On May 19, 2015 Connecticut passed a new employment law which prohibits employers from:

1. Requesting or requiring that an employees or applicants provide employers with a user name and/or password, or any other authentication for accessing personal online accounts.
2. Requesting or requiring that an employee or applicant to log in or access a personal online account in the employers presence.
3. Require that an employee or applicant invite or accept an invitation from the employer to join a group associated with any personal online account.
4. Discharging, disciplining, discriminating or retaliating against or other penalizing an employee who refuses to provide the employer with access to a personal online account.
5. Failing or refusing to hire an applicant as a result of a refusal to provide the employer with access to the online account.

This law does not extend to situations in which an employer requests or requires access to an account or service provided by the employer for business purposes. In addition, employers may investigate to ensure legal compliance and penalize an employee who has transferred an employer’s proprietary, confidential, or financial information to or from a personal online accounts or other misuse of employer data.

Connecticut’s Paid Sick Leave Act requires certain employers with 50 or more employees in Connecticut to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave per year to service workers. The statute defines service worker as an hourly, nonexempt employee engaged in an occupation with one of the “broad or detailed occupation code numbers and titles” listed under Connecticut General Statutes. Service Workers accrue a minimum of one hours of paid sick leave for each 40 hours worked. Service Workers may accrue a maximum of 40 hours of paid sick leave per year and employees may carry over paid sick leave into the next calendar year, but they may only use 40 hours of their accrued time per year.

The recently revised statute includes provisions and clarifications in regards to: determining whether or not an employer is exempt from providing sick leave, changes to the time-frame for accruing paid sick leave, and additional service worker classifications covered by the Act.

Effective January 1, 2015 Employers must determine whether or not they meet the 50-employee threshold based solely on the number of employees on its payroll for the week containing October 1. If an Employer has 50 or more employees employed as of October 1 then they will be responsible for administering paid sick leave.

The amendment also includes provisions to the timeframe for accruing paid sick leave. Employees will accrue one hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked during whatever 365-day year the employer uses to calculate employee benefits. This allows employers to start the benefit year on any date, rather than only on January 1.

The amendment also extends the paid sick leave benefits to radiologic technologists by adding them to the list of “service workers.” The amendments to this statute are intended to provide relief as well as clarification to employers and well as employees.

Smart phones have allowed us to be accessible just about any time. One activity that has been negatively affected by this is driving a vehicle and being distracted by texts, e-mails as well as phone calls. Taking your eyes off the road for even one (1) second could result in serious injury and sometimes death, for yourself and/or others.

When driving behind a car that is swerving from lane to lane, what is your first thought? Mine is “great, I’m behind a drunk driver” and your start to think about your safety as well as the individual swerving and others in the area. Do you notify the police? Do you stay back or try to pass them? Often times, I am grateful that I haven’t called the police because as I pass the swerving driver, I see that they are not drunk ~ they are distracted! Texting maybe, checking email, etc. Either way they are looking at the phone, and not the road and what’s ahead!

As an employer, do you have employees who are on-the-road and spend a lot of time communicating while traveling from one location to another? Do you provide a company vehicle that has hands-free driving abilities or a blue tooth for the cell phone?

Beginning July 1^st motorist in New Hampshire will have to abide to the new Hands Free Law signed by Governor Maggie Hassan last July.

This law will ban the use of hand held electronic devices that are capable of providing voice or data communication while driving or while drivers are stopped temporarily, such as at a set of lights, stop signed or other momentary delays.

So what does this mean for employers?

Some Recommendations:

• Look at your existing policies regarding business travel as well as operating company vehicles to ensure that you have clearly defined how your company will support this new law.
• Employee accountability for failing to follow the law. Employees should be given a clear understanding of what is expected and what is not.
• Who is responsible for any violations that occur? (this one is a scary one, depending on the incident)
• Is the company vehicle “electronically integrated” with Bluetooth? If not how will your employees be able to answer your call when you need them? Employees should have the necessary equipment to keep them safe on the road when you to reach them by phone.
• Keep your employees safe! Provide any necessary training that they may need on the appropriate use of cell phones, navigation devices and other electronic devices.

