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  • As a small business owner, it’s important to try to prepare for anything—even Mother Nature. In Florida, that means doing what you can to make sure your business and your employees are as ready as possible for hurricanes, named storms, and other events that can cause serious problems.

    Hurricane season is a stressful time that requires plenty of preparation and employee management to help weather any issues. Here are some tips that you can use to help you and your employees navigate any potential problems before, during, and after a storm.

    A hurricane approaching Florida, causing small business owners to prepare for the storm.

    Train Your Employees Ahead of Time

    Good employees play a major role in the success of your business, but sometimes they don’t always look out for themselves. The best time to prepare for a natural disaster is long before one arrives, so it’s smart to include hurricane education as part of a regular training program, especially if you have a lot of transient workers who never experienced a storm before.

    People move to Florida all the time. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 330,000 moved to the Sunshine State from 2016 to 2017, which is an average of nearly 900 people per day. That means a lot of workers in the state have never been through a bad storm before. A hurricane education session can help them know what they should always have available, including:

    • Battery operated TV and fans
    • Generator
    • Second refrigerator just to store water (will keep somewhat cool even after power is out)
    • Nonperishable canned goods

    While basic hurricane preparation education and supplies are good, you can go the next step and see if an expert would be willing to help. Local meteorologists are a great resource for hurricane training, whether they give you some helpful advice or are willing to visit your business to talk to your employees. It never hurts to ask.

    The frequency of the training depends on the makeup of your business. If you have a small workforce and little turnover, training can be more infrequent. If you’re in a high turnover business or have a larger staff, yearly training sessions can be a good idea. It’s also important to stress to your employees that they may want to consider leaving the area depending on the storm. Sometimes the best plan of action is to be nowhere near the hurricane when it hits.

    Close the Office When Necessary

    In general, the decision to close the office due to an incoming storm is up to you. OSHA does stipulate in its general duty clause, that all places of employment are “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” Essentially, if the storm makes your workplace a dangerous location, it’s time to shut down and evacuate.

    Another reason to play it safe and close your business if the weather is questionable is to avoid any potential liability issues. While the commute to and from your office is outside of your workplace, there is a grey area in terms of whether you’re on the hook if the impending or active storm causes an employee to get hurt or have an accident. A court may rule in your favor, but you may not want to take that risk when you can simply play it safe and close your office.

    Handle Wages with Care

    If you decide to close your business, your employees may still expect to be paid. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), what they’re owed and if you need to pay them at all can depend on the type of employee:

    • Nonexempt employees are only owed for the hours they’ve worked according to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This means that you do not owe them any money when you close your business.
    • Exempt employees are owed their full salary if the weather forces the office to close for less than a full workweek. However, you may require these employees to take paid time off (PTO) during these days.

    While the FLSA outlines your minimum requirements, that doesn’t mean that you should follow these guidelines. Forcing an employee to take PTO sends a message that you see the hurricane as their vacation, which will rub even the most loyal workers the wrong way. In addition, being left without a paycheck for something out of their control can create some discontent, even if the business isn’t able to generate any money during the closure either.

    One solution to this is to go above and beyond if possible. If you know what an employee typically makes during a week, find a compromise, whether it’s paying them in full or even offering a portion of their normal earnings. This can show them that you’re still trying to help during a difficult period. If you can’t make that kind of financial commitment or you need to make serious repairs to the business after the storm, explain the situation so that your employees understand instead of feeling blindsided by a lack of pay.

    Be Open and Accommodating About Leaves of Absence

    Even if you decide to keep your business open, there may be employees who want to stay home with their families. In this case, the Department of Labor allows you to consider such leave as an absence for personal reasons. As with wages, however, this can send a bad message to a good employee. Instead, it can be best to be flexible for employees who want to be at home to prepare for a storm, especially if they plan to head out of state.

    You can also offer some alternatives. For example, you can allow employees to work from home if possible. This will allow them to cut down on travel during a storm without sacrificing valuable work hours, at least until the power goes out.

    Employees may also be absent from work after a storm to attend to post-disaster needs, such as meeting with insurance adjusters. SHRM also notes that “employees affected by a natural disaster are entitled to leave under the FMLA [Family and Medical Leave Act] for a serious health condition caused by the disaster,” such as the need to care for a family member.

    If you want a more set structure in terms of how many days employees are allowed off for storms, you can include writing in your handbook or leave policies that sets out a specific process. The problem with this is that no hurricane is the same. One storm could last two days, while another could last 10. A set policy may pigeonhole you into an exact number of days if you’re not careful.

