HEADS UP! NEWS.

HANDBOOK TRAINING

A correction to our public seminar on Handbooks. It will be on Friday, March 14th (not 13th). The topic is Why You Don’t Want to Write Your Own Handbook.  It will address how HR policies can potentially sink or save you, and how you can avoid drowning. To enroll visit our website www.hrxpess.net.

SUING YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN

The Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of an employee suing his employer for not following his instructions as to where he wanted his 401(k) money invested. This is significant in that the high court reversed previous lower court rulings favoring the employer. It is time to review your fiduciary duties, processes, policies and procedures to make sure that you do not open up your retirement plan to this type of suit. Contact your retirement plan broker for advice and assistance.

YOU’VE BEEN ASKING

We’ve had a lot of inquiries about our next public seminar on sexual harassment prevention. We typically do two per year, so we will be scheduling our next one in late June or early July. Watch for our announcement.

ON THE LEGISLATIVE FRONT

In addition to the regulations regarding leave for military personnel and their families, there are dozens of bills that have been introduced in the California legislature that affect employers. One such bill proposes to require employers to offer one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours of work. Another proposes to allow employers with less than 25 employees to establish alternative work schedules without the current election requirements. It should be an interesting year if such bills become law.

HR TECH TRENDS

According to SHRM’s 2008 HR Trend Book, companies have been taking (or are planning to take) these important steps in response to advances in technology. You can compare your own plans and collaborate with your IT professionals.

• Writing strong technology use policies and updating them as technology advances, for example, dealing with cell phone cameras in the workplace, instant messaging, laptops, Blackberries, remote logins, blogging, etc.
• Implementing more employee privacy practices to protect against identity theft; not just restricting unnecessary use of social security numbers, but also investing in better systems to prevent cyber attacks.
• Teaching employees safe password maintenance and management to reduce security risk.
• Using more web-based systems to deliver HR information and applications.
• Looking at biometric solutions, fingerprint ID for example.

FREE FORMS ON OUR WEBSITE

If you receive official looking notices trying to sell you government forms, for example, I-9’s, W-4’s and the like, look at our website before you pay. What you need may either be there or we may be able to send it to you for free.

PLEASE VISIT OUR ONLINE HR STORE

Check out our HR products!  We’ve added some exciting and useful new items for you and your organizations!

SBHRA AWARD WINNER!

New Parent Kit

Our most popular item yet! It includes instructions for employees taking PDL and/or family leave. And each comes with a useful bag with baby care product samples from Similac (while supplies last). The PDL kits are available in both English and Spanish, and for companies with 50 or more employees or less than 50 employees. Click the picture to take a look.

Please note that the information in this newsletter as well as the documents posted are intended to convey general information and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice. In fact, we urge you to call your employment attorney when you have legal questions.