HFTP Chapter Meeting

April 25, 2008

La Rinconada Country Club

Presented by: Brenda Gilchrist Principal/CoFounder, The HR Matrix, LLC

Conducting an Internal Human Resources Audit

Disclaimer: This review of conducting internal audits can be used for cursory reviews. Our firm recommends you work with an expert, such as The HR Matrix, LLC, to conduct the audit.

Wages and Scheduling

Are you certain that you fully comply with the following requirements?

Minimum wage Overtime Meal breaks Rest breaks Paycheck content and delivery Payroll deductions Alternative workweek schedules (where

applicable)

Wage Orders

Have you identified and posted the one or more wage order(s) that apply to your organization?

Anti-Discrimination Policies & Practices

Are you confident that your company complies with all laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace? This includes having required policies in place, ensuring that all employees are aware of them, and making sure that employees actually practice non-discrimination. Some areas of focus include:

Posting all appropriate notices; Carrying out all mandatory supervisory training; Reviewing employee demographics for under-represented

minorities, failure to promote, etc.; Accommodation of disabilities in the workplace; Non-discrimination in hiring, promotion, and termination; Non-discrimination in administering benefits; Non-discrimination in matters of compensation.

Harassment Training

Does your organization have a policy that is frequently communicated and consistently applied that complies with requirements for preventing and investigating harassment in the workplace?

This includes manager and supervisor training on all aspects of discrimination and harassment.

Injury and Illness Prevention

Does your organization have an Illness and Injury Prevention Program (IIPP) that complies with all state and federal workplace safety requirements (including Cal-OSHA accident and illness recordkeeping and posting)?

Workers' Compensation

Is your company in full compliance with all legal requirements associated with Workers’ Compensation?

HiringPolicies and Procedures

Have you defined and documented a consistent and effective set of hiring policies, and do you have tools in place to make sure they are followed? This would include:

Publishing and enforcing policies to prohibit discriminatory treatment of applicants;

Training your hiring managers in how to implement the policies;

New employee orientation (paperwork, skills training, safety training, sexual harassment training, required benefits information, payroll processing, etc.).

Job Descriptions

Do you have an up-to-date job description for every position in your organization?

Including Physical requirements of the job

Overtime Requirements

Are you confident that you have accurately classified all your employees as exempt or non-exempt from overtime requirements?

Are you sure your exempt employees meet the duties and salary test for their exemption and that you have ignored job titles in determining exempt/non-exempt status?

Independent Contractors

If you work with independent contractors, are you certain you are treating them as contractors and not as employees?

Are you sure that all of them qualify for independent contractor status as opposed to W-2 employee status?

Minors/ Foreign Workers

If you hire young people, are you certain that you are in legal compliance with laws regulating the employment of minors?

If you hire non-US citizens, are you certain that you are in legal compliance with laws regulating the employment of aliens?

Performance Policies

Does your company have a set of policies and processes for monitoring, correcting, and improving employee performance?

Do you apply them consistently and are you certain that no discrimination takes place when an employee is disciplined?

Employee Handbook

Do you have an up-to-date employee handbook and...Does it contain all your company’s policies in clear,

unambiguous language? Are you certain that your policies comply with the law? Are you certain that you have included all policies that

are required by law? Have you given each employee an up-to-date employee

handbook and received written acknowledgment that they have received and understood it?

Posters and Notices

Are you certain you are displaying all the most current required posters and providing employees with all the most current required pamphlets?

Record Keeping/Privacy

Are you certain that your company maintains its personnel records for the appropriate periods to comply with state and federal requirements?

Are you certain that your organization protects the privacy of personnel records, as required by law, including limiting access to personnel and payroll records to only those with a need to know and assuring proper destruction of records at time of disposal?

Termination Policies

Have you defined and documented a consistent and effective set of termination policies, and do you have tools in place to make sure they are followed in a consistent and non-discriminatory manner?

Do you provide the correct Termination notices and forms?

Voluntary and Mandated Leaves

Does your company comply with state and federal laws for granting time off? This includes:

Vacation and paid-time-off (PTO) practices;

Kin care; Mandatory leave such as for pregnancy,

military duty, and jury duty; Other days off required by law.

Coordinating Leaves of Absence

When it appears that an employee is eligible for a required leave, are you able to reliably determine how different types of leave may overlap each other?

Family/Medical Leave

Do you have clear and effective systems in place to ensure compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and to monitor the use of these leaves?

Pregnancy Leave

Are you certain of always being in legal compliance with the California Pregnancy Disability Leave law in granting and administering pregnancy leaves?

Make-Up Time

If you provide opportunities for make-up time, do you have a clear policy for makeup time that is consistently applied?