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RISKY BUSINESS

Written by: Tina Hamilton

Article Overview: Human Resources is its own quagmire of risk. Compliance, employee relations, interviewing, and on and on. There are certain basic rules in the world of hiring and managing employees where risk-taking is not advisable. You can’t afford to not do background checks. You can’t afford to not have employees sign release forms, you can’t risk classifying your employees incorrectly, or guessing about the proper way to implement a disciplinary policy.

RISKY BUSINESS

Human Resources is its own quagmire of risk. Compliance, employee relations, interviewing, and on and on. There are certain basic rules in the world of hiring and managing employees where risk-taking is not advisable. You can’t afford to not do background checks. You can’t afford to not have employees sign release forms, you can’t risk classifying your employees incorrectly, or guessing about the proper way to implement a disciplinary policy.

Here are more, just to name a few, of the other biggies that can cut into your bottom line in the form of legal fees, if you don’t fully appreciate the risk of not understanding, not implementing or not documenting things correctly.

Understanding what you can (and absolutely can not) ask during an interview
ADA compliant Job Descriptions
SOX compliance
HIPPA compliance
Internet Usage Policies
Poorly administered Worker’s Comp or FMLA Programs
USERRA compliance
Lack of a Progressive Discipline Policy
Wrongful termination cases
Unnecessary Unemployment Comp fees

Business is risky. You have to have the stomach for it. You won’t ever be free of risk, but if you take the necessary steps to ensure that basic HR requirements are taken care of properly – which often means knowing when to pick up the phone and call for help – you may be able to crunch fewer antacids over the course of your day.

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Article Tags: ada compliant, antacids, background checks, biggies, bottom line, disciplinary policy, discipline policy, employee relations, human resources, internet usage policies, interviewing, job descriptions, necessary steps, progressive discipline, quagmire, risk taking, sox compliance, stomach, unemployment comp, wrongful termination



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