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Tuesday, February 28th, 2006.

Tips for Assessing Legal Compliance

By the HRAD4Y Staff

An organization is challenged to keep up, much less comply with all of the labor laws and regulations. The United States is the most litigious society in the world so it is imperative to stay on top of legal issues. Organizations should use the following checklist to assess their level of compliance:

1. Do you adhere to the Family Medical Leave Act?

2. Do you have a termination policy to protect you from wrongful termination suits?

3. Do you have a sexual harassment policy and are your employees aware of it?

4. Do you have an employee interview and selection process that keeps you safe from discrimination suits?

5. Do you do effective reviews with your employees at least quarterly?

6. Have you reviewed your employee files in the last year?

7. Do you receive regular updates on new government regulations?

8. Do you know if your bonus plan is considered discretionary or non-discretionary and why it is important to distinguish between the two?

9. Is your employee handbook current and up to date?

10. Do you know what questions are legal to ask during a job interview?

The following are several training opportunities for basic legal compliance:

Preventing Workplace Harassment and Discrimination:

Organizations are obligated to provide periodic employee training on harassment and discrimination issues. It is suggested to offer regular material e.g. new hire and annual training which offers a question-driven methodology that makes the learning experience very effective for employees who received previous training on "Preventing Workplace Harassment and Discrimination".

The Legal Aspects of Interviewing:

Did you know that it is illegal to ask an interviewee about marriage, family plans, or even what year they graduated from high school? Interviewers sometimes ask inappropriate questions in job interviews, questions that could come back to haunt your company and expose the organization to legal liability. It is important to provide proper training to all members of your interviewing team in the following areas:

• Discriminatory Interviewing: Relying on stereotypes and biases.

• Unintentionally offending or discriminating against a Job applicant.

• Special issues regarding a candidate's age, national origin and disability.

• Making verbal promises during an interview.

The Americans Disabilities Act (ADA):

Almost 25% of all discrimination complaints filed in the United States are based on disability status. Are you prepared to accommodate the needs of disabled? It is critical that managers and supervisors in your organization understand the law's intentions and the steps needed to follow ensuring compliance. The following topics should be included in the training:

• The definition of disability

• Which disabled employees are protected by the ADA?

• Reasonable accommodation

• Associations supporting disabled individuals

• Substance abuse

• Hostile work environment

• Medical exams

Supervisor's Guide to Privacy in the Workplace:

Do you know whether you have the right to read employees' email? What about listening to their voice mail? Can you drug test employees? What are the rules surrounding employer-employee privacy in the workplace? The area of legal liability is growing and companies urgently need to take protective measures to educate management. Knowing and understanding the laws that pertain to "Privacy in the Workplace," provides supervisors and managers with the tools to be able to uphold the laws and keep the business protected from possible lawsuits. It is necessary to train all managers on the following subjects: Medical records, lie detector tests, searches, video surveillance, e-mail communication, drug testing, off-duty conduct, back-ground checks.

Termination/Separation:

Every day thousands of employees leave their jobs for a variety of reasons. Regardless of whether an employee resigns voluntarily or are fired, you must comply with the legal requirements to avoid costly legal liability. It is important to train and addresses the common pitfalls of terminating employees and provide the relevant information to assist managers. Training programs should include the following areas: Planning and documenting, termination, last day of work, post termination Issues, such as requests for personnel records and references, layoffs and reductions in force.

There are so many laws and obligations for all organizations that affect your business therefore it is recommended to have in-house counsel or consider utilizing an outside consultant.