HR Basic: Legalities

Over the next seven weeks, I will be expanding on last week’s blog – 7 HR basics for Small Business.

Once you start hiring employees, you have to follow laws – federal, state, municipal or city. Once you start having employees you are responsible not only for the service they provide to you and your customers but for having a workplace that is free from discriminatory practices.  Did I just scare you? I didn’t mean to but keep the following in mind and you will be ok.

The majority of employment laws are Federal and based on the number of employees you have. The smaller you are, the less laws to follow.

Let’s look a the ones everyone has to abide by regardless of size.

• Payroll – you must pay employees the minimum wage (careful some states are higher than the federal minimum). This is the minimum you pay per hour, of course there is no limit on the maximum (by law).
• Tax forms – all employees must complete W4’s stating the amount of exemptions they are claiming. The IRS has one for federal taxes. States vary between having their own form or following what people claim on Federal.  Check your particular states Department of Revenue site.
• I9 forms – this form must be completed by ALL employees (unless they were hired before 11/6/1986). This form is provided by US Citizen and Immigration Service (click here for form & instructions). This must be completed within 3 days of hire. This is unfortunately where I see the majority of errors from small employers. Please take the few minutes necessary to complete the form and store separately from the employee file.
• Labor Posters – You know those posters that are usually in the employee break areas stating the minimum wage, etc. Those are the posters I am referring to, they are a must and they are free! Yes you can buy the all-in-one posters or you can print from the Department Of Labor (DOL) site, the elaws will walk you through which posters you need depending on your business (click here to access). From here you can also access your State site for their poster requirements.

Here’s a brief breakdown of the Federal Laws by Employee size, all of these are explained in detail on the DOL site:

Up to 14 employees:

• Civil Rights Act
• Consumer Credit Protection Act
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act
• Equal Pay Act
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• National Labor Relations Act
• Occupation Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
• Uniformed Services Employment & Re-employment Rights Act (USERRA)

Up to 19 employees:

• All the above plus
• Title VII of Civil Rights Act
• American with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Up to 49 employees:

• All of the above plus
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• COBRA

50+ employees:

• All of the above plus
• FMLA

100+ employees:

• All of the above plus
• WARN
• EEO-1 report filed annually

If you are federal contractor – there are more and refer to the DOL website.

I realize this looks like one long list (and it is) however if you treat your employees fairly and don’t discriminate – you have little to worry about. There is no reason to not follow these laws.  If you don’t, it can and will result in large fines and penalties – is it worth it?

Contact Focus HR for an audit of your practices and compliance at [email protected]. Focus your time and attention on growing your business, let us check for the legalities.