If you are having any problems understanding how this law will affect your existing policies or need help with the development of new policies, feel free to contact HR Synergy. We will be more than happy to assist you with any of your HR solutions.

“I told him NO OVERTIME!”

What happens when an employee works from home or after hours when they have been explicitly told by their manager they cannot work overtime hours without management approval and should they chose to work anyway they will not be paid?

This tactic may sound reasonable to some employers however there are a couple of things to consider in this situation.

Is the employee paid hourly or on a salary basis?

• If the individual is hourly, regardless of whether or not the manager gave permission to work from home or conduct work after hours, the employee must be paid for time worked. Hopefully, the employee will not exceed 40 hours in the work week otherwise they will need to be paid 1 ½ times their hourly rate for each hour they have worked over 40.
• If the individual is salaried exempt overtime pay should not be a concern since salaried exempt employees are not paid by the number of hours they work.

A performance Issue?

• An employee who blatantly disregards their manager’s direction or company policies may be considered insubordinate.
• Insubordination by any employee should be addressed to clarify the employee’s responsibility and accountability for failing to “follow the rules”. Addressing the situation immediately reduces the opportunity for the event to reoccur and the risk of other employees taking advantage as well.

Receiving management approval for overtime is a common practice among many employers.  I recommend to all of my clients that having a policy in their handbooks that clearly defines the procedures for gaining approval from management prior to working any overtime and to be sure that the policy also states the employee’s accountability for not following policy.

A recent attention grabbing issue for employers is the use of e-cigarettes in the workplace. For those of you who are not aware, electronic cigarettes are battery powered vaporizers that appear similar to regular cigarettes and contain amounts of nicotine that produce similar effects on the body that cigarette tobacco inhalation provides. While e-cigarettes may not produce the smoke that cigarettes do, it does produce an aerosol type spray that appears similar to smoke. This aerosol also known as vapor is now available in different flavors or perhaps fragrances.

Under federal law, e-cigarettes are not considered a drug or a medical device and only some states prohibit the use of these products in some public places, but many workplace policies do not address the newly increasing use of e-cigarettes. While most employers have policies in place that address the issue of smoking tobacco or related products in the workplace, these policies do not extend to the use of e-cigarettes as e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco.

While it is not fully clear as to what health implications may be associated with the use of e-cigarettes or the vapor that is expelled, the fragrance enhanced vapor has been known to be bothersome to some individuals who are sensitive to fragrant smells or that have respiratory concerns. Like the use of electronic devices, social media or other actives that may distract an employee from doing their job, employers are placing restrictions of the use of e-cigarettes in the workplace.

In the absence of legal restrictions on the issue, some employers may consider broadening and updating current workplace policies to include the prohibited use of e-cigarettes in the workplace as the issue seems to be driving more controversy.

Written by:
Haley Deeb, Human Resource Intern for HR Synergy, LLC

Truths from a Recruiter…….

I interview a great number of candidates throughout the year.  Some of these candidates are in-transition and others are still employed.  I am always very interested when I get to sit across from a highly-qualified candidate who is employed and looking for a new position.  Why are they leaving?

Time-and-time again the number one reason that these employees are looking to leave is not about the money, it’s about ‘happiness’.  This has been the reoccurring mantra of the very skilled workforce, the six figure candidates.   They will entertain a position with a smaller company, with less benefits and less money so that they can wake up every morning, be excited about going to work and work on projects that challenge them.   They want to work for a company that appreciates them.  It’s that simple.

As business owners, we must put our employees first – they are our GREATEST assets!  Take a page out of Artie T. DeMoulas’ (Market Basket) playbook, treat your employees with dignity and show them how much you appreciate them.  Communicate effectively, recognize great achievements, listen and recognize their concerns.

If you do not, I will most certainly place them in a company that will!

Angela Roberge, Accurate Staffing, LLC Staffing/Recruiting Specialist for IT, Engineering and Manufacturing [email protected], accuratenh.com, 603-321-1596

Massachusetts recently implemented a change to the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act (MLA) which presently provides eight (8) weeks leave to female employees for the birth or adoption of a child.

Effective April 7, 2015 the MLA has expanded the law to include male employees. 

