Compliance is a critical aspect of any successful business and HR is one of the key players. Every organisation must abide by employment laws to avoid penalties such as fines. A company needs policies to help govern its HR practices.
These HR policies outline how employers should handle their employees. They also provide best practices for employees. Some HR policies and procedures might be required by law while others might be specific to a particular enterprise.
HR compliance ensures that companies meet the legal requirements of fair employment practices. With a human resources checklist, you can make certain that your organisation is ready for an audit. However, staying compliant is only possible if you comprehend what it entails.
What is Human Resources Compliance?
Businesses must adhere to various rules and regulations that govern employment relationships. HR compliance is a company’s commitment to ensuring that these standards are followed. HR is responsible to ensure the business meets its legal obligations.
The human resources department is responsible for tracking compliance to prevent costly fines, loss of reputation, lawsuits and other penalties. For this reason, HR professionals must be aware of the different laws by which a business should abide. Also, create an employee personnel file to keep information in one place.
What is statutory compliance in HR?
You might have come across the term statutory compliance and wondered what it meant for businesses. Statutory compliance is a company’s legal requirement to be compliant. If a new employment regulation passes, then it becomes a statutory obligation. Hence, failing to meet this obligation is a criminal offence.
Regulatory compliance relates to the rules that a regulatory body establishes. For instance, the FCA issues regulations for financial institutions. Failure to satisfy regulatory compliance can result in criminal charges.
Contractual compliance is the obligation between an employer and an employee. It could be established in an employment contract or any other agreement. A contract is legally binding and, so failure to abide by it opens you up to criminal charges.
The Value of a Compliance Checklist
Regardless of how many employees you are responsible for, ensure that all policies abide by the required laws. For that, you should draft a checklist of all the areas that need compliance.
One area to check on is benefits compliance. A company has to provide certain compensation and benefits to workers. These include, health insurance, retirement plan and paid leave. Compliance should consider the specific laws that apply to your company.
An organisation needs to ensure that it meets hiring, recruitment and onboarding standards. The hiring process should be in accordance with the relevant laws. Employment applications must be appropriate and avoid discrimination of any kind.
Employee pay should factor in labour laws. Workers payments must be based on their specific duties and capabilities. HR professionals have to ensure that a company respects established pay practices like overtime compensation.
Importance of Tracking Compliance Requirements and Deadlines
Why should a company invest in compliance monitoring? Employment laws evolve, meaning that businesses have to stay up to date with the latest regulations if they are to remain compliant.
Tracking compliance deadlines allows you to implement policies and procedures in good time to avoid penalties. Compliance failure can ruin a company’s reputation. It’s hard to recruit talent when your organisation has a poor history of protecting its workers.
An HR compliance checklist is an essential tool for any business that wants to meet its statutory, regulatory and contractual obligations. It makes it easy to satisfy compliant laws. Compliance checklists also facilitate communication across the entire company, thus making it less complicated to implement policies and procedures.
British HR Compliance Legal Requirements
British / UK businesses, for example, have three main laws. These are the health and safety policy for a business with more than five employees, grievance policy, and disciplinary process and grievance policy. Equal opportunities is not a legal requirement but should be considered
- Health & safety
- Equality and diversity
- Grievance
Of course, there are others that set standards for different industries. Employment laws are always changing, which can complicate compliance. Therefore, using a compliance checklist simplifies the process.
HR Compliance Checklist UK
Health & Safety
Health & safety main aim is to keep people safe and healthy in the workplace and every business must have a policy.
Required if five employees.
Prepare a health and safety policy
Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
Equality and Diversity
Ensure fair treatment and prevention of discrimination of protected characteristics such as:
- Sex
- Age
- Ethnicity & Race
- Disability
- Gender
- Reassignment
- Religion and religious beliefs
- Sexual orientation
- Pregnancy
- Marriage or civil partnerships
Equality: Ensuring everybody has an equal opportunity not treated differently or discriminated against because of their characteristics.
Diversity: Embracing differences between people and different groups of people and focusing on dignity and respect.
Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Grievance
Employment Rights Act 1996 detail any procedure that applies to disciplinary decisions and the process involved in dealing with any grievances.
Disciplinary: Acas Code of Practice
Other HR Policies
Personal Data: Managing and processing personal data in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
Equal Opportunities: Support Equality Act 2010
Equal Pay: Monitoring workforce wages to make sure all staff are treated fairly, cutting out any gender bias.
Company Ethics: Code of values to create an environment of trust and transparency.
Disciplinary: Policy outlining a commitment to fair disciplinary hearings and clear explanation.
HR Compliance USA
Human Resources Compliance requires covering all levels of compliance from local, state, and federal levels for your business compliance-related tasks.
HR Checklists enable you to create a list of tasks needed to be done, how they need to be completed and by when. Tracking tasks to ensure they are on schedule and all requirements have been completed
Compliance Assistance Toolkits
HR Compliance USA
Compliance Posters
Hang posters in common areas and clearly visible to everyone.
Department of Labor’s mandatory posters
Recordkeeping
Recordkeeping under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Display a poster
Minimum Wage
FLSA Fair Labor Standards Act
Wage and Hour Division Website
ERISA: Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
W-4: Employee’s Withholding Certificate
ACA Affordable Care Act
Employment Eligibility Verification
I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification: Citizens and noncitizens
Equal Employment Opportunity
EEOC: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Does EEOC affect your business?
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
ADEA Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967