    Protect Important Documents

    Both you and your employees have important documents that must always stay safe. Unfortunately, hurricanes don’t cooperate. In Florida, it’s good to invest in document storage that can protect both business and personal documents from the elements, like a fireproof and waterproof safe.

    While a great start, a safe can’t protect your documents from a worst-case scenario. If a storm is projected to be bad enough to make you leave the area, make sure to take your documents with you so that the storm doesn’t take them away for good. Digitizing documents in a securely-stored online portal can also make sure that these files are safe from storms and accessible anyplace with an internet connection.

    Always Communicate

    Good communication is a key part of hurricane preparation. It’s important to keep in contact with your employees long before a storm hits, during the storm, and after it’s gone.

    While some employees will know the risks and protect themselves, others may not understand the danger of these storms or will be afraid to stay home out of fear of losing their job. Monitor the situation and make employees feel comfortable with their decision to stay or go if the coming storm looks dangerous. There are times where storms pass over and you don’t need to close, but it’s always good to err on the side of caution instead of being wrong about the weather.

    If you have any other questions about protecting your business before, during, and after a storm, it’s best to communicate with a trusted HR partner. GMS is a Professional Employer Organization that serves companies of all sizes across the nation. The experts in our Fort Myers, Florida branch can work with you to help you protect your business and manage key HR functions that complicate your day and bog down your schedule.

    Contact GMS today to talk to one of our experts in our Florida office about how we can help your business prepare for the future.

  • The last election cycle may have added to the number of states with legalized marijuana, but is your business ready for it? Michigan became the 10th state to legalize recreational marijuana this past midterm election, ushering in the creation of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act (MRTMA). As more states adopt these measures, it’s a good time to consider how legal marijuana affects your business and what you can do to protect yourself.

    A small business owner and an employee reviewing marijuana policies in the employee handbook.

    What Does Legalized Marijuana Means for Small Business Owners?

    While MRTMA does legalize the use of recreational marijuana, it doesn’t do so at the expense of business owners. In fact, the new law doesn’t change much in terms of an employer’s ability to maintain the same drug and alcohol policy that was in place before the law. Per the MRTMA itself, the act still allows employers to do the following:

    • Ban conduct allowed by this act in any workplace or on company property
    • Discipline, discharge, or take other adverse employment actions against an employee for violations of a workplace drug policy or for working while under the influence
    • Refuse to hire a person after failing a pre-employment drug test or take adverse action against an existing employee in terms of tenure, terms, conditions, or employment privileges for working under the influence

    There’s also the fact that recreational marijuana is still illegal in terms of federal law, which has generally trumped state laws in marijuana-related cases so far. While Michigan’s new law and federal law in general doesn’t reign in an employer’s ability to maintain a drug-free workplace, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t takes steps to protect your business. It’s up to you to set clear guidelines that make your company’s policies are clear to your employees.

    What You Can Do to Protect Your Company

    Institute a Drug-Free Workplace Policy

    Regardless of whether you’re in a state like Michigan that has legalized recreational marijuana or not, it’s good to establish a written drug-free workplace policy (DFWP). This policy should make it clear that employees should never have any illicit substances on company grounds.

    Consider Drug Testing

    If you plan to test your employees for drug use, you need to have your policy carefully outlined to make sure that your employees have a clear understanding of your drug testing policy. This includes expectations and rules associated with each type of test, such as when they can happen, testing timelines and steps, and what’s expected of the employees. The types of drug test include:

    • Pre-employment tests for applicants
    • Probable cause tests for reasonable suspicion
    • Arbitrary tests on set dates (such as work anniversaries)
    • Random tests

    Of course, how you administer these tests can vary depending on your state. For example, Michigan has no law addressing drug testing regulations for private employers if your policies are not found to be discriminatory or violate any other legal provision. Other states may have set regulations for what types of test can be done and how those tests and conducted. OHS, Inc. provides abstracts of each state’s workplace drug testing laws, although it’s good to check local laws yourself to make sure you’re in compliance with any necessary rules and regulations.

    Set Discipline Standards

    In a way, marijuana can be treated the same way as alcohol; employees can’t come to work impaired, and they’ll be in trouble if they do. You’ll want to set firm policies to protect your business in case there are any incidents, but you should also consider whether your state has any protections in place for marijuana users, especially for places where medical marijuana is allowed.

