Hagel and Company Human Resources Blog - California, Idaho, Washington State HR News

Small to midsized businesses are often caught in the conundrum of “to-do or not-to-do” when it comes to including testing as part of the employment process. Cognitive, physical, personality, aptitude, and language proficiency testing are often used by employers in hiring, promotion or other employment decisions. But these tests can be expensive and must be qualified to avoid discrimination.

Employment testing has been on the rise since 9/11, as security concerns as well as concerns about workplace violence, employee safety and corporate liability have increased. Another motivating factor for testing is the move to an on-line job application process. Employers are using testing to screen large numbers of applicants while reducing questions about subjectivity in decision making. Employers are continually trying to do more with less, resulting in the development of hiring and promotion practices designed to find the best and the brightest.

Legislation such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 (and the recent amended ADAA), and the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 prohibit the use of discriminatory employment tests and selection procedures. At issue is disparate treatment and disparate impact. Disparate treatment is intentionally discriminating against someone based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin. The effect of excluding people based on these criteria is referred to as disparate impact. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cites the following examples to help clarify understanding of these issues:

• If an employer requires that all applicants pass a physical agility test, does the test disproportionately screen out women? Employers are required to perform, record, and maintain statistical analyses on test results to determine if a test or selection process has a disparate impact on a protected group.
• If there is a disparate impact, can the employer show that the selection procedure is job-related and consistent with business necessity? For example a clothing manufacturer could prove that it is necessary to have a female model for women’s bathing suit advertisements.

Employers’ best practices for testing and selection include:

1. Administer tests and procedures without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age or disability.
2. Ensure that tests are properly validated for the positions or purpose being used by the employer. The test must be job-related and specific to the employer’s use.
3. Perform statistical analysis on test results regularly and if there is a disparate impact, determine if there is an equally effective alternative solution and implement it.
4. Educate management on testing tools, their use, and expected compliance with EEOC guidelines. Avoid qualification of the testing or results by persons unfamiliar with the procedures and importance of qualified results.

Keep cognizant of changes in these rules and procedures. In a recent Chicago case, Lewis v. City of Chicago (U.S. 5-10, the employer was found to be in violation of Title VII from testing information in employees files dated 1995. The issue revolved around timely filing of a suit. Testing was performed in 1995, the scores were used in 1996 to make employment decisions, and the “qualified” folks who weren’t hired sued in 1997. The rules require that a charge be made to the EEOC within 300 days of the LATEST discriminatory act. The City of Chicago claimed that they acted in 1995 when they assigned classifications to those tested. The plaintiffs claimed the act occurred in 1996 when the employment decisions were actually made. The court agreed with the plaintiffs. Translated, this means that test scores sitting in an applicant or employee file can form the basis for a ‘new’ discrimination complaint when used as a basis for an employment decision including hiring or promoting.

If testing is being used, regularly review your tools, to determine if they may put you at risk for a separate impact claim, before you use the results in making employment decisions.

For more information, visit these sources:

www.eeoc.gov

http://www.siop.org/workplace/employment%20testing/employment_testing_toc.aspx

During the summer it reminds us that, for most employees, the highlight of the year comes when they are able to take their vacation. However, recent studies show that more Americans are working throughout the year without taking a break. This is attributed to being overwhelmed with job responsibilities and not wanting to have to catch up after being away. But health experts say that it is important for people to take time off for physical, mental and psychological reasons.

Providing an easy, automated workflow system that allows employees to easily schedule time off may help take away some of the anxiety of leaving work responsibilities. Sage Abra’s Employee Self Service software (Abra ESS) makes it easy for employees, managers and administrators to manage time-off requests. Employees can access their personal data anytime via the internet or an intranet to create, edit or delete time-off requests while also managing time-off balances, attendance plans and absence transactions. Managers and supervisors can then approve the requests without viewing other sensitive employee information.

Abra ESS protects sensitive employee data using password protection, SQL server database security, and an encrypted Sage Abra HRMS database. Abra ESS supports 128-bit SSL encryption to protect data transmitted over the Internet. Users may also tailor the Abra ESS system through customization tools while creating a central portal for employees to access important company information.

The automated process and online accessibility also eliminates the frustration of waiting on people, memos or other types of paper trail. So, employees should take their time off as it helps their overall well being and thus their contribution to the company. Employees who are able to use their allotted vacation time will also be more satisfied because they are able to receive their full benefits. And, satisfied employees create a happier and more productive environment in the workplace which is something everyone wants.

Contact us today for more information about Employee Self Service Software

Beginning in 2011, over the counter drugs and other medical-related items such as bandages will no longer be qualified expenses under flexible spending accounts (FSA) or health savings accounts (HSA), unless you have a prescription from a physician. Additionally, a $2,500 cap on employee contributions to an FSA begins in 2013. What does this mean to your company benefits plan?

