Archive
How To Hire Employees: More Challenging Than You May Think
A recent article titled “A Good Worker Is Hard to Find” in the WSJ sheds light on a challenging situation facing many of our customers: hiring a qualified person.
Many small businesses are exploring hiring new employees as the double dip recession concerns begin to fade. They have specific needs to fill that they typically don’t have in-house nor do they have the access to training for a current employee. With an unemployment rate hovering around 9%, shouldn’t it be easy to find employees? This is a common misconception.
Some small businesses are increasing their starting pay in an effort to find qualified employees. Even this is not working as they continue to be unable to find the right fit for their organization.
Many of our customers come to us because of our expertise in developing hiring, screening, and retention programs that are unique to their culture and industry. We partner with them to find a talent pool to hire from by exploring several avenues outside of your typical hiring paths. In many cases, because of the training program we help develop with our customers, they are able to hire the person they want and train them to perform the function the way they want it done.
Our next posts will cover what potential employers are looking for in a new company (hint: pay is #6 globally), and identifying key personnel to train and develop. Please do not hesitate to email us at info@ewspros.com.
What is Workplace Violence? What Steps Can We Take To Minimize the Risk?
A recent periodical shared that workplace violence is now the number 4 leading cause for fatalities at the work place. Unfortunately, this ranking is moving in the wrong direction. Many employers do not know that Cal Osha addresses workplace violence with specific regulations.
OSHA defines workplace violence as follows: violent acts, including physical assaults and threats of assaults, directed towards persons at work or on duty.
Another definition is: “Assaults, other violent acts or threats which occur in or are related to the workplace and entail a substantial risk of physical or emotional harm to individuals”
Why do we care?
►Every year, 1 out of 4 employees are harassed, threatened, or attacked
►Some 2 million American workers are victims of workplace violence each year
►Worker-on-worker fatalities account for approximately 7% of all workplace violence homicides.
►Each workday, an estimated 16,400 threats are made and 723 workers are attacked and harassed
►More than 1,000 American workers are victims of homicide at work each year
While the probability of your employee being attacked or killed on the job is nominal, it is still extremely important to prepare them in case it should occur. OSHA requires that your company develop, implement, and train your employees on workplace violence. At a minimum, your training should cover:
- How to identify potentially violent behavior
- Know the indicators of problem behavior
- How to respond to violent behavior, specifically how to diffuse the situation
- What NOT to do in a potentially violent situation
- The reporting process for any perceived or actual violent behavior
- Employee’s responsibility for handling violent situations
Please do not hesitate to email any question to safety@ewspros.com.
Talent Management: Are You Prepared If Your Company Loses a Key Employee?
Recent articles in several business magazines share that one of the most pressing challenges in today’s workplace is finding skilled talent. This is further exacerbated when one considers that once the talent is found, that person must learn the company’s culture. This can take a substantial amount of time which goes against your businesses’ need of speed and flexibility. This situation has an even more profound impact on small businesses which often rely on one person to handle important functions, thereby creating a ‘bottle neck’ effect and increasing business interruption risk.
The need to find the right talent can be driven by two primary factors: the loss of someone who had the skills due to injury, retirement, or a competitor and the inability to find and train the skills in house.
We recently had a customer who lost a key employee to a workplace injury. This employee’s primary responsibility was planning and forecasting. Without this employee the company basically came to a stand still. This could not have happened at a worse time as the company just signed a large contract with a global vendor.
They initially contacted us to help with their safety programs as a result of the injury, and in working with them, we were able to develop human resource programs to cross train their employees to handle the shortage and minimize the possibility of this happening in the future.
How can you prevent or minimize this business interruption? By reviewing your safety and human resources programs. By preventing injuries to your workforce, your company drastically reduces the risk of losing key personnel and eliminates the need to replace key talent. Human Resources programs help identify cross training opportunities and assists in the development of the training programs, creating a back up in the event something happens to the primary person. Remember, the ‘back up’ has to have a ‘back up’ as well to support the functions they were performing prior to the initial loss.
At Enhanced Workforce Solutions, we have extensive experience helping businesses develop their safety and human resource programs and have helped many small companies through the challenging task of developing back-ups to prevent business interruption.
Recent Events Emphasizing the Importance of a Multi-Employer Worksite Program
In a recent post we shared discussed multi-employer worksites. A recent article in the Cal-Osha Reporter (Appeals Court Affirms Harris Decision, September 23, 2011) underscores the importance of a well developed, customized program. To paraphrase, the California Court of Appeal recently upheld a lower courts ruling regarding citations given to multiple companies for the same event. The primary basis for the ruling was Cal Osha’s findings of the actual work practices on site regardless of the fact that safety responsibilities were outlined in a contract.
This ruling is quite significant, especially to those who still believe that contract provisions will protect them from both citations and liability. This quite simply is not the case. If your company works in multi-employer work environments we strongly encourage you to develop a program that addresses the information contained in our previous post. As always, please do not hesitate to email any questions to info@ewspros.com.
Employee or Independent Contractor? Are You Confident…..
The Wall Street Journal’s recent article* regarding work classification is an example of the recent increase in enforcement by regulatory agencies. The article highlights an announcement by the IRS introducing their Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program. Simply put, the program allows employers who have or may have misclassified employees to correct the inaccuracy without immense fines. Employers would only be subject to 10% of the tax liability for the past year without interest or penalties.
The fact that the IRS is taking steps to properly enforce worker classification shows that they realize the business landscape has changed. More companies are moving to a flexible workforce, which includes contract workers. Cal Osha is taking similar enforcement measures in enforcing their multi-employer worksite regulations.
Guidelines of classification are unclear, yet some tips are:
- How much behavioral control does the employer exercise over the contractor? An independent contractor is not subject to instruction by the hiring party;
- Is training involved? A independent contractor is free to perform services in their own manner;
- How is the independent contractor paid? Typically, the contractor is paid a flat fee for their services. A regular wage or salary indicates that they are employees;
- Is there a contract for services? In most cases, there is a contract in place for independent contractors that outlines the scope of work to be performed, a timeline, and a fee for services;
- Are benefits provided? If yes, they are most likely classified as employees.
Keep in mind that the list above is not exhaustive and is provided only to give you an idea of whether you should investigate the classification further. At EWS, we have a great deal of experience in working with our customers to properly classify their workforce and would be more than happy to assist you. We can be reached via email at info@ewspros.com. Comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome.
*article title: “Price of Reclassifying Workers. Small Businesses Face Double-Edged Sword in Deciding to Put Contractors on Payroll”
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