    Of course, these potential protections can vary greatly based on your location. The Society for Human Resource Management notes that employers in Vermont and Minnesota “can’t fire someone for the first failed drug test if the employee agrees to complete a rehabilitation program.” The Small Business Association of Michigan highlights a Maine law that “prohibits adverse actions against employees for using marijuana outside of work.” Federal law may generally prevail, but adjusting your discipline standards to fit local laws can help you avoid costly legal battles while still affording your company some protection.

    It’s also crucial that, no matter how you decide to discipline employees for failed drug tests, you treat everyone equally. If you use a failed test as the basis for firing one employee but refrain from punishing a separate long-term employee, the fired employee could argue that your inconsistent application of your own rules was discriminatory. That could lead to litigation and a long, costly headache that could be avoided.

    Another good item to include is some language involving what it means if an employee attempts to delay a test or outright refuses to take one. If you decide to drug test employees, you should include a clear definition of “refusing to test” to offer you some protection. If you find that an employee is too evasive about drug testing and should be dismissed.

    Prepare Your Business for Marijuana Laws

    It’s not going to get any easier trying to figure out how marijuana laws will impact your business. Between new states adding legal marijuana and various regulations, it can be an absolute headache to keep track of everything your business should do to protect itself unless you’re an expert. If an employee gets hurt while under the influence of marijuana, the process can be even more complicated. Because of that, it’s best to turn to an expert to make sure you stay on top of federal and state marijuana laws.

    A Professional Employer Organization like GMS can help you navigate through confusing, ever-changing regulations and update your handbooks to protect your business. We have experts in multiple locations across the country, including at our Detroit office. Contact us today to talk to one of our experts about how we can help you prepare for marijuana regulation and strengthen your business in other ways.

  • As a small business owner, a day off from work can be hard to come by. Nevertheless, come election day, flu season, or travel season, your employees will need a resource to turn to in order to know whether or not they have to show up for work. It’s important to include an employee leave policy in your employee handbook, so your employees understand the rules and expectations about the amount of time they’re allowed to be away from work. 

    “There are so many different types of employee leave, and each bucket may require its own policies in the company handbook,” says Beth Milito, senior executive counsel at the National Federation of Independent Business’s (NFIB) Legal Center. 

    When crafting employee leave policies, you should first check the employee leave laws in your state. Employee leave laws govern whether an employer must allow employees to take time off―either paid or unpaid―under a different number of circumstances, such as vacations, sick days, holidays, bereavement, and jury duty. Leave laws also address whether an employer must pay accrued leave to employees upon separation from employment.

     Vacation employee leave.

    Georgia Leave Laws

    In Georgia, vacations, sick days, holidays, bereavement, jury duty, and more are all governed by the state’s leave laws. Here’s what Georgia employers need to know about employee leave laws in their state.

    Vacation leave

    Vacations are nice to take every now and then, but that’s all they are: nice to have. In Georgia, employers are not required to provide employees with paid or unpaid vacation benefits.

    However, many small businesses offer paid time off to stay competitive in recruiting and retaining employees. According to NFIB, 73 percent of small businesses offer PTO to full-time employees. While the number of days offered is typically dependent on an employee’s length of service, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says many offer an average of 10 days for PTO each year.

    Should you decide to terminate a worker’s employment, or an employee decides to quit, it’s important to establish a clear policy regarding payment for any vacation time left on the table. In Georgia, employers need to establish policies either:

    • Requiring employees be paid for accrued vacation time.
    • Denying employees payment for accrued vacation time.
    • Disqualifying employees from payment of accrued vacation if they are terminated.
    • Disqualifying employees from payment of accrued vacation if they fail to comply with specific requirements, such as giving two weeks’ notice.

    Sick leave

    What happens if an employee feels under the weather? In Georgia, you aren’t required to offer paid or unpaid sick leave. However, like vacation time, many small businesses will offer employees time to recover from an illness. According to NFIB, 56 percent offer paid sick leave, with many offering a week or more.

    Bereavement

    Bereavement leave is time taken by an employee due to the death of another individual, usually a close relative. Georgia leave laws do not require employers to provide employees with bereavement leave or leave to attend funerals. However, NFIB says that nearly nine out of 10 companies offer bereavement leave.

    Holidays

    Small businesses in Georgia are not required to provide paid or unpaid holidays off. However, NFIB data shows that nearly 80 percent of small businesses offer paid time off for holidays. The typical paid holidays include:

    • New Year’s Day
    • Memorial Day
    • Easter
    • Independence Day
    • Labor Day
    • Thanksgiving Day
    • Christmas Day

    Jury duty

    Georgia law makes it illegal to discharge, discipline, or penalize an employee for taking leave for attending a judicial proceeding, including a subpoena, jury duty summons, or other court order. While Georgia doesn’t have any laws specifically requiring you to provide paid leave, the Attorney General is in favor of it.

