Conduct an Annual Employee Handbook Check-up

by Kathy Gromoll

When’s the last time you gave your employee handbook a check-up? Nothing stays static, and if it’s been a year or longer, you might be opening yourself to levels of risk that could easily be avoided.

For example, multiple states across the country have new minimum wage laws effective January 2023. Two states are joining Oregon and New York City as locations that will require employers to post information about their salaries to prospective employees starting January 1. Under California and Washington state’s pay transparency laws, businesses and organizations with more than 15 employees must include a pay scale for any external job postings for non-employee applicants, including postings published by third parties.

Perhaps you have an office in New Mexico, and you’ve already implemented a handbook supplement to address state laws for employees working at that location. That’s great, but state laws change and can catch you unaware. Did you know that New Mexico recently passed a law (July 1, 2022) called the Healthy Workplaces Act (HS) that requires private employers with at least one employee to now provide paid sick leave to employees including part-time, seasonal, and temporary?

On the other hand, let’s say you’re located in only one state. What changes have you made during this past year? Perhaps you grew to over 50 employees? There are what some call the “magical employee numbers” to look for when managing a company. The number 50 is one of them because it’s when you reach 50 employees that the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may come into effect for you. If eligible, there are several communication requirements to employees under that act, as well as decisions to be made by you in administering leaves for your employees.

Maybe you didn’t grow to surpass 50 employees, but maybe your spouse opened up a business this past year. Depending on how much ownership each of you has in each company may determine if the two companies would be considered a “controlled group.” If so, the employees may need to be combined for determining benefit eligibility and whether certain laws apply to both entities as one control group.

So, take a look at your situation and your handbook. Better yet, ask specialists for help in giving it an annual check-up.

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If you’d like to know more about how AustinPeopleWorks can help with your human resources needs, including making sure your employee handbook is compliant, please reach out to us at https://austinpeopleworks.com/contact.