Yesterday’s Advisor discussed planning for reductions in force (RIFs), selection of people, and communication with employees and managers. Today, more tips on RIFs, and an introduction to the “HR Red Book®,” BLR’s popular HR problem solver.
First, more tips from Diana Gregory, senior human resources specialist at the Walnut Creek office of Administaff, a professional employer organization (PEO) and human resources outsourcing firm.
Note: See yesterday’s Advisor for tips on communicating with employees and managers.
Communicating with third parties:
Create letters to clients, customers, and vendors regarding how the changes will affect them (e.g., who will now be handling their account). This may curtail unnecessary conversations with affected employees.
Communicating with government agencies & local officials:
If your organization is subject to WARN (federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) or a similar state law, ensure that all proper notifications are made in a timely manner.
Other communication:
You may also need additional communication pieces. For example, you may need new organization charts, job descriptions, re-training or cross-training plans, etc. The goal is to reduce employee uncertainty, an underlying cause of nonproductive behavior.
Finally, it is critical to have an employment law expert review all communications.
Compliance
In addition to complying with the requirements mentioned above, you will need to ensure that any separation agreements comply with ERISA, ADEA, and other statutes and laws. Enlist legal counsel for the preparation, presentation, processing, and maintenance of these documents.
Final Pay
Ensure that final payments for wages, earned but unused vacation or PTO, bonuses, commissions, and outstanding expenses are made in compliance with state and federal labor codes.
The HR Red Book® compares federal and state laws on 200 employment topics, including downsizing. It is trusted by more than 20,000 companies, and is updated six times each year. Try the program at no cost. Get more information.
Downsizing Is a Thorny Challenge for HR
A downsizing or reorganization of any kind or size can be very challenging for all employees at every level. By thoroughly analyzing your workforce, carefully preparing and timing your communications, and by researching (with experienced legal counsel when appropriate) and complying with legal requirements, your company will reduce or even avoid legal allegations, complaints, and unnecessary morale and productivity issues.
What about all the other thorny challenges HR managers face? Where do you turn for advice, especially when, as with downsizing, there are state laws lurking to ambush you? Our editors recommend BLR’s well-known “HR Red Book,” officially titled, What to Do About Personnel Problems in [Your State].
For those not familiar with it, the HR Red Book is an extraordinary HR tool born of the recognition that HR managers need state compliance help as well as federal–and they need to be able to find it in the same place.
State Law Adds Complexity … If You Can Find It!
Most states have laws on HR topics that intersect, or even conflict, with the federal. But unless you’re a research superstar, you might not know all you should about these state laws. That’s often because they’re publicized in obscure journals and not widely available. Yet, officials still expect you to comply. The answer to this quandary is the HR Red Book.
Each state’s edition includes these features:
Six updates a year are included with your state’s edition of BLR’s What to Do About Personnel Problems in [Your State]. (Others charge extra for updates.) Try the program at no cost. Get more information.
· Presents and Compares Federal and State Law on 200 Employment Topics. (Click the Table of Contents link below to see the full list.) For each topic, there’s first a plain-English explanation of federal compliance. Then, right next to the federal, there’s what your state requires.
· Topics Alphabetically Arranged. Pick today’s HR challenge, from “Affirmative Action” to “Workers’ Compensation,” and it’s easily found.
· Updates Included. Subscribers get 6 updates a year. And each month you get two newsletters — one national and one for your state. And there is no extra cost for any of this.
· Compensation and Benefits Reports, presenting what other companies in your state and industry pay for hundreds of jobs. Separate reports for exempt, nonexempt, and benefits are all included.
· Prewritten HR Policies and Forms, ready to print and use.
The entire program costs just $1.52 a working day and can be tried free for 30 days. (The links below show samples of the various materials.) If you’d like to see what 20,000 of your colleagues depend on every day, let us know and we’ll be happy to set up a no cost trial of your state’s version of the program.
Download national section sample
Download state section sample
Download table of contents
Download newsletter sample