    Voting leave

    On election days, Georgia leave laws require employers to provide up to two hours of leave for an employee to vote. However, the employee must give reasonable notice and the polls also can’t be open for at least two hours before or after the employee’s shift.

    Georgia business owners aren’t required to pay employees for voting leave. You can also determine the hours an employee may leave their shift to vote.

    Handling Employee Leave

    Leave laws vary by state, so it’s important for employers across the country to be informed when creating employee leave policies. Whether you own a business in Georgia or some other state, it’s important to make sure your employee handbook explains how your business handles employee leave. 

    As a Professional Employer Organization, GMS can help ensure your handbook is updated with the necessary laws and regulations to best protect your business. We’ll save you time and stress by managing key business functions like payroll, benefits administration, and other important services. 

    Contact our Georgia office or one of our many other locations today to talk to one of our experts about how we can help you make your business simpler, safer, and stronger.

  • Are you prepared for an OSHA inspector to arrive at your door? OSHA performed roughly 72,000 federal and state plan inspections in 2018 alone and all it takes to earn an unexpected visit from an inspector is a complaint from an employee or operating in a high-hazard industry.

    Nobody plans to have an OSHA inspection occur at their place of business, but it’s important to act accordingly if it does. Here’s what you should and shouldn’t do before, during, and after an OSHA inspection to protect your business.

    An OSHA inspector reviewing the worksite of a small business. 

    Do: Invest in Workplace Safety

    One of the most important steps you can take should happen well before an OSHA inspector arrives. Investing in workplace safety benefits your business in two big ways. First, a culture of safety with set policies, procedures, drug tests, and other measures can minimize injury risks and help protect your workforce. Second, these policies, along with proper reporting for any incidents, will show OSHA that you’ve done your part to make your job site a safe place. In terms of what you do to protect your business and potentially lower your workers’ compensation claims, check out our list of dos and don’ts for workplace safety.

    Don’t: Assume Your Existing Policies are Fine After Years of Inaction

    If you already have an employee handbook with various workplace safety policies in place, that’s great. If it’s been a while since you’ve reviewed those policies, they may not be so helpful after all.

    There’s so much that changes over time. Between new legal requirements, the growth of your business, and other factors, what may have been a solid set of safety policies at one point could be outdated. A regular review of your policies with a risk management expert can help you keep your handbook updated and your business in a good spot in case an OSHA inspector ever stops by for a visit.

    Do: Be Welcoming and Professional if An Inspector Arrives

    The arrival of an OSHA inspector isn’t good news, but it’s important to be civil toward whoever arrives to scope out your space. Any attempts to prevent the inspector from entering can be perceived as obstruction, which has some major consequences including criminal penalties. Instead, welcome the inspector in and be friendly and honest. Demonstrating good faith can go a long way toward the reduction of any resulting penalties, so don’t be afraid to work with the inspector and make the process a lot quicker and easier.

    Don’t: Provide Information Unasked

    Just because you should be courteous and honest doesn’t mean you need to tell the inspector everything right away. It’s important to be honest when an inspector asks questions, but as the Society for Human Resource Management suggests, “Once you’ve answered a question, stop talking.” As long as you succinctly and honestly answer the inspector’s questions, you don’t have to volunteer any other information unless it’s requested.

    Do: Gather Information

    The inspector isn’t the only person allowed to ask questions. When the inspector first arrives and holds an opening conference for the visit, ask to see some credentials and get some details about what is being inspected and the nature of the visit. The inspection can also provide you with ways that can potentially improve the overall safety of your workplace. Feel free to ask the inspector if there are ways that you can improve any existing hazards – you never know if he or she may have a couple inexpensive solutions observed from other worksites.

    Don’t: Leave Inspector Alone

    Once an inspector is on your premises, it’s important to make sure that someone from your business always tags along. Not only will this person be able to answer any questions and assist with the inspection process, he or she can document the same information as the inspector. If the inspector takes pictures of something, do the same. If he or she takes down measurements, record that information. This information may not be readily available to you, so saving these details can help in case you need to defend your business against a citation.

