General - 1 Stop HR

January 8, 2018 by 1 Stop HR Consulting

5 Tips to close HR Compliance Gaps

We run into many companies that are not sure if they are compliant to ministry requirements when it comes to their HR. As a business owner, this is something that can cause a lot of stress. We hear all the time of businesses being “caught” by the ministry and having to pay huge fines. These fines sometimes cause the business owner their business and many times, the businesses were not aware of what they were missing. At 1 Stop HR, we help businesses by completing an HR audit on their business. Our audit identifies these gaps and produces a plan to address and close them. So in our experience, what are our top 5 tips to help businesses in this respect?

Address any required ministry training
- Every provincially regulated business will have mandatory training requirements in Ontario
- Some training must start as soon as the first employee, volunteer or student is hired
Post mandatory ESA/Ministry posters
- This is such an easy one to do, but is so often missed and can result in hefty fines
Have a comprehensive employee policy manual which includes mandatory policies
- Ahh the employee policy manual, it is a lot of work, but completely worth the effort, certain policies are mandatory and, it can protect your employees and your business
Ensure your Health and Safety is up to snuff
- Think you don’t need health and safety in your office? Think again…
- Have a comprehensive health and safety manual in place and ensure your employees are trained
Get your Documentation in order
- From employment agreements, to employee issues, to performance reviews and everything in between – ensure you have documentation, know how to document properly and do it often

This is just a start, but so very important. Non-compliance does not just mean the potential of a fine, but could also mean Human Rights claims, Law Suits and more. Don’t be negligent. Need help? Contact us.

October 18, 2017 by 1 Stop HR Consulting

References from Employers in Canada – What is your policy?

It happens all the time; a former employee calls the employer for a reference. Do you provide one? What do you say? What if the employee was not a particularly stellar employee? Could it backfire on you? Do you have a work policy on who in the company can provide references?
Ahhh another area of caution…references. Let’s try to attack this very succinctly. If you provide references to past employees, be cautious. Ensure you have a policy around reference providing so both the current employees and management and your departed employees are aware of whom they go to.

I would strongly advise you have one designated individual or department that completes references. Usually I recommend that this department is HR.

Legal action CAN be taken against the company if negative statements are made about a past employee and they cause some kind of economic harm or if there is deemed to be a defamation of character.

So what DO you say? Though not all provinces have privacy laws around personal information this is growing and former employees expect you to protect their personal information. Disclose minimal information – hire date, termination or departure date, job title, duties. Feel free to pass along your policy to the reference checker – that only the above information is shared for all references.

Looking for additional protection? Upon the departure of an employee – have them sign a reference disclosure form – listing the above information and that the employee consents to this information being passed on as part of a reference check.

Key words for this blog: “Proceed with caution”

March 23, 2017 by 1 Stop HR Consulting

Does your Learning and Development Environment Need an Overhaul?

Here is a recent article from our Monthly Newsletter:

Hearing a lot of talk about “growth opportunities” when you are interviewing candidates? Are you talking about it to your employees? Let me guess, you think you provide great growth opportunities within your working environment, but do you really?

Here are a few things to ponder…

Do your managers work with their employees to talk about career planning?

Do your managers help your employees create a plan to support employee career paths?

Do you have an education policy that assists with continuing education costs? And do you encourage your employees to make use of it?

Do you have an onsite “library” with an abundance of material that could enhance knowledge?

Do you provide lunch and learn sessions?

Do you have subject matter experts that come into the office from time to time to share knowledge?

Do you have a peer mentoring program set up?

Do you allow and encourage internal applications to available positions?

Do you have a succession management plan in place?

Do managers touch base with their employees to discuss training needs, gaps or desires?

Do you set learning goals and reward successful achievement of the goals?

This is just a start, but if you find that you do most of these, you are heading in the right direction. I would then ask you “What more could you do?” And, “Where can you gain an edge over your competitors when it comes to this subject and attracting/retaining your people?”

If you are shaking your head “no” then you my friend have some work to do. The majority of employees or job seekers are looking to grow their skill set. They are looking for employers that support and encourage this. Employers that do well are ones that recognize this, that value the increase in knowledge of their people and are actively looking to encourage and support learning and development.

Email us with your thoughts or questions.

What can you do today that will impact tomorrow?

