Rather than coming up with New Year’s resolutions for myself, I find it much easier to come up with resolutions for others. Here are my suggested resolutions for California HR professionals:
- Be fair. Evaluate your company’s payroll in preparation for California’s Fair Pay Act. Some may think that we’ve beaten this dead horse to the point where PETA needs to get involved. But the new legal requirements, vague standards, double damages, and burdens of proof imposed by this legislation could be a game changer.
- Do more than the minimum. Make sure all workers are paid according to the new California minimum wage. This increase to $10 on January 1st affects not just entry level employees, but even exempt employees who must be paid a multiple of the minimum wage. There’s also a new minimum salary for exempt computer professionals.
- Stay out of court. If you don’t already have arbitration agreements with your employees, consider implementing them. I discussed the pros and cons here.
- Trust, but verify. If your company uses the E-Verify system to confirm that workers are authorized to work in the US, make sure that your use conforms with the new legal requirements.
- Be accommodating. Ensure that your managers understand their obligations to accommodate disabled applicants and employees or at least to notify you when situations arise. You can find a list of possible accommodations here.
- Think globally/Act locally. Whether it’s San Francisco’s $12.25 minimum wage, a local paid sick leave ordinance in Oakland, or Los Angeles’s Citywide Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance, pay attention to local requirements where you operate.
If those don’t work for you, you can always go back to the standard, boring New Year’s resolutions — things like working out more or losing weight. And no, I’m not suggesting that you need to lose weight. You look terrific.