On September 24, 2019, the US Department of Labor announced a final rule to make 1.3 million additional American workers eligible for overtime pay. The final rule updates the earnings thresholds necessary to exempt executive, administrative and professional employees from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s [FLSA] minimum wage and overtime pay requirements, and allows employers to count a portion of certain bonuses/commissions towards meeting the salary level. The new thresholds account for growth in employee earnings since the thresholds were last updated in 2004. In the final rule, the Department is: Raising the ‘standard salary level’ from the currently enforced level of $455 per week to $684 per week [equivalent to $35,568 per year for a full-year worker]; Raising the total annual compensation requirement for ‘highly compensated employees’ from the currently enforced level of $100,000 per year to $107,432 per year; Allowing employers to use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments [including commissions] paid at least annually to satisfy up to 10% of the standard salary level, in recognition of evolving pay practices; and Revising the special salary levels for workers in U.S. territories and the motion picture industry. Regarding the first bullet…this means that any employee earning $35,568 or less per year will be eligible for overtime. At the federal level this is time and one-half for any hours over 40 worked in a given week. Your state or even your municipality may have different overtime rules. The final rule is effective on January 1, 2020. The Federal Register notice of the final rule can be found here. Do you need assistance with your workforce strategy or other Human Resources consulting needs? Contact us and check out our blog for more helpful...
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This month’s success story highlights our work with Scheeser Buckley Mayfield. Scheeser Buckley Mayfield [SBM] is a well-respected regional engineering firm serving clients in Ohio and surrounding states. SBM designs mechanical, electrical, site civil, and technology systems for buildings. SBM’s innovative solutions are operating in numerous health care, education, and government facilities Since 1959, SBM has provided exceptional engineering that is responsive to clients’ needs by working together. Their goal is to enhance people’s lives through effective engineering. We were contacted by the principals of SBM to help them with some challenging recruitment and retention needs. Organizational Architecture provided competitive data analyses and recommendations to assist the firm in setting and achieving their growth goals. Chris Schoonover PE is one of the principals and our partner on the project. He said: We work in a competitive industry and decided to engage with Organization Architecture for assistance with assessing our recruiting strategies for technical positions and developing new approaches for retaining and motivating our staff. The project team of Mark Fiala and Ryan Sheehan were quick to get started. We met with the leadership team to understand their challenges and goals. Our experience with engineering and design firms allowed us to get up to speed on understanding the landscape of their industry and provide meaningful insights and analysis into the processes already in place. We conducted a thorough analysis of the A/E industry, recruiting approaches, and retention activities. Using that analysis, we were able to provide meaningful recommendations to improve SBM’s position in the labor market and enhance their position as an employer of choice. Furthermore, We provided recommendations that were easy to understand and more importantly, able to be executed within the existing staff structure. Chris added, Throughout the project Mark and Ryan spent time with us reviewing data, asking questions, and making sure they were providing the analysis we needed to make decisions about our programs, even as the firm continued to evolve. Additionally, they helped present findings to our leadership team in a way that was clear and meaningful. We were very pleased with their work and hope to collaborate as we continue to refine our recruiting and retention programs Do you need assistance with a strategy for effective...
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When we find a client struggling through corrective action, we show them the process to manage performance effectively so that they can make better decisions about performance management outcomes. If they have not done so, we facilitate a discussion of what is expected of the role, both in terms of job duties and expected behaviors. This often helps the client focus on the specific performance issues. Scan their employee handbook and policies and procedures. Often overlooked, the descriptions of what is acceptable and what is not may be found here. This helps develop a plan to manage performance and hold people accountable. Uncover exactly what the performance issues are. Are they related to failing to meet key performance indicators, sales or production goals? Are they violating company policies? Do they behave in ways that are not appropriate for their role? Once the client has defined the issue, we then assist with preparing corrective action tools that can be used in coaching, corrective action, or if necessary, termination, to ensure the process is firm, fair, and consistent. Managing poor performance is a challenge. It’s often not pleasant, but if you can save a poor performer by learning to address performance issues clearly and thoughtfully when they arise, you’ll strengthen your business. While it may ultimately require the most drastic action such as termination of employment, in most cases effective performance management leads to performance improvement, which saves time and money on recruitment, training, and maintaining employee morale and productivity. Do you have questions about effective performance review systems? If you need assistance with this or other human resource needs, contact us and check out our blog for more helpful...
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In our Human Resources consulting practice, one of our favorite euphemisms for performance management issues is when a client tells us that they need our help because an employee “isn’t working out”. Our first response is usually, “well, tell them to go to the gym!” Kidding aside, we understand what the client means, but use this to get the client to think and speak in more specific terms. Simply put, it’s a serious matter to contemplate terminating someone’s employment, and we want to be sure that the client has thought clearly about their rationale for doing so. This is where effective performance management can help. When clients tell us someone is “not working out”, that can mean one or more of the following: The employee is failing to meet production, sales, or other specific goals, or isn’t fulfilling the duties enumerated in their job description. The employee has violated company policies such as appearance standards, time and attendance requirements, safety policies, etc. The employee does not behave in a way that is appropriate for their role. They may not demonstrate appropriate customer service, teamwork, leadership, or some other trait that is necessary to do the job. We often find that smaller businesses struggle with addressing performance issues. In many cases they do not act at all, or swing the other way and react disproportionately to the final “straw that broke the camel’s back”…which comes back to haunt them if the former employee takes action against them. Here are the reasons we’ve uncovered why clients don’t act sooner: Conflict avoidant…people don’t like to be confrontational, especially face to face. Fearful of legal action…many of our clients are smaller companies and fear that they will inadvertently do the wrong thing that will get them into costly trouble. Inability to articulate exactly what the performance problem is…sometimes the client just can’t state clearly what the problem is…especially when it is behavioral based. Don’t have a roadmap for the process; clients may not know what to expect or have the tools to start and finish a path of corrective action to improve behavior. Feel like they don’t have time to manage performance…too busy…but the problems persist until something must be done about it....
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We’re excited for the opportunity to present at the Northeast Ohio Regional Library System’s upcoming Fiscal Officers and Human Resources Network Meeting. We’ve been asked to discuss Human Capital Management and have a great program that will be interactive, informative, and fun. The Northeast Ohio Regional Library System [NEO-RLS] is a partially state-funded membership organization that provides continuing education, professional development, emerging technology support, group purchasing and many other benefits and services to all of the academic, school, special and public libraries in 22 counties of Ohio. The session will be held on Friday, June 21, 2019 at 10.00a at the Westlake Porter Public Library. If you need assistance with HR projects and want to learn more about our human resources consulting, contact us and check out our blog for more...
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OA was privileged to present its workshop Employee Compensation Basics at the Northern Ohio Chapter of IPMA-HR Spring Conference. The International Public Management Association for Human Resources [IPMA-HR] is the leading public sector human resource organization in the world. Their mission is to enhance public sector performance by providing human resource leadership, advocacy, professional development, and a community of HR professionals for the sharing of resources and ideas. The conference was held at the Akron-Summit County Public Library Main Branch on May 15, 2019. This annual conference brings together public sector Human Resources professionals to learn current trends and best practices in an environment that fosters collaboration and networking. We appreciate the opportunity to be part of the program and to be a sponsor. We are looking forward to next year’s conference. If you would like to know more about our workshops, or have other Human Resources consulting needs, contact us and check out our blog for more helpful...
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