Any business owner should know all of the pertinent employment laws and regulations governing industry at all times. State, local, and federal laws regulate things such as workplace safety, procedures for accidents, overtime rules, and more. If you want to avoid fines and potential lawsuits, you need to make sure you are aware of all of the regulations for your specific industry. You also need to make sure you follow some best practices to keep your employees safe and acknowledge their rights.
Here are six tips to help your company be in compliance when it comes to your employees.
1. Have a Strong Training Program.
First, you need to bring new employees into the company the right way. That starts with an effective and comprehensive training program. Anytime you hire a new employee, you can get them started on the road to success by training them the correct way about procedures and routines. It’s also smart to routinely retrain existing employees every so often.
2. Make a Plan.
You should also have a strong plan that addresses employment issues and workplace safety. Identify hazards around your facility and make a plan that helps keep employees safe from accidents or problems. Be clear about employee pay, taxes, and sick or vacation days. Learn about how to address issues with hours, overtime, and employee conflicts. Having a solid plan set in place ahead of time can help your management team avoid issues in the future.
3. Maintain Accurate Records.
Smart business owners also maintain accurate employment records in the human resources department. Have records detailing all hiring dates, tax forms, training progress, and more for every employee. You should also have a strong history of documentation for health and safety issues impacting your business. Make sure your company follows the proper procedures regarding OSHA standards to ensure your employees can avoid safety problems or accidents in your building.
4. Display the Proper Documentation and Posters.
You also need to make sure you have the right HR posters displayed in a highly visible spot for all employees to see. HR compliance posters should present information to employees about essential topics in employment. You’ll need to have posters informing employees about their rights in the workplace, job safety issues, family and medical leave information, equal employment opportunity, and more. Displaying these posters is not an option; it’s a requirement that most businesses need to follow. Companies that have teleworkers need to have electronic versions of the posters with the same information.
5. Encourage Communication.
Next, encourage open communication between employees and leaders throughout your organization. You can do this by instilling an open door policy with all of your managers and ensure all leadership candidates have strong communication skills. Focus on creating company policies that allow all employees to feel comfortable sharing information with upper management. Honesty is another strong part of excellent communication between employees and the company’s management team. When there is a problem, you want to make sure your workers feel comfortable talking about it.
6. Stress Safety Above All.
Most of all, make sure your business follows the best practices when it comes to workplace safety. All businesses have some element of risk to workers, and it’s important for your team to identify all risks and put safety practices into place. Proper training all of employees can help your team know what to do if an accident happens. Injuries may happen, and a good safety plan addresses what to do when something bad does happen. This way, a serious injury can be dealt with safely.
Your business has a responsibility to its employees and its shareholders to follow these recommendations every single day. Being a responsible owner means you have a plan and that you are aware of what regulations are required in your local area.