EMPLOYERS:

Until 2013, companies are under no restrictions on the limit of contributions to FSAs. Now may be a good time to look at amending FSA plans to come in line with the proposed changes. Sara Taylor, a strategy consultant with Hewitt Associates predicts, “we may see additional movement toward health savings accounts (HSAs)” in the wake of the limit on FSA contributions¹.

By offering HSAs for medical savings, combined with FSAs limited to vision and or dental services, employees can still take advantage of the tax savings benefit despite health care reform. This type of option would allow employees to contribute over $5500 in pretax dollars for allowable health-related expenses, although still subject to the use-it or lose-it rule.

If employers opt for higher deductible healthcare plans, employees may see the tax relief from using an FSA or HSA as a way to ease the discomfort when paying those higher deductibles.

EMPLOYEES:

Seventy-five percent of all FSA accounts have been used to pay for prescription drugs and medical treatments, so the new rule about prescriptions should only affect a fraction of medical savings purchases. But, if employees do make mistakes and purchase the wrong items with FSA funds, they will have to pay the income tax on that money. For employees with HSAs, the penalty for nonqualified distributions increases from 10% to 20% in 2011. That’s on top of paying the income tax on such distributions.

According to Hewitt Associates’ April 2010 analysis, only 20% of US employees contributed to an FSA in 2010 either because they weren’t offered by their employer or because of the “use it” or “lose it” rule requiring them to forfeit unspent contributions. However, the same report noted that those who did participate typically saved between $250 and $640 in annual federal taxes. As a result, predictions are that the changes in FSAs won’t significantly impact most employees. However, the new rules will impact workers’ ability to pay for vision, dental and chronic care conditions if costs exceed the $2,500 cap. Amending plans to help ease the tax burden may be just the nudge needed to get employees participating in these plans.

As with all changes, communication will be a key factor in reducing confusion and helping employees prepare for the full impact of the legislation. Offering similar plans together can be confusing for workers so an effective education program will help them navigate through their options. If they qualify, employees whose tax bill will be higher as a result of the new healthcare legislation, are likely to find that cycling money through these limited FSAs and HSAs could be a wise investment

Ok, it isn’t exactly a news flash that the global economy has slowed to a crawl. You know the story… companies laying off workers and watching sales decline. The question is, what can you do to improve your bottom line when revenue is drying up? Well, you cut costs, streamline operations, and do more with less. So let’s talk about technology that will answer the question “which tasks can be automated to free up some time and cut my operational costs?”

Every Minute Matters

Today, every minute of every person’s workday matters – and now is the time to take a critical look at the tasks that each person performs and ask yourself “Could that task be automated?” If, for example, you have staff that are manually generating and sending invoices, creating POs for vendors, or tracking down late deliveries, an investment in Sage KnowledgeSync can save you tons of time by automating these tasks.

Put it on Auto-Pilot with Sage KnowledgeSync

Sage KnowledgeSync is a “monitor & response” system that watches for changing conditions within your business and automatically executes the appropriate response. On the “monitor” side of the equation, it leverages familiar alert technology. You know, anytime inventory is running low, a new order comes in, or a shipment is late, someone in your company gets a real-time alert to their email, cell phone, fax machine, or PDA.

But when it comes to the “response,” Sage KnowledgeSync really excels. After all, it may not be good enough to simply receive an alert because you still have to stop what you’re doing to take care of the situation … unless you have Sage KnowledgeSync. It works hand in hand with your <> so once an alert condition is triggered, it can be configured to automatically generate and fax a purchase order, run a report and email the results to you, send a reminder of an overdue invoice to your customer, and just about any other action you’d normally perform manually.

If You’re Curious, Give it a Try

KnowledgeSync comes preconfigured to monitor hundreds of common business conditions, and gives you the ability to specify an unlimited number of additional “trigger points.” So it’s easy to get your feet wet and have it up and running quickly.

You can get started with Sage KnowledgeSync with a FREE trial. And if you decide that you like it, just flip the switch and go live. Contact us at info@hagel.net if you’d like more information about a free trial.

Job losses are slowing. Corporate earnings have been rising. Signs of real economic recovery are finally beginning to show. But what about hiring? If out-of-work employees can’t return to the workforce, they can’t return to their normal patterns of consumption. Hence, any economic recovery is hampered by high unemployment.

Many industries have experienced heavy layoffs

Although layoffs have slowed in most industries, we still have not seen much recovery in hiring. A recent survey of over 2,300 HR professionals found that many industries have endured extremely deep staffing cuts¹:

Percent of Companies who have Reduced Staff by 10-50%
Manufacturing – 54%
Construction – 49%
Services – 37%
High Tech – 37%
Finance -26%

Only 42% of HR professionals felt their company was experiencing a significant, or even mild, recovery compared to other companies in the recession. Is that enough to stimulate hiring decisions?

