How compliant is your business? Nearly all business think they have compliance down to an art but every year hundreds of businesses are hit with labour law violations and ordered to pay millions of dollars. While you may think you and your managers are complying with all applicable labour laws, a workforce management system can provide oversight and the actual records to guarantee that compliance.
Scheduling Breaks
Many state labour laws require 30 minute meal breaks for employees but this requirement is often overlooked due to lack of staffing or corporate culture. Employees take meals at their desks or “forget” and leave early another day, both of which may be in direct violation of those state laws. A workforce management system with a time tracking system provides a system to track meal breaks and alert managers when those breaks are being overlooked so they can be addressed.
Preventing Overtime Problems
Overtime payment generates a fair bit of confusion for businesses. The differentiation between exempt employees and non-exempt employees coupled with the different state laws make overtime pay potentially contentious between managers and employees. A workforce management system is one way to clear the air and ensure that the right employees are receiving their proper overtime pay.
Workforce management systems allow flexibility to individually assign status to each employee and provide adequate overtime pay - whether that be straight pay or a higher amount. Since some states regulate overtime by day or weekly, a workforce management system also allows employers to build in state and local laws into the software to prevent accidental overtime.
Navigating FMLA
If you employ more than 50 employees, you may fall under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which allows employees up to 12 weeks of leave for familial emergencies. When an employee becomes pregnant or needs time off to tend to a family member’s illness, employees are often confused about what FMLA protects and provides. A workforce management system can provide guidance to managers for requesting and approving FMLA for eligible employees.
Meeting Hiring Compliance
Even experienced managers can be naive regarding what constitutes a labour law violation during an interview. Asking questions about family obligations or health can be a fast track to labour law noncompliance and giant fines so it’s important for business owners to ensure that those hiring employees ask the right questions.
A workforce management system can help managers two-fold: by providing a template for interviews and by providing training in compliance. Asking potential employees the same questions not only provides a better gauge to compare applicants but also allows the company to review any potential questions for noncompliance with labour laws. Training can also be helpful so managers fully understand the laws that regulate hiring and help them ensure they don’t accidentally violate those laws.
Differentiating Employees
Even small businesses can have a wide variety of employees: full-time, part-time, exempt, hourly, contractors. Ensuring that each of those employees are classified correctly is essential to meeting labour laws. One common issue that businesses face is misclassifying employees. Whether it be classifying an employee as exempt without meeting salary requirements or classifying an employee as an independent contractor, the fines and penalties for these violations can be steep. A workforce management system allows employers to assess job duties, salary, and classification in one place to assess whether they’re actually classified correctly.
A workforce management system needs to be used in conjunction with a strong understanding of local, state, and federal labour laws but it can be very useful in preventing accidental violation of labour laws by managers.
