Employment laws are modified every year and staying up to date on all the changes can be a full-time job – and for human resources professionals and employers, it is. For the experienced attorneys who write our books, this manual is a way to help businesses stay on the right side of employment law, minimize the risk of litigation, and avoid costly penalties. This reference has been organized to fit your needs and outfitted with numerous features to help you make sure your policies and business practices are in compliance with the law.
- The snapshot and compliance threshold
- To start the book off with a bang, we’ve gathered a list of questions (provided in Snapshot - An HR Audit) that will create a snapshot for you to use in determining whether or not you are complying with fundamental employment laws. If you do not know an answer to one of the questions, a page reference is provided so you can quickly find what you need to know and what you need to do. Compliance thresholds is formatted to help you determine what you are responsible for depending on the number of employees you have and lists prevalent employment laws, their compliance thresholds, and where they are discussed in this manual.
- The visual aids
- To make this book a more functional resource, we’ve displayed lots of the subject matter in lists, tables, and charts. Don’t miss:
- And look out for:
- The content
- While we have worked to make this book as effective as possible – providing efficient ways to find specific content without expecting busy employers to sit down and read the text straight through – we want every chapter to be readable and uncomplicated, letting you know what to do, how to do it, and a little bit of why. In case you do not have time to read the whole book, here are some current hot topics we would like to highlight:
- Remote interviewing is becoming the norm. Make sure you are taking all of the proper regulations into account. See Recruiting and hiring for more information.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has published new temporary standards and guidance for the handling of COVID-19 in the workplace. For more information see Safety and health.
- Have you implemented – or are you considering implementing – vaccine mandates in your workplace? Learn what you can and cannot do and what exemptions to look out for in Pandemic outbreaks.
- The connections
- As there is a lot of information in this book that requires interaction with different professional parties, contact information – including websites, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers for many government departments and local organizations – is spread throughout the book. In-text mentions of external sources are followed by links to make it easier for you to apply our text to your own business. To continue the dialogue, look out for sections entitled, Where to go for more information like in Unemployment compensation. Think of it as the most detailed address book you’ve ever owned!
- The appendices
- We have tried to make every page of this manual useful, not just the beginning; so do not dismiss the appendices. At the end of the book there are a number of valuable resources for your use. The topics include Recordkeeping and Posting requirements, both complete with federal and state constraints. Find the exact information you need, compiled and at hand, ready for your use.
From hiring to firing, this manual will be your personal bookshelf HR manager.