3 Areas to Include In an HR Compliance Self Audit

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(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by our friends at Poster Guard® Compliance Protection, a division of HRdirect and the leading labor law poster service that gets your business up to date with all required federal, state and local labor law postings, and then keeps it that way — for an entire year. Enjoy the article!)

One of the things that always makes me feel wonderful is to start the New Year with my office in order. Meaning that I’m organized, in both my personal and professional life. I know that might sound impossible under today’s circumstances, but I do believe there are some things we can do to start the year off right. For example, in my personal life, it involves selecting and starting to organize my planner. I also try to set a couple of goals like scheduling a time to update my social media accounts and organizing tax records.

On the professional side, this was always the time of year where we wanted to make sure our offices were in compliance. We did that by conducting an HR self-audit to make sure that we were compliant. We would share the results with senior management and if we noticed something out of order, we were in a position to immediately take care of it.

Conducting a self-audit can be valuable, especially during a year like this one where there has been a major election. There could be upcoming changes with the new administration and it’s important to know where we stand. According to Ashley Kaplan, Esquire, senior employment law attorney for ComplyRight, 2021 is expected to be a record year of labor law poster changes. “There are hundreds of state and local laws pending that could impact posting requirements for 2021. Changes are also expected on a federal level that would likely impact the federal posters and federal contractor posters (e.g. expanded equal employment opportunity (EEO), family and medical leave provisions, and/or minimum wage increase). By knowing where we are, this prepares us for what might be coming in the future.

Back to the self-audit. I think we can all agree that 2021 is going to be a busy year. As such, I can see a lot of organizations wanting to start the year focused and ready. This includes the HR department. HR will want to know that compliance matters are in order so they can spend the majority of their time on recruiting, training, and helping the organization accomplish its business goals.

Speaking of HR department’s time, I understand they don’t have a lot of it. So, self-audits cannot become a massive drain of resources. If you’re looking for a place to start, here are three areas to consider in an HR self-audit.

  1. Workplace Safety. While there is positive news about a vaccine, we can’t ignore the fact that we’re still dealing with COVID-19. Organizations are receiving federal recommendations, state guidelines, and local suggestions. That’s not going to change in the near future. Organizations have to safely manage a hybrid workforce.
  1. Remote workers. Speaking of the hybrid workforce, I’m hearing many organizations talking about extending remote work arrangements with employees. Not only do organizations have to think about making sure remote workers have the equipment and tools to be successful, but that they are being regularly informed of their employment rights.
  1. Recruiting and onboarding. With the start of the New Year, it’s possible that organizations have budgeted for new positions. Applicants and candidates need to be informed of their rights, even when we’re conducting parts of the hiring process online. In addition, when we’re welcoming new hires, we have to tell them about their rights. Often that takes the form of labor law posters, but don’t forget mandatory employee handouts. 

I know you’ll agree with me that all of these areas are important. You might be saying to yourself, “I don’t have time to research labor law postings and handouts.” And I agree this isn’t the best use of HR time.

Fortunately, HR departments don’t have to do this alone. HR can partner with companies like HRdirect. Their Poster Guard Compliance Protection service monitors legislation at a federal, state, and local level. For a full year from date of purchase, they will replace labor law posters whenever a mandatory change occurs.

It’s a great time saver. Especially when we have so many other things that we need to be working on like making sure that employees have the tools they need to be successful. If you want to learn more about Poster Guard Compliance Protection service, check out their website. HR Bartender readers receive a special $30 discount off Poster Guard Compliance Protection including FREE ground delivery right now using the code SC32767.

As we’re starting 2021, conducting an audit is a helpful way to check the status on your compliance. Because compliance activities like labor law posters don’t follow a set schedule. It’s not like “every January labor law posters change”. Organizations should have a compliance partner that takes care of the details, so HR can focus their energy on the business.

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