Don’t panic. You don’t need to know everything on your first day or even in your first year. HR professionals with decades of experience are still learning new things.
Feeling overwhelmed by the vast and constantly changing landscape of employment law? Worried about the risks to your organization? Don’t panic. You’re in the same boat as many others. You don’t need to know everything on your first day or even in your first year. HR professionals with decades of experience are still learning new things.
For beginners and seasoned professionals alike, the important thing is to know the general landscape and when and where to get more information if the need arises. For instance, you don’t need to understand every facet of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act before anyone has even asked for leave, but you should be aware of whether the law applies to your organization and where to find relevant information when an employee does have a need for leave.
Below we’ve summarized the HR topics that you should be aware of sooner rather than later. All of these are addressed in more detail on the platform. Click the links to learn more about each issue.
Accommodations
Accommodations adjust the work environment, employer policies, or job application process to enable people with disabilities or religious needs to perform the essential functions of their job, access employment benefits, or be considered for a job they’re qualified for. Common types of accommodations include modifying work schedules, altering the way job duties are done, reassigning a non-essential job duty (like stacking the monthly 98-pound paper delivery in the storage room), granting additional breaks, providing accessible parking, and offering materials in alternative formats (e.g., Braille, large print).
At-Will Employment
In all states except Montana, employment relationships are presumed to be at will. This means an employer may terminate an employee at any time, for any reason (except an illegal one), or for no reason at all, and an employee has the same freedom to end the employment relationship. But be aware: Even though you can terminate someone for any reason, it’s best to have a legitimate business justification and to document it. A terminated employee could always claim they were terminated for an illegal reason, and thorough documentation can help show that wasn’t the case.
Benefits
Employee benefits are a key part of total compensation, designed to support employees’ health, financial security, and overall well-being beyond their base pay. Common benefits include health coverage (medical, dental, and vision), retirement plans, paid time off, and insurance programs such as life and disability coverage. Many organizations also offer professional development opportunities and additional perks like wellness programs or employee discounts. HR professionals should understand not only what benefits are offered, but also how they help attract and retain talent and comply with regulations such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
Discrimination
Unlawful employment discrimination happens when you treat employees better or worse than others based on their inclusion in a protected class. Protected classes—also known as protected characteristics—come from several federal laws, though about half are from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. They include race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, disability, age (40 or older), genetic information, and military service. Refusing to hire or promote someone because they’re 56, pregnant, or were born in Mexico, for example, would be unlawful discrimination under federal law. Many states also have their own antidiscrimination laws that protect additional characteristics.
Employee Handbook
An employee handbook helps keep everyone on the same page about the company’s philosophy, employment practices, policies, benefits, and expected conduct. Having one isn’t required by law, but it’s a useful resource for both an organization and its people. Employers should provide ample time for employees to read the handbook and then collect an acknowledgment that they’ve read and understood it.
Employment Law Compliance
HR compliance is the work of ensuring that your employment practices conform to federal, state, and local laws. This work requires learning which laws apply to your organization and understanding what they require you to do. New laws are passed every year, especially at the state level, and you’ll need to stay apprised of these changes and update your policies and practices accordingly.
Form I-9
The Form I-9 is a federal form that all employers must complete with new employees within their first three days of employment. This form confirms both the identity of the employee and their eligibility to work in the United States.
Leaves and Time Off
When an employee requests time away from work, you may have a legal obligation to provide it. Both federal and state laws require leave or time off for certain reasons or under certain circumstances, and more than one leave law may apply at a time. While there’s no federal paid time off requirement, many states and localities do require certain leaves to be paid. How this patchwork of leave laws interact with one another can be complex and sometimes requires research.
Performance Management
Performance management is the work of setting consistent performance expectations, goals, and metrics across an organization so that leaders know what good and bad performance looks like, how poor performance should be addressed, and how good performance should be reinforced and rewarded. Leaving performance evaluations and corrections entirely to individual managers can lead to disparate and potentially discriminatory practices, so it should generally be centrally managed.
Recordkeeping
There are a lot of rules around recordkeeping: what employee records need to be kept, where and how they should be kept, and how long they need to be kept. Make sure your recordkeeping and storage practices comply with these requirements.
Safety and Health
All employers have an obligation under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) general duty clause to provide a workplace free from hazards, and they must also notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye. Additional recordkeeping and reporting requirements apply to organizations in certain high-risk industries.
Termination
Termination is the conclusion of the employment relationship, and there are rules employers need to follow when they decide to terminate a worker’s employment. These include requirements around benefits continuation, final pay, and notices a terminated worker should receive on their way out the door.
Wage and Hour
The topic of wage and hour covers the compliance requirements around pay, including minimum wage, overtime, and employee classification. There are plenty of ways to mess up here, and it’s an area where messing up is likely to be noticed and costly, so it pays to take time to understand and comply with the requirements. It’s also an area in which federal, state, and local laws may differ, so make sure you’re complying with the most employee-friendly requirements.