(Published July 1, 2008)
I told you a few weeks ago about a new client of mine — a small company without an HR department that was inadvertently violating a number of labor laws. We've made some progress in getting things settled, but we've still got a ways to go.
The first problem I worked on was a quick and simple fix. He didn't have any of the required labor law posters up. Since they are available free on the Internet, I printed them up and hung them in the main office where all the employees will be able to see them.
Next up, record-keeping difficulties. I'm quite sure that everyone is being paid the right number of hours and at the right rate, and overtime is not an issue since everyone is part-time. But if the Department of Labor (DOL) ever decided to audit everyone's time records, I'm sure they wouldn't be happy. The owner of the company isn't convinced that he has to keep accurate records because "everyone is part-time" and "the state's not going to be interested in a small outfit like us." I'm sure you all know how tough it is to make changes when you don't have management support!
One thing I haven't even started to address yet is I-9s. I know he has them on some employees because I've seen them, but let's just say I haven't seen one for every employee. That's a low-level concern for me, though. While I think the owner is correct that we're probably below the radar for most agencies unless there's a complaint, I think it's more likely that we'd come to the attention of our state DOL than we are the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. While it's certainly something I want to address, I'm more concerned about getting the payroll records straight. Our state has some very confusing, industry-specific rules about Sunday and holiday work; so confusing, in fact, that neither I nor the employment attorney I consulted is completely certain if we fall under them or not. So to be on the safe side, just in case some disgruntled employee thinks he's been paid incorrectly, that's the issue I want to handle first. The I-9s can wait.
The last issue I'm working on currently is the fact that the owner does not give his employees pay stubs, which are required by law in our state. The payroll service he uses will allow employees to log in and print off their own stubs, but to date he keeps "forgetting" to set that up, despite numerous reminders. This is not due to any unwillingness on his part, just a lack of understanding as to the importance of the issue.
So you can see that I still have my work cut out for me. Isn't it fun when management doesn't understand the law?
Catherine Bannon is an HR consultant in Marshfield, MA (catherine.bannon@gmail.com). Bannon worked for 10 years in HR management before starting her consulting practice.
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