Why HR

When do you need HR?  As soon as you hire an employee.  If your business, however, is like most businesses, you can’t afford to hire an HR person at the same time you hire your first employee.  If you could, you’d hire two employees to generate more revenue.  That doesn’t mean that you don’t need to begin to establish the HR function in your company.     Here are 6 things you can do until you can afford to hire The Grange 1.        Just a Little Study a.        Take an hour and read about the basic employment laws that pertain to companies with 15 or fewer employees.  Here’s what you need to find: The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Minimum wage laws in your state, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Just learn the basics so you know how to be compliant.  Some may not officially apply to you yet, but you want to be compliant anyway.    2.        Establish a clear Vision, Mission, Values.  a.        If you can’t verbalize or write why you’re in business you can’t share it with employees.  If you want employees to focus on your goals, they have to know what they are and how you want it done.  A vision, Mission, Values statement does just that.  3.        Focus on your vision. a.        Gear everything in your business towards your vision by achieving your mission.  Eliminate anything in your business that doesn’t fulfill your vision by achieving your current mission.  If it doesn’t fulfill your vision, you shouldn’t be doing it.  If you don’t have this focus, how do  you expect your employees to have that focus?  4.        Policies a.        Write down a series of rules your employees can rely on.  Things to include are what time to show up, when they get paid, what holidays they’ll get paid for, what happens when they work more than 40 hours a week, how much paid time off (if any) they receive and anything else that you feel are good sign posts that will guide them.  Don’t include performance metrics etc.  Details are a double edged sword.  Any policy you write down, you are legally obligated to follow.  5.        Compliance a.        Make sure you have a specific and reliable way of paying people, you know how to complete I9 forms, you issue the correct tax documents, and make sure you pay above minimum wage.  Be sure not to discriminate against anybody for any reason other than their performance.  Worry about benefits later.  If you can afford benefits, you can probably afford HR.  6.        Treat Everybody the Same a.        If you do something for one person, anybody else in that same situation needs to be treated the same.  Call The Grange when you need help.  That is doubly true when an employee makes a complaint to you about anything that you feel may relate to a legal issue (pay, discrimination, harassment, etc).    When you’re ready, we’re here for you.  Give us a call and we’ll get you the information in a way that is helpful and cost affective.  But do it right, do it now!