    Do: Consider Your Options After the Inspection

    It can take months for OSHA to issue a citation. If your business is cited, you’ll want to address the hazards noted in the citation. You’ll also need to decide if you want to contest any violations (or abatement requirements), aim for early settlement, or go for voluntary compliance. The right path is heavily dependent on the specifics of your case, so you’ll want to talk to experts to see which course of action makes the most sense.

    Whether you’re concerned about potential OSHA inspections or want to take a proactive approach to workplace safety, GMS can help. As a Professional Employer Organization, we have the experts it takes to help you create a culture of safety and protect your business against safety violations, lost work hours, and costly fines and workers’ compensation rates. Contact GMS today about risk management strategies or any of our other HR management services.

  • If you think bullying only affects children, guess again. According to a 2019 Monster.com survey, a whopping 94 percent of people said they were bullied in a workplace at some point. This trend has grown to the point where now states like Tennessee are implementing new statutes to combat the issue. Find out how Tennessee plans to tackle workplace bullying and what what you can do to protect your business.

    An employee being bullied at work.

    How Tennessee’s Anti-Bullying Statute Now Impacts Employers

    Tennessee’s efforts to have workplaces implement anti-bullying policies started back in 2014 with the adoption of the Healthy Workplace Act. This act incentivized employers to add these anti-bullying policies in exchange for some legal protection against potential litigation from bullied employees.

    The 2014 version of the statute only applied to state and local government agencies, but that changed on April 23, 2019 when Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill that extended those protections to private employers in addition to government agencies. However, the statute doesn’t require employers to create an anti-bullying policy. Instead, it incentivizes them to do so for some legal protection.

    How does the statute protect Tennessee employers who add an anti-bullying policy? According the The National Law Review, “Employers that adopt a policy that complies with the act will be ‘immune from suit for any employee’s abusive conduct that results in negligent or intentional infliction of mental anguish.’”

    However, there are some stipulations for the adopted policy in order to gain the aforementioned legal protection, as the policy must meet one of two requirements. First, the employer can adopt the model policy published by the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR). Second, the employer can create its own policy as long as it:

    • Assists employees in recognizing and responding to abusive conduct
    • Prevents retaliation against employees who report abusive conduct

    What Small Businesses Can Do to Protect Themselves and Their Employees from Bullying Cases

    While Tennessee’s changes to the Healthy Workplace Act give employers some optional protections against litigation, it isn’t the only state to do so. According to The Healthy Workplace Campaign, 30 states have adopted some form of healthy workplace bill. Regardless of whether your state has some optional protections or not, it’s important to take steps to address the situation for your company.

    Not only can bullying cause stress and anxiety for your employees, it can also open you up to potential litigation from victimized workers. Even if you personally didn’t bully the employee, that worker could argue that you ignored the issue or enabled it by creating an environment that fostered bullying. When the potential costs of a lawsuit could reach hundreds of thousands of dollars, it’s important that you protect your business from these potential dangers. Here are some steps you can to prepare for the future.

    Create your own anti-bullying policy

    A good anti-bullying policy can help your workplace even if your state doesn’t offer immunities from potential lawsuits like Tennessee. Having a policy in an updated employee handbook will not only help show that you made an effort to make your stance on bullying clear, it can also helps protect against both people claiming you’re partially responsible for bullying and any employees you need to discipline – or even terminate – for bullying.

    The specifics of your policy can depend on the laws in your specific state, but the Society for Human Resource Management provides a good template for an anti-bullying policy as a basis. It’s also important to involve your lawyer and an HR compliance expert to make sure you use the proper verbiage in your policy.

    Educate employees

    In addition to having a policy in your handbook, it’s also good to take a more active approach toward teaching your employees about anti-bullying practices. One such option would be a training and development program where an HR expert could come in and educate your employees about the steps you’ve put in place to talk about and prevent bullying. Not only will this increase awareness of your efforts to everyone in the company, it can also give them the means of reporting an issue in case one ever occurs.

    Get liability insurance

    While the steps above can help you limit the chances of bullying and show your company’s efforts to create an open, healthy workplace, there is still a chance that an employee may still file a liability lawsuit. Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) can help protect you against the financial ramifications of these lawsuits whether or not they’re warranted.

    Protect Your Business from Bullying and Other Threats

    Whether you’re dealing with bullying, a workplace injury, or some other issue, it’s important to make sure that your business is prepared for any trouble. However, that’s not so easy when you have to spend so much time and effort running your business. That’s where GMS can help.

    As a Professional Employer Organization, GMS provides comprehensive HR services for businesses of every size. Whether you need help handling payroll, risk management, or some other key function, our experts can help you prepare for the present and the future while you focus your efforts on growing your business. Contact our Tennessee office or one of our other locations today to talk to one of our experts about how GMS can help your business today.