How Chief Financial Officers view the recovery

When asked to predict near term business conditions, CFOs believe that corporate earnings will rise sharply in 2010 – up as much as 12 to 14 percent. They also plan to increase capital spending by 9%, indicating that for now at least, we could see a robust recovery in business spending². But the outlook of CFOs is still decidedly cautious; they believe full-time employment in the U.S. will only increase by 0.2%, with a 0.5% improvement in temporary hiring. Further, U.S. CFOs believe that employment will not return to pre-recession levels in their organizations until 2012 or later.

Signs of hiring

Nevertheless, workers today are starting to find some opportunities in the job market. According to the SHRM survey, 62% of HR professionals surveyed were starting to hire at least some full time positions. Most hiring is taking place in a few key industries, including: the federal government, healthcare, high tech, and finance.

The good news for corporate recruiters? With high unemployment levels, HR professionals in every industry report that it is easy to find qualified candidates. If your firm is in a position to hire this year, you may have a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a team of highly qualified overachievers!

The Internal Revenue Service has released a new form (Form W-11) that helps employers claim the payroll tax exemption enacted by the HIRE Act, signed into law on March 18, 2010.

Get Form W-11

Remember that to claim the payroll tax exemption, you must hire and retain new workers that meet specific requirements.

Read Q&A from the IRS about the HIRE Act

On April 15, 2010, Congress approved yet another short-term extension of unemployment benefits and extended the COBRA health insurance premium subsidy program for Americans who are out of work. The subsidy has now been extended through May 31, 2010.

Get the latest information about requirements from the Department of Labor.

A few years ago, the launch of the .jobs internet domain introduced an exciting new tool for online recruitment. .jobs is designed to provide a single location for businesses to promote employment opportunities and job openings within the company. The URL follows a format that’s similar to your company’s main web page. For example if your home page was www.xyzcompany.com, your .jobs domain would be www.xyzcompany.jobs.

Why Would You Want a .Jobs Domain?

A .jobs domain provides a dedicated web page for online recruiting efforts. Companies often spend a lot of money on ads promoting job openings only to send applicants to their main web page. From there, the applicant must sift through multiple web pages in an effort to find the “Careers” or “Job Openings” section … an effort that can prove challenging if your website is large or contains a lot of content. A .jobs domain provides jobseekers with the exact location of job openings and career opportunities within your organization. That means they’ll find the jobs faster and you’ll fill open positions more quickly.

More Visible to Search Engines Too!

A .jobs website can help you generate interest from candidates using search engines, like Google, to find employment opportunities. While your home page is often highly visible to search engines, your careers page may be buried deep in your website and difficult for search engines to find. On the other hand, a .jobs domain allows your career-related content to be “seen” as a home page and your job openings become much more visible.
For more information about recruiting and launching a .jobs website contact Hagel & Company at info@hagel.net or call 866-248-7755 x305.

Hagel & Company is offering a wide array of training and consulting in the upcoming months.  Please take a second to check them out and see which format is best for you.  If you would also like personal training, either over the phone or at your location, please let us know and we will be happy to serve you.

Training Classes

Webinars

When the economy slows, businesses tighten their belt and look for ways to cut costs and get more work accomplished with fewer resources. That’s why more companies today are challenging their human resource (HR) departments to make more strategic contributions to the organization. While HR is traditionally viewed as a cost center saddled with time-consuming and paper-intensive administrative tasks, it’s a necessary burden in order to comply with governmental regulations that require specialized reporting. The question is this … how can you streamline your HR processes to minimize that burden and transform HR into a model of efficiency with meaningful impact on the bottom line? For some, the answer is automated HR software. Let’s take a closer look.

Technology Maximizes Limited Resources

Most small and midsized businesses have limited staff to manage the many aspects of human resources. In fact, HR staff typically spends far more time performing routine administrative tasks than strategic objectives. But the simple fact is once those routine administrative tasks are automated, it has a profoundly positive impact on both the HR department and company overall. And that’s where Sage Abra HRMS comes in.

Sounds Interesting, But What Does It Do?

First things first … HRMS stands for Human Resource Management System. In the same way that ERP software automates your accounting and operations, Sage Abra HRMS automates all aspects of managing your workforce including Employee Benefits, Time and Attendance, Training, Recruitment, Compensation Management, Compliance, and more. You get hundreds of standard reports, customizable templates, automated workflow, and a full range of features that will reduce the cost of compliance, eliminate redundant data entry and paperwork, automate repetitive processes, and have your HR Department running like a well-oiled machine.

Consolidate And Digitize

Many companies rely on a combination of paper, spreadsheets, and file cabinets to manage employee information which means that hiring data, payroll records, and benefit plan elections are probably stored in multiple places. Each employee change needs to be replicated across a variety of files … a record-keeping nightmare. But with Sage Abra HRMS, all of your employee data is digitized and consolidated into a single database. This results in fewer errors and potential fines, elimination of duplicate data entry, and more timely reports and analysis.

Contact us to learn how Sage Abra HRMS can have a positive impact on your bottom line.