In its article “New Year, New HR Ideas,” California Employer Daily recently passed on three key actions employers should consider at the beginning of the year, courtesy of James J. McDonald, Jr., managing partner of the Irvine office of Fisher & Phillips, LLP.  We thought these were pretty spot-on ideas worth sharing:

“1. Get Your Handbook Ready – If you don’t have an employee handbook, have one prepared and ready to distribute at the beginning of the new year. A good employee handbook makes clear what is expected of employees. It reduces the likelihood of inconsistent application of policies that can lead to discrimination claims, and it ensures that every employee has been informed of important policies, such as the policy against harassment, employment at will and arbitration of disputes.

“2. Review Your Overtime Classifications – If the overtime exempt status of some employees seems questionable, the new year is a good time to reclassify them as non-exempt. Pay particular attention to office employees who perform mostly routine work, “leads” in manufacturing or service jobs, and retail managers who spend most of their time serving customers. Job descriptions for employees switched to non-exempt status should be revised to more accurately reflect their job duties.

“3. Consider Pay-for-Performance- Instead of granting automatic pay raises at the first of the year or on an employee’s anniversary date, consider implementing a pay-for-performance plan that ties employee compensation to job performance and/or the overall performance of the company.

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Source: California Employer Daily