  • Back in 2018, Florida voted to ban vaping in enclosed workplaces. The new law went into effect in July of 2019, but Florida isn’t alone in its ban on vaping in the workplace. Several other states, including California, New Jersey, and New York, all prohibit the practice in any place where smoking is not permitted, while other states have bans for specific settings, such as in enclosed workspaces or schools.

    As more states take action to prevent vaping in workplaces, it’s a good time for business owners both in Florida and outside the state to figure out what they need to do to prepare their company from past and future legislation.

    An employee vaping in the office before Florida’s ban on vaping in the workplace.

    What Does Florida’s Workplace Vape Ban Mean for Business Owners?

    There are a couple of different takeaways for Florida’s ban on vaping in the workplace. The first perspective is what it immediately means for business owners in The Sunshine State. In short, the state now prohibits both vaping and smoking in “enclosed indoor workplaces.” This term is a technical way of saying the ban exists for any workspace that is predominantly closed in by walls or other physical barriers, regardless of whether they have windows or any other uncovered openings. Private residences used for work are exempt from the ban, except in limited exceptions where the residence acts as one of the following:

    • A childcare, adult care, or health care provider
    • A retail tobacco or vape shop
    • A bar that does not serve food

    The other perspective involves businesses outside of Florida that either have some form of workplace vape ban in place or operate in a location without any such legislation. For the former group, it’s important to look up the details of your state’s laws. For the latter, Florida’s ban is yet another example of a state cracking down on vaping. In fact, you may want to be proactive about establishing vaping policies in your workplace.

    What Should Business Owners Do About Vaping?

    For businesses in Florida and other states with vape bans, the answer is simple: Set clear guidelines regarding smoking and vaping prohibitions. This policy should clearly state that employees are prohibited from smoking or vaping in enclosed workspaces per your local laws. In addition, the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) suggests taking the following steps:

    • List the procedures for when the proprietor or other person in charge witnesses or is made aware of a violation
    • Post signs to indicate that smoking or vaping, or both, are prohibited

    As for business owners in locations without any vaping-related regulations, they need to decide if they want to treat vaping the same way as traditional smoking. While allowing employees to vape in the workplace will help limit time lost from smoke breaks and keep those who vape pleased, this decision can come at the cost of another employee’s happiness. It also doesn’t help that the Centers for Disease Control deems e-cigarettes as potentially unsafe.

    Ultimately, the decision to have a vaping policy is up to the business owner if there’s no existing legislation that dictates otherwise. If a decision is made to prohibit vaping in the workplace, SHRM suggests doing the following:

    • Evaluate existing smoking policies and clarify what smoking products are covered what areas of the worksite are non-smoking spaces
    • Make it clear whether employees can bring e-cigarettes into certain areas when not in use or if they’re completely banned from the property
    • Update the company’s clean-air policy to reference e-cigarettes and other vaping products (if a clean-air policy exists)
    • Inform employees of any workplace policy changes before they take effect (60 to 90 days’ notice is good except in the case where the state stipulates rollout times)

    Keep Your Business Prepared for the Future

    No matter where your business is located, it’s important to keep up to date on key legislation that can make your current workplace policies go up in smoke. As a Professional Employer Organization, GMS has the experts on hand to make sure your business stays compliant with new laws while also saving you time and stress by managing key functions like payroll, benefits administration, and other important services.

    Ready to make managing your business a lot simpler? Contact our Florida office or one of our other locations today to talk to one of our experts about how we can help your business prepare for the future.

  • Employees play a massive part in the success of your company. Of course, this also means that a bad employee can also lead to potential inefficiencies and other issues. 

    Firing an employee is a difficult reality of running a business. While the situation is unpleasant for everyone involved, there are right and wrong ways to go about the termination process. In fact, there are several steps you need to take before, during, and after you fire an employee. Here’s what you need to know to take the right route during the termination process.

    An employee gathering items after being fired by a small business owner. 

    What to Do Before You Fire an Employee

    Firing an employee is typically more than a one-day process. There are several actions you’ll need to take before you effectively terminate an employee to help protect your business and provide proper feedback. Depending on the employee, some of these steps may even help you improve their performance and save you from severing the relationship.

