and analyze data: Gather all applicable company policies, documents, and forms under the audit’s scope and review current and pending laws and regulations that apply to your business and workforce. Make sure each policy has a clear objective, outlines examples of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, and provides compliance information (such as consequences for violating the policy).
4. Produce a report: Create a report with audit findings, which should include strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations for updates and corrections. Then, have your legal representative or a team of human resources experts, like G&A Partners, review the report and recommendations to ensure they are in tandem with laws in the jurisdictions in which your business operates or employees perform work.
5. Create an action plan: Once the audit is complete, company leaders should meet with the audit team to discuss the findings and formulate a plan to address each problem or concern identified in the report. Action items should include changing policies, implementing procedures, and training practices.
6. Train employees: A robust training program is instrumental in communicating information about policy changes, updates, and clarifications to employees. During training sessions, emphasize your company's commitment to applying all policies fairly and consistently across all levels of the organization. Also, distribute your policies (including updates) to employees, update your employee handbook, and provide opportunities for Q&A sessions.
7. Evaluate progress: Once corrective measures have been implemented, continuously monitor and review your company's new processes or procedures to ensure they comply with current laws and regulations.

What role does training play in HR compliance?

Training can be an effective tool to help inform, educate, and even test employees’ knowledge on important policies and procedures. Regular training opportunities are also a good way to keep information top of mind for employees. And in some cases, training may be required by law. Some industries — healthcare, construction, manufacturing, hospitality, and financial services, for example — have specific compliance requirements, and many states require anti-harassment training for all employees.

HR compliance training topics cover a wide range and can include anti-discrimination practices, privacy laws, financial reporting guidelines, hazardous materials handling, workplace safety, and environmental regulations. You may want to offer training for policies or procedures that are new or when compliance with a specific policy becomes an issue among staff.

When you partner with a trusted PEO like G&A partners, you have access to a learning management system with a library that includes thousands of courses across industries.

How do you get employees to complete compliance training?

Employees who complete HR compliance training contribute to a safe, productive, and lawful work environment. Here are some strategies to ensure that employees complete compliance training:

• Incentivize training. For example, offer a raffle drawing for a prize to employees who complete their training before a specific deadline.
• Tie completion of mandatory training to bonuses or other rewards.
• Provide regular email reminders to employees who have not yet completed training.
• When possible, choose engaging and interactive online courses that employees can complete on their own schedule from their workstations.
• Ensure managers allow employees time to complete training within their work schedule and emphasize the importance of completing the courses.
• Rely on a learning management system (LMS). You can assign e-learning courses to employees, set deadlines, email reminders, track employees’ progress, and create reports. G&A Partners offers a comprehensive LMS that can be scaled and adapted to your company’s needs.

How do you ensure employees comply with policies?

A culture of compliance benefits your business and your employees. Here are some recommendations on how to implement HR policies and lower your company’s employment practices liability risk:

• Encourage your recruiters to seek candidates with diverse backgrounds and skills and monitor the hiring process for signs of discriminatory practices.
• Create a job description for each position that clearly defines skills and performance expectations.
• Post company policies and your code of conduct throughout the workplace and in employee handbooks.
• Train managers and employees about the proper procedure to follow if they (or their employees) are the object of sexual harassment or discrimination. Make sure everyone knows where the company stands on what employee conduct is not permissible.
• Provide employees with a hotline to safely and anonymously report their grievances.
• Consistently communicate steps your company takes to prevent and solve employee disputes.
• Create an effective record-keeping system to document employee issues as they arise, steps taken to resolve those issues, and any necessary disciplinary action.
• Conduct periodic performance reviews of employees and carefully note the results in the employee's file.
• Institute a zero-tolerance policy regarding discrimination, substance abuse, and harassment.
• Adopt an open-door policy that allows employees to report infractions without fear of retribution.
• Ensure that policies are followed and enforced consistently. If enforcement isn’t consistent, employees are less likely to follow the policy.

EPLI Adds a Protective Layer of Insurance

Each year, U.S. companies spend billions on employment litigation. Industry analysts expect this trend to continue, impacting businesses of all sizes and across various industries, even those that prioritize legal compliance in all aspects of their business.

According to Business.com's “Employment Practices Liability Insurance: Why Small Businesses Need EPLI” article, employment-related claims of discrimination, harassment, or other forms of unfair treatment are on the rise. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims statistics showed that retaliation was the most frequently cited claim in charges filed with the agency, followed by discrimination based on disability, race, sex, and religion.

Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) provides your company protection against the following types of claims made by a current or former employee:

• Sexual harassment
• Discrimination
• Wrongful termination
• Breach of employment contract
• Negligent evaluation
• Failure to employ or promote
• Wrongful discipline
• Deprivation of career opportunity
• Wrongful infliction of emotional distress
• Mismanagement of employee benefits plans

The cost of EPLI coverage depends on business type, the number of employees, and various risk factors such as whether your company has been sued over employment practices in the past. The policy covers legal costs involved with defending a lawsuit in court and for judgments and settlements, whether your company wins or loses the suit. However, there are standard exclusions to EPLI coverage, which vary from state to state.