OUR BLOG
Mon January 20 2020
Employees and the military: What is Civil Air Patrol Leave?
If one of your employees is a member of the US Air Force, you must provide them with time off without pay for military service. Under the Civil Air Patrol Employment Protection Act, employers are required to provide any employee who is part of the California Wing of the Civil Air Patrol with time off to attend emergency operational missions.
Mon January 13 2020
Know the Law: Pregnancy Disability Leave Laws
It’s the law – PDL (Pregnancy Disability Leave) must be offered to any employee who is disabled due to pregnancy, childbirth or any related medical conditions, regardless of the length of employment. Employers must provide employees with up to 4 months of time off, without their job being placed in jeopardy. This time off is unpaid by the employer, however the employee may claim benefits payment through the Employment Development Department (EDD).
Mon January 06 2020
Termination for Poor Performance Should Never Be a Surprise
Terminating employees for performance should never be a surprise. As an employer, you should always follow the correct procedures when terminating an employee. If the termination is due to poor work performance, make sure that you have coached the employee about that performance, and that your communications have been documented.
Mon December 30 2019
Year-End Resolutions – Have a Plan!
Prepare your 2020 goals. Do you have any new goals that you would like to accomplish next year? New systems you want to put into effect? With this year coming to an end, it’s important to reflect back on all your past accomplishments and decide what new goals you want to set for this upcoming year. Start preparing early so you can get right into it when 2020 comes around.
Mon December 16 2019
HR Compliance: The WARN Act
It’s the law - The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN) applies to companies with 75 employees or more. This law protects employees and their families by providing them advance notice in the event of a plant or location closure. Private, for-profit and nonprofit employers are covered under this law as are public entities. However, government entities, including federal, state, and local agencies are required to comply.
Mon December 09 2019
Choices for paid holidays
If you offer paid holidays, consider eliminating “Christmas Day” specifically, and allow your employees to “choose their designated winter holiday,” such as Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa instead. Offer your employees options when it comes to deciding what holiday they want off. Your employees are likely to have different preferences and it’s important to acknowledge and take into consideration their different beliefs and traditions.
Mon December 02 2019
2020 California Minimum Wage Increase
On January 1st 2020, California will increase its minimum wage to $13 per hour for businesses 26 or more employees. The minimum wage for smaller businesses, with 25 or fewer employees, will increase to $12/hour.
This increase is part of a larger change, which is slowly raising the California minimum wage up to $15 per hour. Larger businesses will have to meet the $15/hour minimum wage by 2022, whereas smaller businesses have until 2023.
Mon November 25 2019
Safety Tip: Ergonomics
Good ergonomics are key to a healthy workplace. Effective ergonomics in the workplace can benefit both employees and your business by providing physical comfort, thereby improving morale and productivity. Ergonomics promotes early returns to work and a reduction in absenteeism.
Tue November 19 2019
HR best practice: “If it’s not written down, it didn’t happen”
If you do not document your conversations with employees, it's as if that conversation never happened. Important discussions and meetings with your employees should be fully documented and written down. Verbal agreements are not considered sound-proof in the event of litigation. Therefore, in order to protect yourself and your company, it’s important to put everything that’s discussed in writing.
Tue November 12 2019
When do employees qualify for tuition reimbursement?
There is no legal requirement to provide tuition reimbursement for your employees. However, reimbursement will show that you care about your employees’ career progression. Obtaining a higher education can be quite expensive. Therefore, many workers refrain from enhancing their skills because of financial strains. Offering your employees’ a tuition reimbursement program shows that their future and progression in their career is important to you and to your company.