Employment laws are complicated. They cover everything from compensation and leaves of absence to whether and when behaviors are considered “protected concerted activity.”
November is HR Awareness Month. This year, take a moment to complete an HR Compliance check-up for your practice to ensure you and your team are protected.
The fact that federal, state, and local regulations often differ just adds to the complexity of managing your dental, optometry, or veterinary practice.
The trouble is that many owners and managers of healthcare businesses don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to human resources. Seemingly minor issues can be easily overlooked in the hustle and bustle of a busy practice until they suddenly become major catastrophes with serious legal and financial ramifications.
You can avoid expensive, time-consuming HR problems with a few proactive steps. As you tell your patients when it comes to their health, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The same holds when it comes to HR compliance.
November is National HR Compliance Awareness Month. This year, take a moment to complete an HR Compliance check-up for your practice to ensure you and your team are protected.
Call us every Wednesday in November between the hours of 7am and 1pm PT with your burning HR questions. We’re here to help.
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What is HR Compliance?
HR compliance can be defined simply: it is the policies and procedures your practice puts in place and follows to ensure you meet all regulation requirements that apply to your employment relationship with your team members.
There are six critical steps to take when conducting your HR compliance check-up:
1. Collect and maintain signed copies of all documents required by federal and state law for each of your employees. Note that there is an average of 12 documents per team member depending on the state in which you operate.
2. Publish an employee handbook that outlines the policies and procedures of your dental, optometry, or veterinary practice. This should be reviewed and updated annually.
3. Prioritize accurate tracking of hours worked and ensure all team members are compensated correctly for their time. Believe it or not, there is a 90% chance your time clock leaves you open to a wage and hour claim.
4. Create, update, and track documents related to performance management. Examples include job descriptions, performance reviews, and similar.
5. Assign and validate completion of legally-mandated training, such as prevention of sexual harassment training, HIPAA training, and similar.
6. Identify resources you can rely on for guidance in sensitive human resources matters. In many cases, you can reduce risk by securing the expertise of an experienced HR professional.
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Recommended Resource: Get a free, industry- and state-specific employee handbook.
Why is HR Compliance Important?
HR compliance is all about protecting your practice by making sure you are legally compliant with federal, state, and local regulations that govern your employer/employee relationships. We live in an era where it is easy to make a mistake in this area. You and/or your team members may do something – or not do something – that is required by law, and you and/or your team members may take actions that can be classified as misconduct under the law.
A human resources management software like HR for Health, mitigates the risk of finding yourself on the wrong side of the law, reducing the likelihood that you will face the fines, penalties, and negative publicity that come with a time-consuming legal issue.
In addition, HR for Health or a similar software, can support you in managing your team more efficiently and effectively than ever before, which frees up your attention so you can focus on providing exceptional care to your optometry, veterinary, or dental patients.
Recommended Reading
The Six Best HR Software Platforms for Healthcare Practices
Why Can’t I Handle HR Compliance on My Own?
Staying in compliance with employment laws can be a full-time job. Regulatory requirements are always in flux, and it is common for laws and how they are interpreted to change frequently. That’s a lot to take on when you and your office manager are already busy running your practice. Having a member of your team dedicated to HR compliance tasks takes valuable time away from their other responsibilities, and something will likely be missed. HR for Health can take these tasks off of your plate.
Why is November National HR Awareness Month?
November has been designated as National HR Awareness Month, because many regulatory changes go into effect with the start of a new year. By December, everyone is busy with the holidays, and you have patients squeezing in last-minute appointments. Our team of HR experts has found that November is the best time to do your compliance check-up, make any necessary updates to your policies, procedures, and documentation, and ensure you have a system in place to stay compliant through any changes the new year brings to your practice.
How HR for Health Can Help
Fortunately, you don’t have to manage human resources, updating your employee handbook, or new-hire documents manually – or on your own. New technology handles all of the logistics for you. To learn more about the tools and resources available for managing HR compliance and ever-changing laws, schedule a demo with HR for Health.
HR for Health is an all-in-one HR software solution dedicated to helping the dental, optometry, and healthcare industries. Our human resources platform features all the tools practice owners need to manage payroll, timekeeping, 401(k), and more with total integration and ease.
Whether you’re looking for HR support for a small business or you’re a large group dental practice, HR for Health has the solution to fit your practice and budget. Reach out to a HR for Health account representative to learn more, today.
