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Earlier this month, the House of Representatives held a hearing on a bill that would make offering paid sick leave mandatory for employers.

If passed, the Healthy Families Act (HFA) would require any company with 15 or more employees to offer full-time workers seven paid sick days a year. Part-time employees would get a prorated amount based on how much they work.

Like the FMLA, the HFA would let employees take time to care for themselves or a family member. The leave would be legally protected — meaning employees could sue if they feel they’ve been retaliated against for using it.

The HFA is less strict than the FMLA, however. “Family member” includes any blood relative and anyone whose relationship with the employee is “the equivalent of a family relationship.” Any physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition could result in a protected absence.

What about current paid leave policies?

The bill says employers won’t need to change anything if they already give employees sick leave that’s at least equivalent to what’s required by HFA. But employers would be prohibited from eliminating leave they already offer in an attempt to offset the mandatory sick days.

That means companies won’t be able to reduce vacation time to offset the costs of additional sick time. And some experts interpet the provision to mean companies offering a general PTO bank would need to add seven sick days in addition to what’s already available.

What to expect

Attorney Mike Aitken, speaking at a recent Society for Human Resources Management conference in Washington, D.C., said he expects Congress to take a vote on the bill this spring.

The HFA was introduced in the Senate a few years ago and failed to move. But that was before President Obama — a vocal supporter of the bill — and an increased Congressional Democrat majority arrived in Washington.

So far, no states have made sick leave mandatory — measures have failed in California, Ohio, New Jersey and Washington. Three cities — San Francisco, Milwaukee and Washington, D.C. — have passed mandatory sick leave laws.

Workforce Solutions, Inc. keeps all of our clients up to date on the latest HR Law changes and ensures that our clients are in compliance. Stay tuned for more information on this subject

An Employee Handbook is one of the essential services that Workforce Solutions provides to our clients. Beyond the legal basics of an employee handbook, we make sure to implement the best practices to avoid employee relations problems and as a defense in or to litigation. This aspect of the employee handbook may be more art than science, and there are varying schools of thought about the best way to use the handbook as a defensive tool. In any event, our clients benefit from an up-to-date handbook that protects both Workforce Solutions, Inc. and our clients from employment litigation.

Our Employee Handbooks are broken down into three basic sections. The first section of an employee handbook should discuss general considerations, the second section discusses the unique issues to the Workforce Solutions, Inc. and Client relationship, and the final section addresses specific policies and provisions common to most handbooks.

Here are some  points to remember when creating your Employee Handbook:

• Make it Readable and Understandable
• Keep it Current
• Contract Disclaimer Language
• At-Will Statement
• Open Door Policy
• EEO Policy
• Disability Accommodation Policy
• Harassment Policy
• FMLA and Other Leave Policies
• Introductory Period
• Vacation Pay
• Drug Testing
• Smoking
• Attendance
• Pay Schedule, Deductions, and Errors in Pay
• Electronic Device Policies
• Intellectual Property
• Computer Access and Monitoring Policies
• Non-Fraternization Policy
• Conflicts of Interest
• Workplace Violence Policy
• Standards of Conduct
• Discipline and Discharge

Proof that an employee received the handbook often is critical when legal disputes arise. A handbook acknowledgment form should include language that the employee received the handbook, read it or will read it, and agrees to comply with the policies set fort in it. The acknowledgment should also include that at-will statement and reminder that the handbook is not an employment contract. A new handbook acknowledgment form should be signed any time the handbook is reissued in whole or in part.

As a client of Workforce Solutions, Inc. we are happy to review and or make changes to your employee handbook at anytime. Please contact your Client Services Representative for help with review of your Employee Handbook.

The benefits of aligning your company with a PEO, or professional employer organization like Workforce Solutions, Inc. are many, and allow a business owner or CEO to focus on their core competencies to save time, increase profitability, control cost and reduce risk. Having a PEO, though initially seeming like a dispensable cost, is actually something that most business would be remiss to do without.
The biggest benefit to employers who choose to use a Professional Employer Organization company is the fact that they may not have to staff and maintain several departments in their company. By working together with a PEO, client companies will not have to worry about having a human resources department who takes care of scheduling, benefits, and employee complaints. They also will need a much smaller accounting department, if they even need one at all. This is because they do not have a payroll department to deal with in their accounting department. Other accounting tasks, such as taxes, bookkeeping, can often quite easily be outsourced at a much more affordable rate.

“Workforce Solutions enables companies to cost-effectively outsource the management of human resources, employee benefits, payroll, and workers’ compensation. Using the best web based Human Resource Information System, Workforce Solutions helps clients focus on their core competencies to save time, increase profitability, control cost, and reduce risk”