This is a major change for Massachusetts employers with 6 or more employees.  The new law states that any Massachusetts employee that meets the eligibility requirements of the MLA is entitled to up to 8 weeks parental leave and must be reinstated to the same or similar position held prior to the leave.  An employee must be full-time and employed for at least three (3) months.  The decision to provide paid or unpaid leave is a the discretion of the employer.  This change removes the possible sex discrimination claim of male employees being treated differently than female employees.

An employer reserves the right to allow an employee (male or female) take more than 8 weeks of leave however, doing so will require the employer to reinstate the employee to the same or equivalent position at the end of the leave unless the employer notifies the employee in writing, before the start of the leave that taking more than 8 weeks may or will result in denial of reinstatement as well as loss of their rights or other benefits.

Employee handbooks and policies should be updated to include these modifications to the Massachusetts MLA.

Recently, I read an article about how the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Department of Labor (DOL) have developed a referral system to join forces against employers.

How much do you know about labor law compliance?

This got me wondering about how aware employers, like you, are about how the various federal and state agencies interact with each other in regard to labor law compliance.

Consider this

Years ago, when the DOL audited an employer, the employer was not concerned about the IRS, OSHA, or even the NLRB. The employer’s only concern, at the time of that DOL audit, was meeting DOL compliance.

Single-focus audits are a thing of the past

There’s now an initiative to crack down on employers who are not compliant with the various rules of the different agencies. This has not only resulted in the various agencies hiring additional inspectors, but also in the various agencies developing partnerships with each other.

New concerns for employers

This heightens my concerns for employers who don’t have compliance experts  in-house to stay on top of all of the changes that can impact their business so drastically. It is quite realistic to have an end result ranging from the employer facing significant fines to possibly having to close their doors.

The need for employment regulation knowledge

Many times when I meet with new clients to develop an employee handbook, some of the employment regulations, that are second nature to me, are quite surprising to them.

An example of an area of focus in a DOL audit

I recently met with an employer who was not aware they needed to give their employees a rest period after so many hours and they needed to ensure the employees recorded their rest time on their time records. Are you aware of this requirement?

How are employers supposed to know all the rules related to having employees?

The focus that the DOL and other agencies put on “catching the bad employer” is not the right approach to me. I think it’s important to put the focus and initiatives on educating employers and helping them to avoid costly fines and penalties.

HR Synergy, LLC focuses on educating employers about the federal and state labor laws that apply to their specific business, size, industry, and location. We work with management to incorporate the tools they need within their business to be compliant and protect their company and their employees.

Contact us if you’d like to find out if your company is at risk. We’d be happy to have a conversation with you.

 

A common conversation I have with my clients is about how they communicate job and performance expectations to their employees.

During the recent recession, I learned that many employers put a hold on conducting employee performance evaluations due to the financial stability of their business and the economy. Evaluations weren’t performed because companies couldn’t afford to give raises. However, a recession is one of those critical times where communicating with employees is crucial to maintaining employee morale and retention.

It’s imperative for employees to know they are still bringing value to the organization.

The thought of telling an employee who is meeting or exceeding the expectations of their position, “Outstanding job, unfortunately we won’t be able to give you an increase in your pay this year,” has halted many businesses from conducting annual performance evaluations.

That’s when I open the discussion about realigning the performance appraisal process to remove the money discussion.

Being in HR for as long as I have, I understand that avoidance is often easy. As an HR professional, I believe that communication is a valuable tool in good times and in bad. Consistent communication with employees about what is expected of them and how they are meeting or not meeting those expectations does not necessarily need to be tied with a salary increase.

There are valuable benefits to a business and its culture by separating performance reviews from salary increases:

• Employees no longer assume that there is a guaranteed increase for performing their jobs
• Communication continues regardless of the financial stability of the organization
• Increases are based on the employees’ performance and the financial growth of the business

As the economy has improved for many business owners, I see their efforts to make their employees’ pay reflect their support and loyalty through the tough times, however, the communication about expectations and performance has not been revived.

HR Synergy can help you to develop employee performance communication tools that don’t have to stop just because there is no budget. Call today (603) 261-2402 or e-mail [email protected]!