Compliance Fireworks!

Do the challenges of employment law compliance sometimes have fireworks going off in your head?

With the Independence Day weekend on the horizon, you might be thinking of backyard barbeques, parades and some time away from work. But all those bombs bursting in air may also remind you of how things can sometimes blow up when it comes to compliance issues.

In honor of the Fourth of July, here are four things that can make you see stars (without the stripes).

Labor Law Poster Problems

Not displaying labor law posters is downright unpatriotic.

For compliance teams with locations across the U.S., managing all the postings can be as challenging as fending off redcoats. Are you sure your posters are up to date? When a new employment law passes, does it require you to display a new posting? Even if the poster shipped correctly, did your location manager get it up on the wall in a conspicuous area?

In all, more than 1,776 postings are required in some form or another. Trying to keep track of them can feel like your liberty to tackle other projects is being taken away.

Minimum Wage on the March

The tide of new and updating minimum wage laws continues to grow like taxes on the colonies.

Maintaining spreadsheets, tracking specific rates for different industries, figuring out tip credits, determining exempt salary thresholds, checking those midyear and Jan. 1 updates, plus odd times of the year for states like Connecticut… it has become more difficult to manage minimum wage over the past several years. And that’s not even including the past several months, with delays to rate increases due to the COVID-19 pandemic or unemployment figures in a jurisdiction.

Every new minimum wage law may seem like a firecracker unexpectedly going off.

Paid Leave Struggles

Does puzzling out the details of paid leave laws sound like less than a picnic? You’re not alone.

From paid sick leave to paid family and medical leave and even paid leave for any reason, the process of applying these laws is as complex as John Hancock’s signature. As with labor law posters and minimum wage, the compliance concerns that come with managing paid leave are vast:

• Accrual rates
• Waiting periods before use
• Calculating benefit rates
• Recordkeeping requirements
• Covered reasons for use
• Maximum usage
• Carryover requirements
• Frontloading
• Eligible family members

Maintaining compliance with paid leave laws might leave you hankering for a Sam Adams.

Honoring Hiring Laws

Uncle Sam isn’t the only one who has laws that regulate hiring processes for employers.

Ban the box laws — which prohibit employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal history until a certain point — are one area that has grown in recent years, but there are others. In states where recreational marijuana is legal, for example, pre-employment drug screening laws may apply. Plus, Colorado has passed a law that requires employers to put the pay range on job postings.

Of course, there are also the federal hiring practices that must be followed, including language about race, sexual orientation, gender, age and more.

Maintaining compliance with the various hiring laws across the U.S. takes more than a minute, man.

Conclusion

However you’re celebrating this Fourth of July, hopefully it gives you a reprieve from some of the compliance issues that inevitably crop up.

No more Independence Day puns. Happy Fourth of July!

This Employment Law News blog is intended for market awareness only, it is not to be used for legal advice or counsel.