    Distribute an employee handbook

    Long before you plan to fire someone, you should make sure that every one of your employees receives an employee handbook. An updated handbook is an official document that makes the following details very clear for your employees:

    • Company philosophy
    • Conditions of employment
    • Company policies and procedures
    • Compensation and benefits

    Your employee handbook plays an important dual role for your business. First, it’s a great way for new hires to learn more about the rules, perks, and personality of your business. Second, it’s a compliance tool to make sure that your employees know and understand internal policies and grounds for dismissal. Having these rules in place – along with documentation that your employees have received your handbook – will help protect your business in case a fired employee tries to fight their dismissal in court.

    Review past performance reviews and feedback

    Before you decide to dismiss an employee, look back to see what type of feedback he or she has received in past reviews. If your employee has only heard good feedback and received raises that correspond with exemplary performance, a dismissal would come as a huge shock. 

    Not only do employee performance reviews give you a chance to set goals and expectations for an employee, they can also help protect you against claims if you’ve shared feedback indicating that an employee needed to improve. If there are no negative reviews on record, you may want to wait until you can provide some honest feedback. This way your employee may take the review as an opportunity to improve. If he or she doesn’t, you have evidence that both you and your employee knew of the continued poor performance so that you can back up your decision to terminate an employee.

    Document violations and give official warnings

    Like performance reviews, it’s important to have a documented history of any warnings or violations for any employee you decide to fire. Once it has become apparent that an employee’s performance is simply not up to standards, call them into a private space and give that person an official warning.

    It’s important to make sure that this warning is also in writing. While you explain why you’re unhappy with your employee’s performance, there should also be a printed document that the employee can sign so that you can place it in that person’s personnel file. You can also use a performance improvement plan that lists set goals for an employee to achieve within a set period of time (30 days, 90 days, etc.). Either of these options will make it clear exactly why the employee is at risk of losing his or her job and will help you back up your case as to why they needed to be dismissed.

    What to Do On the Day of Termination

    After you’ve taken the appropriate steps to give an employee an opportunity to improve and document reasons for dismissal, it’s time to act quickly and terminate the offending team member.

    Don’t wait for Friday

    While some situations call for immediate dismissals regardless of the day, certain days can be better than others if you can plan ahead. According to The Balance Careers, it’s generally best to try and aim for sometime in the middle of the week to fire an employee, preferably on a Tuesday or Wednesday. 

    Firing someone on a Monday can lead to the terminated employee feeling as though you wasted his or her time waiting until a new week has started. Friday dismissals leave the terminated employee to stew about the decision over the weekend. Aiming for the middle of the week can help mitigate bad feelings in an already difficult situation.

    Fire employees in person

    Firing an employee is already an unpleasant situation – don’t make it worse for the employee by terminating them via phone, email, or some other electronic means. While the experience will likely always be painful, it’s important to be as humane as possible when firing an employee. That approach means giving them the courtesy of hearing the news from you or another appropriate person at your company. 

    Not only is a face-to-face firing the right thing to do, it also looks much better than the alternative. Taking a less personal approach can leave a negative impression for other employees when they learn about the dismissal, especially if someone was friends with the terminated employee. As such, a personal approach can lessen the odds of not only bad reactions from terminated employees, but also any concerns from the coworkers they left behind.

    However, an in-person approach isn’t necessarily feasible if you need to fire a remote employee. While you may not be able to sit in the same room with these people, it’s still good to break the news face-to-face through some form of video conferencing platform.

    Don’t fire employees by yourself

    It’s always a good idea to have another person in the room if at all possible. Whether it’s an HR specialist or another employee, a second person serves as a witness. Unfortunately, there’s a chance that your former employee may try and accuse you of an unjust firing. Having an HR professional in the room can help you stay on track during the dismissal process to avoid any potential issues. Even if you don’t have an HR expert available, a second person gives you another person who can attest to your side of the story in case the former employee makes any false claims during your meeting. 

    Keep it short and simple

    When it’s time to fire someone, it’s best to avoid any small talk and get straight to the point. Tell the person directly that he or she has been terminated. Make it very clear that this decision is final and give very specific feedback as to why you and the company made this decision. 

    As you may expect, this isn’t a happy occasion and the fired individual likely won’t take the news well. However, it’s important to listen to what your former employee has to say to get a better read on how he or she takes the news. Whether they’re angry, sad, shocked, or in denial, continue to repeat the message and treat them with respect.

    This is also the time to cover next steps and what will happen involving their final pay, benefits, and other details. At this point, you’ll be able to discuss any terms for severance pay, extended healthcare, or other benefits if you choose to offer them. You can also ask the individual to sign a release of liability.

