Dear HR, Will an Employment Contract keep my employees from jumping ship? Two long time employees have announced they are leaving to go work for a new competitor in the local area after paying out a considerable amount of money for additional industry related training for said employees. Although I can’t match benefits and the higher wages the competitor is offering, can I require employees to sign a contract with my company? I’d ideally like […]
Employees are an often overlooked investment, one which requires regular maintenance to keep them in “good working order.” Competitive pay and benefits is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to keeping your employees engaged and satisfied in their jobs. How do you maintain your investment? Consider creating an employee retention program. Studies show that employers benefit from strong employee retention programs. An effective employee retention program saves you time and money by […]
Dear HR, Have you heard of a W-2 contract-to-hire person? It was mentioned that to better protect ourselves, even though we have at-will employment and our health insurance policy will have a 90 day wait period, that we should hire all new employees as W-2 contractors and that at the end of 90 days review for conversion to employee hire. I’m confused…please help! Answer: We have heard this term offered by our clients over […]
Dear HR, At one of our sites two employees went into the restroom, and were in there for an extended period of time. When they came out, the supervisor went in and noticed a strong smell of marijuana. This incident happened at public restroom, so its impossible to say if there was anyone else in the restrooms of the times of the employees. Are we within our rights to drug test the two employee’s in […]
What about employee’s that work for family? ‘Employee’ does not include – an individual employed by that individual’s parent, spouse or child. What if the ‘Employer’ fluctuates between less than 10 and more than 10 throughout the year? They have a minimum look back period of 20 weeks. There are special provisions for new employers who may not have been in business for 20 weeks. Connect them with HR for more clarification. Can […]
The IRS announced beginning January 1, 2016 that the business standard mileage rate will be 54 cents per mile. This rate is down from the 2015 rate of 57.5 cents-per-mile. Contact Cardinal Services to let us know what mileage rate you’d like to offer your employees in 2016 so we can be sure to make the change effective for travel on or after January 1st. Note: The standard mileage rate for operating a passenger car […]
Dear HR, We have interested applicants do an approximate 2 hour working interview to confirm if we would like to hire them. Decided not to hire a recent interviewee – Is working interview pay mandatory? Answer: All applicants must be compensated at least minimum wage for ‘working interviews’ whether they are hired or not. BOLI: “The law has defined ’employed’ to be anytime an employee is ‘suffered or permitted to work.’ Work time is […]
Dear HR, Our company has an annual Christmas party during the holiday season. One of our employees does not celebrate the holidays so in an attempt to accommodate and since it is really more of a year-end employee thank you dinner we were thinking of renamed as such. Is there an issue with calling it a Christmas party? Answer: It’s great that you have decided to reward your employees with a year-end employee thank you […]
With 2016 quickly approaching, now is a good time to put together your policy in response to the new Oregon sick leave law which goes into effect on January 1, 2016. Certainly do not wait until the holidays then scramble to put a plan in place between Christmas and New Year’s Eve!
Dear HR, An employee has had a death in their family, however rather than the employee communicating directly – their spouse has informed us that we need to give said employee time off work and pick up work property at their home in order to relieve the employee of “on call” duties. Although we accommodated the request – we have had previous conversations with the spouse about inserting themselves into employee’s work business and that […]
