The first wave of minimum wage increases hit New Jersey employers July 1 after state legislators reached the deal earlier in the year. However, business owners need to prepare themselves for more than just this initial wage boost. Here’s what New Jersey employers need to know about New Jersey’s plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 – and why business owners across the country should pay attention.

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When you’re thinking of starting a business, your passion is ultimately what drives you to provide the best product or service. The first thing that comes to your head is not about the technology you need for payroll, or how you are going to recruit top talent. Need an employee handbook? “I’ll type something up real quick.” 

These are just a few of the many human resource topics you can easily put on the backburner without realizing the full scope of responsibilities you now carry as a business owner. As for the future of HR, it’s only getting more crucial for businesses to stay compliant with laws and stay protected.

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As concerns pile up, employee morale can go downhill quickly. Losing employees can be very challenging. The domino effect is real and immediate. Employees can feel a broad range of emotions: overwhelmed, resentful, left behind, envious, mad, sad. It’s hard to think strategically when you’re in reactive mode, so what do you do to be in proactive mode? 

Leaders who embrace change set a positive tone for everyone. Turnover should be expected. By having a process in place, you can leverage departures as an opportunity to grow and learn. Take a look at these five steps that can prevent high turnover.

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It’s no surprise that it’ll take a lot of questions to determine whether a job candidate is the right fit for your company. However, you may not know that there are quite a few interview questions that can land your company in trouble. 

One example of this is the city of Cincinnati’s new Salary Equity Ordinance, a measure that passed in 2019 and will take effect in March 2020. At that time, it will be illegal for employers in Cincinnati to ask about a job candidate’s pay history. This measure impacts any step of the hiring process, ranging from job ads to employee interviews.

While Cincinnati employers must adjust to the Salary Equity Ordinance, there are many other types of questions that are disallowed from the interview process across the country. An illegal question can lead to a variety of consequences, including a discrimination lawsuit or an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This means you’ll want to brush up on which interview questions can lead to EEOC complaints.

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Determining pay frequency can be challenging for business owners. While most employees prefer to be paid more often, a higher pay frequency can cost employers. Not to mention, there are federal and state laws that set standards for how employees are paid. That’s why exploring the different pay period options and federal and state payday laws is critical to help you choose the right pay frequency for your business and employees.

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A healthy and efficient workforce is paramount for business owners to keep operations running smoothly, yet injury in the workplace is all too common. According to the National Safety Council, a worker is injured on the job every seven seconds. It’s essential to create a culture of safety to minimize workplace injury as well as lower your workers’ compensation rates and limit violations for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Follow these workplace safety tips to build a more secure workplace for your company.

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It’s easy to recognize certain milestones, but it’s not as simple to think ahead and avoid growing pains. Reaching the 50-employee threshold is a momentous occasion, but it also means that it’s time to consider some potential changes. Aside from taking the right steps to make sure your company is compliant with federal and state laws – don’t worry, we cover compliance considerations in another post – here are five ways to prepare your business for growth.

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Payroll management is no simple task. Regardless of whether your workforce is 50 strong or you can count the number of employees on two hands, there are lots of employees and documents to keep track of and failure to do so could result in serious penalties and fines. To help, we’ve put together a guide for better managing payroll records.

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The 50-employee mark is more than just a milestone; it’s also an important number for some major regulation requirements. Once your business has 50 full-time employees, various federal and state laws become mandatory, which can wreak havoc on your business if you don’t prepare for them. Here’s what your business needs to do to stay compliant once it reaches 50 full-time employees. 

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Broken bones, muscle strains, burns, cuts, and lacerations—injuries at work happen all too frequently. According to the National Safety Council, a worker is injured on the job every seven seconds.

Does your organization have a workers’ compensation strategy? As a small or mid-size business, you might think you have it under control and can brush it under the rug until the unfortunate happens. Or, perhaps the very fear of “what if” keeps you up at all hours of the night.

Either way, business owners have a lot to lose when they don’t have the resources to properly handle a workers’ compensation claim. See what you can learn from these two real-life stories involving workers’ compensation claims below.

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