    Collect any work-related items

    Depending on your business, you may have provided your former employee with equipment ranging from small supplies to extremely expensive items. You’ll want to collect any company property from them before or during the individual’s last day, unless there’s an agreement in place to allow that person to keep certain goods. These items can include:

    • Keys or key cards
    • Laptops
    • Credit card
    • Cell phone, tablet, or other mobile device
    • Company car
    • Miscellaneous office equipment

    In addition to physical items, you also need to address passwords, codes, or any other means of company access. If certain doors at your company are unlocked by keycodes or other card or keyless means, change those codes. Likewise, either you or someone else at your company should restrict any user access and change any passwords the dismissed employee may use to access your computer network.

    Likewise, your former employee likely has some personal items that he or she will want to take home as well. If you schedule the termination meeting for the end of the day when most of your other employees are gone, the dismissed employee can gather their own possessions without as much fear of embarrassment. Of course, you may want someone there to watch just to ensure that the  employee doesn’t take any company property. You can also ask terminated employees to provide a list of their personal property so that someone else can gather their possessions and return it to them there or someplace outside of work at an arranged time in the future.

    Escort them out and end on civil terms 

    After both parties have collected all the necessary items and are ready to go, it’s time to wrap up the termination meeting. Personally walk the individual to the exit and wish him or her well in the future. The dismissed individual may not be in the best mood, but it’s good to part ways on a gracious note.

    What to Do After You’ve Fired an Employee

    While the hardest part of the termination process may be over, your job isn’t quite done. There are still some very important tasks to finish that involve updating everyone else in your team and protecting yourself in case the fired employee decides that the matter isn’t over just yet.

    Inform the office

    While it may seem easier to not address the departure of an employee, it’s best to be honest to your team. If you don’t say anything, other employees may lose trust in management and start to fear that there are more dismissals in store for the future. Word will quickly spread on it’s own, so you can shape the conversation and get ahead of the gossip with a quick message.

    Fortunately, your message to the rest of your company doesn’t need to be long and complicated. Instead simply you’ll want to focus on the following:

    • That the dismissed employee no longer works at your company
    • The transition plan for handling the former employee’s departure
    • That anyone with questions should feel free to speak to you or another relevant person

    Avoid saying that the employee was fired. It’s best to just say that the person in question is no longer at the company and shift toward the future. Also, refrain from making any critiques about the former employee. These comments may not sit well for his or her former coworkers, so it’s best to move forward.

    It’s also important to determine the right method and timing for sharing this information. If you have a smaller company or the former employee workerd with a close group of associates, an in-person company meeting is best. If your company is larger or the former employee didn’t work as closely with others, a termination email should be enough to suffice. You can also hold an in-person meeting with closer associates and follow up with an company-wide email as well if you want to break the news to a certain group first.

    Reassign duties

    Part of the transition plan for handling your former employee’s departure involves addressing how that employee’s duties will be handled in the short- and long-term future. This can involve delegating who will pick up the slack until you have a more permanent solution in place. If the employee received regular emails or calls from clients or customers, have those messages forwarded to someone else in the organization.

    You also want to be careful about how you split up these duties – you don’t want to make a good worker bitter because she or she has to do the work of two people because of someone else’s dismissal. If you plan to hire someone new or put new processes in place to ease the overall burden of these duties, let your employees know. A bit of transparency will help reassure concerned employees and let them look ahead to the future instead of dwelling on the downsides of the dismissal.

    Be prepared for unemployment claims

    If the employee didn’t sign some form of liability preventing them from doing so, there’s always a chance that they may file a claim against your business. Unemployment taxes can cost your business thousands of dollars, and a claim against your company may lead to even more financial burden. 

    Fortunately, there are ways to protect your business from the claims and unruly taxes. A combination of maintaining good company policies and record keeping can improve your chances of winning unemployment claim cases. It also helps to have a dedicated company like a Professional Employer Organization on your side that can reduce your tax risks and help you fight against unwarranted claims.

    Consider a PEO for Employee Performance and Risk Management

    The firing process isn’t an enjoyable one, but it helps to have trustworthy, experience HR professionals by your side when you do need to dismiss an employee. Group Management Services can help you manage the entirety of the employee lifecycle, including employee recruiting and training, performance management, and unemployment claims management.

    Whether you’re dealing with employees, benefits, or payroll, HR management can eat up the majority of your schedule. GMS can help you take your time back while providing your business with professional services that protect and strengthen your business. Contact GMS today to talk to one of our experts about how we can help you support your business.