5 Tips for Inclusive Recruiting

“Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At (company), we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You might just be the right candidate for this or other roles.” This was recently included in an actual job posting. I found it posted in an HR group on Facebook and the

Top Payroll Errors

My theme for the summer seems to be money. It’s been a huge topic of conversation in my house and with clients, from trying to help my oldest navigate scholarships, FAFSA, and how to responsibly manage having a credit card, to teaching my 16-year-old to understand income taxes, to helping clients answer questions about wages and payroll.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve talked about misclassifying employees, both as Independent Contractors and as exempt employees. This week I want to shift a little and talk about some of the common payroll errors and how to avoid them.  Overtime Pay:  Comp

Are You Misclassifying Employees?

The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case that could have a big impact on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the classification of employees as exempt versus non-exempt. The case of Hewitt v. Helix Energy Sols. Grp., Inc. involves a highly compensated oil rig worker who was paid a weekly “salary” and upon his termination sued Helix for unpaid overtime on the basis that he was not paid an annual salary and therefore was not an exempt employee. The outcome of this case could impact employers who pay a daily or weekly “salary” as well as those

1099’s – The Cost of Misclassification

In the last few weeks, I have come across multiple cases of employers hiring individuals as independent contractors in violation of the IRS guidelines. Some have done so because they aren’t aware of or don’t understand the IRS guidelines and/or state regulations and some have done so knowingly. Either way, none are aware of the potential risk of misclassifying workers as independent contractors and just how costly such a mistake can be to their organization.  The IRS has a 20-Factor Test to help organizations determine if a worker meets the requirements to be an independent contractor. You can read more

Is Your Organization In the Learning Zone?

Over the past few years, I’ve spoken with a lot of organizations about the importance of psychological safety. A 2012 study by Google showed that psychological safety is far and away the most important factor of a team’s success, yet many organizations lack the psychological safety required to be successful.  A few years ago, I worked with a client that was going through some major changes and employee morale was at rock bottom. As I began speaking with employees one theme stood out, employees didn’t feel safe speaking up. There were a number of reasons for this, including the fact