Compliance in the workplace seems like a simple concept, but it can be challenging to maintain—especially if your company is large or spread across state lines.
HR professionals everywhere work diligently to keep their employees compliant through policies, guidelines, procedures, memos, handbooks–you name it. These efforts often go unnoticed because of outdated practices and differing state laws and regulations.
Finding a way to intertwine compliance best practices into your everyday workspace is essential to the success of any business or company. Not only will this make HR professionals’ jobs easier, but also it will help employees stay on track. Implementing a Compliance Essentials program to prioritize compliance in the workplace is a great way to start. Providing personalized support for each client allows this program to adapt to and function well for any business or company.
A compliance program should be tailored to bridge the gap between clients and compliance. It should give HR professionals the tools and resources they need to do their job efficiently and effectively. Anna Pajor, EPAY’s senior compliance adviser, says a Compliance Essentials program is different from other HR solutions.
“We personalize everything and formulate procedures specific to our clients,” Pajor said. “Our clients work with HR advisers like me and they take time to really get to know the business.”
Customizing a plan specific to your company or business is a great way to foster compliance in your HR practices. EPAY client DTK Facility Services struggled with a lack of direction and were functioning inefficiently before they started to look for a way to prioritize compliance in their workspace.
When DTK found Compliance Essentials, a program that focused on building and maintaining compliance, it was able to follow a suggested plan crafted by HR professionals that targeted all the issues the company was facing. A living online employee handbook was created that meets labor law standards in all four states that they operated in and is easily updatable, which helped DTK track all 1,500 employees located across four states and 500 worksites.
A compliant job interview process was also developed, along with Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)-compliant job descriptions and a new onboarding process. Multistate payroll compliance was covered, which includes wages, sick-time pay, vacation pay and accrued paid time off (PTO). This was an upgrade for DTK, as their previous system was slow, inefficient and did not interface with its other systems. All of these newly implemented practices dramatically improved DTK’s compliance processes.
A compliance-focused program should be a flexible resource, made to work for any client and match their needs. This is not a replacement for HR, but a tool for HR. Anna Pajor details this common concern from fellow HR professionals. “This is not the case at all,” Pajor said. “This is designed as an added resource that HR professionals can use to help them do their job better.”
Compliance is essential to the function of any business. But it isn’t always easy to come by. Implementing compliance best practices is a surefire way to set yourself and your employees up for success.