January 12, 2017 by 1 Stop HR Consulting

Hold up – Flexible Work Location?

If you have read our recent post on offering flexible hours at your workplace, this post will flow nicely into some more thoughts for you…

I am sure you have heard that many companies are offering flexible work locations. That is that they allow their employees to be able to work from home or run a satellite office.

No way Jose!

Are your feet stuck? Can’t see allowing your employees the ability to do this?

Why? What’s the concern? I know, I know….you are afraid they won’t do the work….that they might sleep in….say they are working but productivity will go down the drain. How can you “watch” them to ensure they are working? I get it….and we will talk about this, but first, let’s look at some benefits to the employee.

Employee Benefits:

If they have a commute, they will spend less time doing this and possibly put more time into work.
They will be happier employees.
They have the ability to have more control over when their work is done, meaning, they might choose to put in work hours in the evening or early morning to allow for some flexibility in their afternoon.
There may be less disruptions from the natural environment of an office setting, increasing productivity.
Improved work life balance.

Ok….I know, you are waiting to understand the benefits for the employer…so hang tight, here you go…

Employer Benefits:

You may be able to reduce budget put toward things like desks, office space…etc.
Your employee morale might go up…and even your absenteeism rate might be impacted in a positive manner.
Increased productivity.
Increased attraction for quality job applicants.

But but but…..stop with the buts….let’s look at how you manage this so that your concerns are diminished.

Managing the flexible work location arrangement:

Ensure you set clear boundaries and expectations on what this privilege entails. Make it clear that if productivity is a concern, and if there are not improvements if these concerns are noted, that this privilege may be taken away.
Ensure there are clear communication tools for your managers and employees to make contact and make regular contact.
Don’t forget about team building – this is still important, even if the majority of your employees are working remotely.
Ensure your managers hold employees accountable for their work commitments, hitting deadlines and their overall productivity.
Continue with meetings, regular meetings – involve remote employees via Skype or other conferencing tools so that there is still some “face to face” interaction.
Don’t forget that your off-site employees are still employees – involve them in everything you involve your in-house employees in – find a way.

Let us know the benefits this has had in your workplace – share this post on Social Media – tag us or email us with your stories!

January 4, 2017 by 1 Stop HR Consulting

Flexible Work Hours for your Employees – What are you Afraid of?

Stuck in the dark ages?

Do you have the traditional 9-5 work hours for your employees? Why? Let me guess, because that is what your clients expect right? Ok, how about your employees?

The trend to offer flexible working arrangements is huge. If you don’t offer this, you are not growing with what today’s employees want. For some the traditional 9-5 works, but for others, it is a nightmare.

Why is the 9-5 not working anymore?

Work/life balance. Our employees are looking to be able to be more involved in childcare, attend appointments or extracurricular activities or to be able just to balance their life in general.
Elder care. Some of our employees have elder care responsibilities that require them to provide coverage at certain hours.
Avoidance of rush hour. At times the commute during rush hour can add significant time to the morning or evening drive – avoiding this gives more time back for other activities.
Multiple jobs. Many people have two jobs, or need to work two jobs just to make ends meet. Having a flexible or alternate work schedule can allow them to be able to accomplish this.

How do you ensure your clients are taken care of?

Good question! And a reason why many don’t even consider it, as they can’t disrupt their clients. But, who said anything about reducing or impacting the service you provide to your clients? So, what do you do? Establish core hours that everyone must be at work, or that at least must be covered. Then go from there with regard to establishing some flexibility in your start and end times and or how many people you can accommodate on an early and later shift.

So is this all about the employees?

No! What is the benefit for the employer you ask?

You could actually offer extended hours of coverage for your clients!
You keep or attract employees that might otherwise not stay or be interested in working for you.
You compete with your competition.
Depending on the scheduling you put in place, it is possible you might be able to more efficiently utilize your office space, desks and even computers or equipment!

My challenge…

If you are stuck on the 9-5…I challenge you to really think about the above, create your own advantages and disadvantages list. Look at your disadvantages and see what you can do to combat them. Down the line…you will look back and be glad you took the leap.

We would love to hear your stories of success! Email us or tag us on social media with your stories! Share this post to encourage others to take the leap!

Watch for our Flexible Work Locations blog post coming soon!