HR News


New California Background Check Requirements Effective Oct. 1

If you employ in California, you will need to make changes to your background check process to comply with the new Fair Chance Act (FCA) regulations   CURRENT LAW – The California Fair Chance Act The original law went into effect in 2018. It prohibits employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal history until after a conditional offer of employment has been made to the applicant. If an employer contemplates not hiring an individual because […]


Creating an Onboarding Process for New Hires

Onboarding is a detailed process by which new hires are integrated into a company. Onboarding is not just about completing new-hire paperwork and training; it must also include learning about your organization’s operational structure, culture, mission, values, and vision for the future. Most valuable of all, a robust onboarding program will also include the opportunity for a new hire to be mentored by veteran employees.   “No-Cost” Onboarding Tips As appropriate, here are four key […]


Using Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace 

You may need an AI Policy for your employees!    Employers with knowledge workers should consider setting employer expectations around the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. A knowledge worker is anyone who has to think as part of their job and must produce some output—such as creating newsletters, content, reports, emails—anything that involves writing, composing information or presenting research.    Knowledge workers may be using AI on the sly without volunteering this […]


EMPLOYER ALERT:  LAWS ON ROUNDING PAYCHECK HOURS HAVE CHANGED! 

New state laws require employers to stop this practice.    Past Common Practice of Rounding Hours   For years, many employers have used the practice of time clock rounding employees’ work hours to the nearest five-minute, six-minute, or up to a 15-minute interval. This practice is lawful under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act [FLSA] as long as it is applied neutrally and in a fashion that does not tend to underpay employees. Generally, employers have […]


New I9 Requirements Effective July 31, 2023 

After three years of leniency, The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is ending its temporary COVID-19-related I-9 policies. US employers will no longer be exempt from in-person inspections of new hires’ identity and employment eligibility forms. The government will end the granted flexibility from 2020, effective July 31, 2023.    What this Means for Employers:    All I-9 Documents must be physically inspected in person regardless of employees’ status as remote, hybrid or in-person starting […]


2023 Update on National Caregiving Laws 

Excerpted from AARP Newsletter  Though the federal government does not require private employers to offer paid family leave — the Family and Medical Leave Act allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually—while some states have enacted legislation to create mandatory family leave insurance programs to provide money for caregivers and new parents.  Why it Matters [Statistics from Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and U.S. Census]  50 million people in the United States […]


Supporting Employees Who Are Caregivers 

WORKFORCE RETENTION  Amid the pandemic and the subsequent labor shortage, many employers realized how much personal responsibilities—like caregiving duties—can impact hiring and retaining workers.     THE CAREGIVER DEMOGRAPHIC  According to the Dept of Labor, as many as 1 in 5 full-time workers juggle both work and caregiving responsibilities for their children, their parents, or both.   A Pew Research Center survey found that nearly 23 million Americans work a full- or part-time job while also providing […]


Employee Retention Tax Credit

You may have received advertisements where an unknown company will get you up to $26,000 per employee. Just file with them and you will get free money from the government. Seems too good to be true? Well yes and no.   Yes, you can get up to $26,000 per employee in the form of a refundable tax credit but you should be wary about using an outside source. The Internal Revenue Service has issued a […]


The Impact of the “5 Great R’s” on the Labor Shortage 

Excerpted from The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce by Heather E. McGowan and Chris Shipley. Copyright © 2023 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved. This book is available wherever books and e-books are sold.    THE GREAT RESET   THE GREAT RESET is a convergence of employment trends that has been decades in the making—culminating in a changed relationship between employers and the workforce. The American workforce is no longer centered on where […]


CARES Act and Student Loans 

If you have employees with student loans, there is an often overlooked benefit included in the CARES Act. Employers can contribute up to $5250.00 per year toward an employee’s student loans and it will not count as taxable income to the employee. This is a great benefit in two ways; it stretches the impact of your employee benefit dollars, and it increases the amount of untaxed money paid toward student loans (standard repayment only allows […]