Articles

Your inbox has been flooded with e-mail alerts spelling out doom and gloom for employers. ADAAA, FMLA, Lily Ledbetter, COBRA, EFCA. Likely, your mind is swimming with all of this information. You may be thinking that you were having a hard enough time keeping track of the all that employers are required to do under the law. Now, the government wants to give you even more to think (and worry) about.

Buy a brown paper bag. Place it in your top desk drawer. As you read headlines about new laws that will create more work and legal liability for employers, open the drawer, take out the paper bag, and breathe into the bag. Once you have your hyperventilation under control, move on to the next step.

Review what you already know. Illegal Harassment is still just that - illegal. Firing someone because of their religion is not O.K. The Department of Labor will come visit you if you do not pay your employees minimum wage and require them to work 80 hours a week without overtime. Not having an employee handbook is a bad idea. Having a handbook but failing to follow the policies in that handbook is even worse. Firing an employee who in on leave to have knee surgery will likely lead to a lawsuit. These are the basics, and the basics have not changed.

After your review, hopefully you realize you still have a good grasp on how you should treat your employees and stay on the right side of the law. Perhaps, you realize that in the last few years, you have become a little dusty on the way you have been enforcing your policies. It's not too late. Now is the perfect time for some spring cleaning. If you have not had your handbook reviewed in the last three years, pull it out, dust it off, and read it. Determine whether your policies and procedures need to be updated. Likewise, take a look at your employee classifications. Do you have any employees whose duties have changed now making them exempt or non-exempt? When is the last time you reviewed your anti-harassment policy with your employees? If it has been a while, consider having a harassment refresher for your employees. Has your organization increased in size? If so, laws that did not apply to you in the past may apply now.

Your policies and practices are squeaky clean and ready to take you into the future. Now, you are ready to face the challenge of preparing your organization for the employment law changes that have come your way in the first three months of 2009. You will also be prepared for the changes that will surely continue to come. Stay tuned for practical advice that will help you navigate your way through your obligations under these new laws.