Benefits of Outsouring your HR Needs

One of the primary challenges facing business is knowing how to respond to the accelerating pace of change. Business can not afford to ignore change and just do whatever comes naturally for long.Many experts believe that the accelerating pace of change is behind the explosive growth of Human Resource Outsourcing. According to these experts, Employment Outsourcing is playing an increasingly important role in the economy as the workforce continues to be atomized into smaller, more creative and responsive companies. Success requires quicker reflexes, more flexibility and new business strategies. Professional employment is becoming pivotal for providing business owners with the flexibility and rapid response turnarounds needed in competitive marketplaces.

A Human Resource Outsourcing strategy simplifies everything by shifting specialized Employer responsibilities to outside professionals. Outsourcing employment related tasks frees up time and money which can be better used to increase sales, reduce waste and improve throughput in the core business operation.

The paperwork and legal responsibilities attached to employment are off-loaded to personnel specialists outside the organization, freeing owners, managers and supervisors to concentrate on running the business. Off-loading employment responsibilities to professionals frees up time and resources for operational management, increased productivity and competitiveness.

This innovative concept enables small and medium-sized businesses to obtain access to personnel expertise on a “shared resource” basis, lowering the overhead cost of in-house personnel, shortening response times and increasing flexibility.

Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace

Employers across the country are being bombarded with harassment and discrimination suits. For example, there are an average of 56 claims of sexual harassment filed with the EEOC every day and the average jury award in harassment cases is $250,000. Business owners are seeking to insure against such risk. However a mounting concern for employers facing employment discrimination and harassment cases is the cost of hiring attorneys to defend the cases. Defense of these cases can run into the tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is especially concerning to small business owners who don’t have the time or money to spend studying the nuances of employment law.

Employers are being sued by their employees for discrimination against or harassment by not only the employer but also by other employees. Employers are vicariously liable for the discrimination or harassment perpetrated by other employees. And in a sexual harassment case, it is not important whether or not a man doing the harassing thought what he was saying was offensive. It matters how the woman viewed it. If she is unreasonably oversensitive, there was no hostile environment. But if her feelings were reasonable, from the perspective of a woman in similar circumstances, there is a hostile environment and therefore harassment.

Unfortunately small business owners often are unaware of these legal pot holes until faced with a law suit. As employment law has changed, employers have turned to worker leasing through professional employment organizations (PEOs) to hedge against rising risks.

The bottom line is to never forget the Golden Rule of employment allegations:
It’s not about who wins or loses the fight. It’s about the COST of the fight!

Immigration Law

Many states have created or are creating new laws which impact businesses that hire illigal immigrants. Here’s an excerpt of what Arizona state rep. Russell Pearce had to say on the issue…

January 1, ends ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ illegal hiring practices, increases penalties for identity theft, mandates all Arizona employers use the free and successful federal Basic Pilot Program that checks social security numbers and visa information of new employees over the internet.

Myth: Sanctions against employers for employing unauthorized aliens is a federal and not a state issue. Fact: The federal law governing employer sanctions for knowingly employing unauthorized aliens specifically allows States to sanction this illegal activity through ‘licensing and similar laws.’

Myth: Employers don’t know what it means to ‘knowingly or intentionally employ an unauthorized alien’. Fact: The ‘knowingly’ standard is federal law passed in 1986 and explained in detail through federal regulation and court cases ever since. The ‘intentionally’ standard, which is the tougher standard for county attorneys to prove, is based on long-standing Arizona criminal code definition. If you comply with federal law, you won’t violate the intentionally or knowingly standard.

Bottom Line Professional Employment Organizations (PEOs) stay on top of ever-changing state and federal employment legislation so that their clients don’t have to.

Avoid Potential Litigation When Downsizing

An employment attorney recently said: “Employees are not seeking an opportunity for a career anymore but only an opportunity to sue.” While that’s probably the exception, any downsizing is best done with an eye on limiting exposure to perceived discrimination against any protected category. Because everyone has some type of protection, the best way is through analyzing critical skills needed to continue the business and seniority of the workforce.

Seniority has long been held to be the standard way to conduct a reduction. However, some businesses may have post practice or policies to follow on reductions that examine critical skills needed for the business. Intentionally discriminating through downsizing is called “disparate treatment,” and is disallowed. Laying off all older workers, for example, is not permissible. Unintentionally discriminating is called “disparate impact.” Clients should analyze the workforce by critical skills, age, minority status, and gender and compare this analysis to any planned reduction to determine if unintentional discrimination may be the result. Unintentional discrimination may be acceptable as long as it can be justified through documentation such as performance appraisals. If it cannot, another method of downsizing should be examined.

Bottom Line When downsizing remember the Boy Scout Moto…BE PREPARED!

Can you handle FMLA alone?

Employees may be eligible for unpaid time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act when their spouses, children or parents are seriously ill, but determining specifics of eligibility may cause headaches for many employers. Business owners and managers must pay careful attention to what employees say when discussing need for time off in connection with a family member’s illness. Of course, circumstances will vary, and you must strive to make appropriate leave decisions on a case-by-case basis. And because a number of states have enacted similar leave statutes with analogous, but nonetheless different, provisions to those of FMLA, you must consider them when assessing employee leave requests.

Bottom Line  Do you have time to keep up with the changes and nuances in laws like this or should you consider outsourcing to a professional employer?

Fun Fact: Best Paying Blue-Collar Jobs

 

Occupation	Average Earnings of Full-Time Workers
Drillers, oil well	$62,409.00
Supervisors, electricians and power transmission installers	$62,347.00
Locomotive operating	$59,517.00
Supervisors, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	$58,062.00
Railroad conductors and yardmasters	$57,672.00
Power plant operators	$56,545.00
Supervisors, extractive	$56,228.00
Supervisors, carpenters and related workers	$55,833.00
Aircraft engine mechanics	$55,539.00
Electrical power installers and repairers	$55,395.00

– G. Scott Thomas, bizjournals