Professional Employment Organizations (PEO) provide businesses with specialized management expertise as needed to improve profitability in the areas risk management. But what is “risk management” and how do PEO’s help?

Risk management is a structured approach to managing uncertainty related to a threat, a sequence of human activities including: risk assessment, strategies development to manage it, and mitigation of risk using managerial resources. The strategies for managing risk include transferring the risk to another party, avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effect of the risk, and accepting some or all of the consequences of a particular risk.

Here are some (but not all) examples of how PEO’s traditionally assist businesses with risk management:
   Managing Workers’ Compensation insurance
   Performing Safety and Loss Prevention
   Providing Safety training, including OSHA mandated training
   Implementing and developing Safety Programs
   Assisting with OSHA compliance
   Reviewing the OSHA 300 log
   Customizing Safety Manual, including OSHA-mandated documentation
   Managing Claims for work-related injuries
   Performing Accident investigations and follow-ups
   Implementing Return-to-work programs
   Performing Inspections, reports and data tracking as required
   Provinding Drug testing scheduling and coordination

  Let’s say you have a job applicant who meets the qualifications to be an administrative assistant, but a background check finds a 10-year-old conviction for sexual abuse of a child. Are you obligated under law to offer them the job?

That would depend on the type of business. If it were a day care center, you would have a legally defensible reason to reject the applicant, in fact, a responsibility to their clients to not hire the employee. But you would be on shakier ground if the job were in a shoe factory, and it could depend on the state where the factory is located.Employers frequently face similar scenarios to the one mentioned above. On the one hand, federal and state laws may bar employers from rejecting applicants based on convictions unrelated to the job. On the other hand, employers risk being accused of negligence if they hire someone convicted of a crime who subsequently causes job-related problems. The issue has taken on greater urgency given last year’s initiative, Eradicating Racism and Colorism from Employment, by the EEOC. The EEOC said studies have shown that employers make hiring decisions based on convictions, arrests and other factors that “may disparately impact people of color.”

Businesses without an internal HR department should not face these issues alone.  It would be wise for business owners to consult with a Professional Employment Orgranization (PEO) in these matters. Professional Employers help develop hiring policies and are prepared to proactively respond if a potential issue arises.

Click on the image above for a short video that highlights the most important factors to consider when choosing a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) for your business.

  The Tennessean recently reported employees of a Nashville car wash company have filed a federal lawsuit against the owners of the company.  The suit alleges the employees weren’t paid for hours spent waiting for dirty cars.  Here’s an excerpt from the article:

The 30-year-old carwash is a West End Avenue institution, attracting hundreds of cars during weeks of sunny weather, including those of Music Row fixtures. Workers named in the suit claim managers clock them in and out frequently but forbid them to leave during off hours.

“You need to be paid from the first task of the day until you finish and for any time that you are asked to stand and twiddle your thumbs,” said Charles Yezbak, the Nashville employment lawyer handling the suit against Shur-Brite. “These guys are clocking people in and out at their whimsy and will.”

Owner William Smith said managers clock workers in and out according to how busy the carwash is, but denied that workers are not free to leave anytime they’re off the clock.

“We don’t hold them,” said Smith, who co-owns Shur-Brite with his brother, Glen Smith.

For the complete article click HERE.

-

A growing number of similar lawsuits are being filed around the country, according to an analysis conducted by the Bureau of National Affairs. The number of Fair Labor Standards Act federal lawsuits increased from 2,898 cases in 2003 to about 6,735 cases in 2006.  To ensure your business is in complete compliance with all federal and state employment laws business owners should consider partnering with a Professional Employment Organization.  PEOs will keep you abreast of changing employment regulations and will offer to take over the unwanted payroll and HR obiliations.