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FROM THE PRESiDENT
With summer in full swing, many employees
have already taken, or are planning to take time off from work for some
well-earned rest and relaxation. However, recent studies indicate that an
increasing number of vacationing employees now spend that time working.
More and more employees are checking and responding to emails, dialing into
the company network, responding to voice mail messages and participating in
conference calls while on vacation.
Although this might present a temporary
advantage to the employer because an employee's planned vacation has less
of an immediate impact - the long term effects of burnout can prove costly
to the company and the employee.
You can encourage and support your
employees to use their days off for their intended purpose, rejuvenation
and recharging, ultimately creating a more productive employee.
Follow these easy steps to minimize the
strain on your company during an employee's absence due to vacation and to
encourage your vacationing employees to enjoy their time off:
- To arrange proper coverage, encourage employees to plan their
vacations well in advance.
- Designate a back-up person to troubleshoot any questions or
issues during an employee's absence.
- Have the vacationing employee contact key customers in
advance to let them know of their vacation and to inform them of whom
they should contact in their absence.
- Have the vacationing employee forward their voice mail, email
and cell phone to a qualified back-up employee. Alternately, provide a
detailed message of whom in the organization
to contact if immediate assistance is needed.
- Meet with the employee and the back-up employee before the
vacation to have a quick "vacation exit meeting" to identify
all pending or critical issues. Have the same meeting upon the
employee's return, to create a seamless transition back to work and to
initiate necessary follow-up.
Let your employee know that work will go
on while they're gone and the only job they have
for the next 7 days is to relax, enjoy and HAVE A GREAT VACATION!
Wage and Hour
Compliance
A recent survey of over 400 companies by
Business and Legal Reports showed that one in five had been the subject of
a Wage & Hour audit by the U.S. Department of Labor. The compliance
activity is clearly on the uptake. More importantly, the targets of the
audits are not all Fortune 500 companies; there are small and midsize employers
on the list.
Non-compliance is expensive regardless of
whether it is deliberate or out of ignorance. It is not uncommon for
employers to say "I just hired a new employee
and I am paying him on a salary basis so I don't have to worry about
overtime." This may or may not be true. It is not
what you call an employee that makes a difference, nor is it what
the job description mandates. It is what the employee actually does that will drive whether the employee is exempt or
non-exempt and therefore entitled to overtime. The cost of non-compliance
can be high. Simply going through the audit is a huge business distraction
and therefore a real cost.
If you have any
concerns about whether someone is properly classified please contact Jena
Weigel at 443.321.7708.
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Greetings!
Welcome
to the July 2005 edition of DiRECTIONS. In this issue, Tim discusses the
importance of taking a "true" vacation and suggests ways to
manage your company while employees are out. We also invite you to take
our free survey about holidays and time off.
Next,
we talk about wage and hour audits, and the penalties for non-compliance.
Then, we introduce one of our employees, Patty Turner, Benefits
Specialist. Finally, we congratulate both Jena Weigel and Alison Lalla
for earning certifications in their respective professions.
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Meet HRi
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 HRi welcomes
Patty Turner, Benefits Specialist, to our team. Patty comes to us with
over 13 years of Human Resources Management experience, with a focus in
benefits administration. In her previous job, Patty acted as head of
the HR department for a mid-sized manufacturing company. Please join us
in welcoming Patty to HRi!
In my spare time I: Read, bike and spend time on the water-we also
enjoy dining out
If I could change one thing in
my life: I would live
closer to work!
My greatest accomplishments: Raising a bright and beautiful daughter
My favorite restaurant: I have several but the one we frequent the most
would be The Narrows at Kent
Narrows Bridge
My favorite hobby: Reading
My dream vacation: I have a few- I've
always wanted to visit Monte
Carlo and pretend I'm rich and famous. I also
want to go to the South Pacific
Advice to live by: Treat others as you would like to be treated
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Congratulations
Jena
and Alison
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 HRi
congratulates Jena Weigel, Client Relations Manager (right) and Alison
Lalla, Client Services Specialist (left), for earning certifications in
their respective fields!
Jena Weigel achieved certification as
a Professional in Human Resources (PHR). The Human Resource
Certification Institute (HRCI), awards the PHR. HRCI is the
credentialing body for human resource professionals and is affiliated with the Society for Human Resource
Management (SHRM), the world's largest organization dedicated
exclusively to the human resource profession. The Institute's purpose
is to promote the establishment of professional standards and to
recognize professionals who meet those standards.
Alison Lalla is now a Certified
Payroll Professional (CPP). A payroll professional must be proficient
in all aspects of taxation, tax reporting, MIS, human resources
(including benefits), and accounting, as each of these relate to the
payroll environment. The American Payroll Association (APP) offers the
CPP Examination to recognize those who have achieved this level of
professional proficiency.
Please join us in congratulating Jena and Alison!
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