Thanks to CalChamber and my spiffy 2017 calendar, we know that February 17, 2017 is Random Acts of Kindness Day!

Quick Google search begins, and the website www.randomactsofkindness.org, quickly pops up, and just as quickly inspires this business to 'pay it forward' via Facebook recognition!

We are most inspired to say 'Thank You!' to our friends at Prime Business Consulting, Comelco Group, H Linwood Insurance, Legal Shield, Down the Drain Plumbing, SoCal Queen, Connect for Success, Los Cabos Seafood, Santa Fe West Design, Money Honeys, San Diego Start Up Women, Good Ol' Gals, and, and and.....

However you do business, there is a way to be random in a super kind way - don't think too long, we only have 13 more hours!

Ready, set, Kindness !

"With the support of the business community and the California Chamber of Commerce, Chris Laszcz-Davis was appointed yesterday to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr."

This is CalChamber's announcement this morning which herald's a solid step forward in filling out this CalOSHA Standards Board - there is one more position to fill for an Occupational Health representative.

Who is CalOSHA, and why should we be happy for this?
"The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), better known as Cal/OSHA, protects and improves the health and safety of working men and women in California and the safety of passengers riding on elevators, amusements rides, and tramways – through the following activities:

• Setting and enforcing standards
• Providing outreach, education, and assistance
• Issuing permits, licenses, certifications, registrations, and approvals"

In short, if we didn't have CalOSHA, there is no one else to help protect employees and improve safety in business!

We encourage all business owners, or their HR presence to sign up for all of CalChamber's announcements - they are priceless!

Best of luck to Chris Laszcs-Davis!

Employers, have you ever been confused on the why and when to round your employee time?
Luckily for all of us, CalChamber's Watchdog Employment Blog makes the answer much easier.

CalChamber reports to us that CA judged have ruled that employers "may round employee timecard entries to the nearest tenth of an hour (6 minutes)."

The case brought to the courts, Silva v See's Candy, was decided just December 9, 2016, and the full explanation can be found following this link below:

http://hrwatchdog.calchamber.com/2017/01/5755/?utm_campaign=53319289&utm_source=Silverpop&utm_medium=Email&spMailingID=53319289&spUserID=MTk5MTkzMjM2NDI5S0&spJobID=1085992297&spReportId=MTA4NTk5MjI5NwS2


So, get your read on, get your policies clarified, and do your business right!

That might be the title of my next meme....unfortunately, that is the message that many in small business  are unintentionally sending out.

Backtrack - We LOVE small business owners!
They are sturdy, resilient, imaginative, strong willed, resourceful, and incredibly independent.

So, what's the issue?
All of those beautiful and courageous traits can come across as, "I can do it all and I do not need you."

We've seen it work that way, very well in fact for one-man-bands, but the second they want to hire someone, or even consider an independent contractor, well, this is where the proverbial FAN gets into play.

Simply put, when you hire, you don't make the "How to" rules, the government does for:

• Hiring
• Managing
• Separations

So, backtrack again...when you started your business, did you say, outloud, or even in the back of your mind, "I want to do my business badly, I want to screw this up" ?

Of course not! And, the big HOWEVER is you must not fail your business by failing in Human Resources.

• If you're a go-getter, we can point you in the right direction.
• If you're sufficiently terrified, we can help.

Let's keep you on track, let's keep your doors open, let's succeed together.

Wells Fargo is trying to do right by their employees (and save the bank) by doing what should have been done a longggg time ago - presenting an honest approach to earning in their positions and honoring the employee base with a more realistic minimum wage.

Last week's AP piece intro reads, "Wells Fargo announced a complete restructuring Tuesday of how it pays tellers and other bank branch employees, with incentives now tied to how often customers use their accounts, as the company tries to right itself after a scandal over its aggressive sales practices."

​Yes, they have other *PR nightmares, so they get a gold star for trying to make this one right!

​

We attended a wonderful Employment Law Update this week and they reminded the group a summary of the laws that are in effect, or will be in effect shortly for 2017

Here is some of what you need to do NOW:

• Purchase and post new 2017 FED/CA Poster English
• Use the new I9 form by 1/22/17
• Update your employment application - see AB 1843
• Update your Employee Handbook to reflect the new legalization of Marijuana
• Abide by Single User Restroom AB 1732

If  you want to know about the other 'musts' for 2017 - then WE want to tell you about it!

info@clearhrsd.com
Sign up for our newsletter about upcoming training sessions.

Perfect time of the year to poke fun at yourself and the woes and wobbles of the HR life...the watching, the minding, the prayers for your clients never stop...thus FACES THE SEASON.

Thank you for being with us on our first Holiday ride, and wherever this season takes you, I wish you all the happiness you can handle!
Merry Christmas ~ Happy Hannukah!

CalChamber submitted their latest HR Watchdog article, topic: wage theft, and before you pass this by, it's NOT the employees, but the business owners!

"The California Labor Commissioner’s office has announced that a San Diego restaurant wage theft investigation resulted in the restaurant owner’s conviction and two years of jail time for grand theft and labor violations. It is the first criminal jury trial conviction in California for felony grand wage theft by false pretenses.
In addition, the owner must repay $20,000 in wages and tips."

Read the entire piece here:

Don't do this...

Scenario:

1. New business owner, frustrated with increasing expenses is faced with laying off employee.
2. Instead they decide to terminate one person, who in response (and not surprisingly) gets very upset.
3. NOW, the business owner, in response to his now former employee being upset, decides to air the situation on their personal Facebook page and solicits feedback from their friends.
4. Personal Facebook page is overrun with anti-employee comments, some very aggressive and out of line.  

Why is this a problem?

1. The business doesn't have HR in place, or an at-will-employment policy OR an employee handbook  -  if the business had these in place, all would be protected.
2. The employee doesn't have anything recorded against them anywhere in their employee history. No coaching, counseling, nothing....and may be eligible to collect unemployment. (as determined by EDD guidelines)
3. The business owner has opened up the business for a legitimate wrongful termination lawsuit.

Long story short:
Another business owner who has ZERO HR in place, may face exhorbitant legal fees to defend against lawsuit, which leads to ---> loss of employee trust, personal credibility ---> loss of business from unprofessional Facebook rant --->  loss of business.

It's not worth it...