HR Compliance Training Topics: 5 You Should Know
The Facts
Q&A
Deciding on HR compliance training topics is the first step to effectively conducting compliance training. HR compliance training ensures that laws, rules, and corporate policies are communicated to safeguard organizations and individual personnel. Compliance training aims to keep employees safe, keep operations running efficiently, and foster a respectful culture.
Neglecting an organization's mandated rules, laws, or principles can result in severe repercussions, such as job loss, fines, criminal prosecution, audits, or harm to the company's reputation. An organization's legal accountability is ensured by requiring personnel to complete a level of compliance training. Hence, choose the topics wisely.
HR Compliance Training: What Does It Mean?
Human resources compliance training is an important tool for educating employees and management and encouraging excellent conduct throughout the firm. HR compliance training that is effective illustrates how workplace regulations and corporate rules and procedures apply in real-world scenarios.
Furthermore, compliance training raises awareness of the many types of discrimination and harassment, encourages employees to voice their concerns and questions, and gives practical insights and actions that build business culture and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.
5 HR Compliance Training Topics
HR employment regulations were created to safeguard employees' rights and to standardize the company's employer responsibilities. Equal Employment Opportunity, Workplace Safety, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and Employee Benefits are just a few of the significant concerns.
HR compliance training is required for not just human resources specialists but also department managers. It's because both companies make daily judgments concerning their personnel based on these regulations. Managers and supervisors collaborate with the HR department to guarantee that workers follow the government labor rules.
- Policies of the Organization
Every organization has its own set of protocols for dealing with day-to-day operations. This is the ideal opportunity to clarify these firm regulations during compliance training.
Make it clear what the firm stands for when it comes to bullying, drug and alcohol usage, and any other key issues that fall within your employee code of conduct. Explain both the employee's and the employer's responsibilities in detail so that everyone knows what they're expected to do and what they may anticipate in return.
Reviewing your code of conduct and developing training that highlights the most important points for workers guarantees that all of your hard work doesn't go to waste five minutes after an employee signs off on the training.
- Anti-Harassment
Today's anti-harassment training must be comprehensive. It should describe harassment as well as explain how to respond appropriately to this type of conduct. Employers should instruct their workers on how to intervene in cases of workplace harassment as well as how to report it (and to whom).
Employees should also be aware of the company's harassment policy so that they can hold people in positions of authority accountable in the event of an occurrence. Demonstrating that ideals are carried out and that regulations apply equally to everyone is one way to build trust between employees and management.
- Procedures for Reporting Issues
Finally, the topic of issue reporting is one of the most significant aspects of compliance training. Your employees need to know that your firm cares about what they have to say, making them feel appreciated. As a result, it's critical to check the company's reporting mechanism for incidents of violence, harassment, bullying, and other difficulties.
Explain to your staff the best ways to contact HR in the event of an issue. During the training lesson, make sure they get the contact information for your HR managers. If your organization employs a reporting hotline or a third-party reporting form, the ideal time to present it to your staff is during compliance training. You will establish a sense of trust between you and your staff if you take the time to explain the procedure.
- Diversity and Inclusion
As more organizations go global, employees work with people from many countries and backgrounds. To maintain a healthy and safe work environment, building a culture of respect in a diverse company is vital. Exposing your staff to the HR training topic of diversity and cultural awareness will help the organization in the long run since it will lessen workplace disputes and make everyone respect every employee regardless of race or background.
- Onboarding
Employee onboarding is critical for recruits to get off to a good start in their new employer. It enables workers to better understand their tasks and responsibilities, as well as comply with corporate standards, making the transfer to their new jobs simpler.
A solid head start will lead to higher performance in the long run, which will benefit both the individuals and the business. This HR training subject is critical for recruits, thus getting them into appropriate onboarding is highly suggested to minimize misunderstanding and delays midway through the job.
What Legislation does HR need to be familiar with?
HR must be familiar with a large variety of laws and wage and hour requirements at the federal, state, and municipal levels to remain compliant. The following are some of the more well-known regulations:
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Affordable Care Act (ACA)
- Family and Medical Leave Act
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
- Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
- Equal Pay Act (EPA)
- Americans with Disabilities Act
Issues with HR compliance
HR compliance challenges commonly develop throughout the employment lifetime, from hiring through termination or retirement. Here are a few examples:
- Discriminatory Job Postings
There should be no language in recruitment advertising that expresses a preference for an applicant based on protected information or traits. Race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, handicap, genetic information, and age are all examples of this.
Even requesting "recent college grads" might be seen as discriminatory. There are online tools that can assist you in writing accurate job descriptions, or you can check to see if your organization has templates that satisfy best practice requirements.
- Interview Questions that aren't Acceptable
Asking questions that reveal protected qualities, dig into a candidate's personal life, or reveal associations irrelevant to the work should be avoided during an interview. Inquiring about any of these issues may not only insult a potential employee but may also put you at risk of being sued for employment discrimination.
Instead, ask applicants questions that allow them to exhibit their abilities. You can't reject hiring an applicant because he or she discloses a handicap and makes a reasonable request for adjustments.
- Pay Practices that are Unequal
In addition to the Equal Compensation Act, a federal law that requires equal pay for equal work, numerous states have passed laws to address pay disparities between men and women. While you may aim to follow these regulations to the letter, gender pay inequalities might emerge accidentally over time as a result of recruiting, transfers, and promotions. Regular pay audits, conducted with the assistance of your legal counsel, can help you avoid this situation.
Conclusion
Regular HR compliance training allows your firm to reduce liability risks, function efficiently, and follow laws and regulations.
When planning to engage your staff with compliance training, be sure you use tailored and entertaining compliance training content. Don't forget to perform regular compliance training and make the sessions easily available. We hope this post has been useful in clarifying how to run a successful HR compliance training program in your firm.