Even in a regular year, there are often changes to labor laws. When you add in COVID-related compliance requirements; 2020 has been an extra challenging year for employers and HR teams. It’s almost November so that means it’s time to dust off those year-end HR checklists. Today we’re going to take a look at 2020 year-end compliance requirements.
Year-End 2020 HR checklist: compliance
1. EEO-1 Data Collection deadline extended. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is extending the deadline for collection of the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 date until March 2021 because of the pandemic. Under the law, covered employers are required to submit information about their employees including how many and broken down into race, ethnicity, gender and job category.
2. Prepare compliance notices. It’s time to prepare and distribute any required annual notices. Examples include:
a. Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBA)
b. HIPPA
c. CHIP notice on health coverage assistance
d. Hawaii COBRA and Federal COBRA general rights and elections notices
3. Audit your Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs). You will need to do an audit of your FTEs to determine if you now have 50 or more employees and are required to comply with the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2021. If so, you will need to provide certain FMLA notices. A notice must be provided to new employees about the health insurance marketplace/exchanges of Hawaii within 14 days of hire.
4. Overtime pay final rule for employees with fluctuating workweeks. If you are not up to date, review the overtime pay final rule for any employees with fluctuating workweeks that came out on May 20, 2020. This was an update to Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations and gave guidance on how to calculate overtime pay for employees with fluctuating workweeks.
5. Review new hire applications to ensure they don’t break Hawaii’s “Ban the Box” Law. The law bans employers from including the checkbox “Have you been convicted of a crime?” on job applications. Hawaii was the first state to “ban the box” on applications for both public and private employment.
6. Review updated OSHA Policies. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), employers are required to provide a safe workplace that is free from known hazards. Because of COVID-19, OSHA updated its enforcement policies and employers will need to know the rules so they are in compliance.
7. Schedule any required compliance training. Employers should check all required federal, state, and industry workplace training requirements that apply to their business. Hawaii businesses should also consider workplace safety training for COVID-19 consistent with OSHA and CDC guidelines.
Feeling stressed about compliance? That’s okay; we’ve got you covered through HR outsourcing! When you partner with Makai HR you gain peace of mind that you are in compliance with all of Hawaii’s employer laws (if you’ve ever looked you know that the list is very long). You can also get on with the business you are trying to grow while we take care of your employee needs from payroll to taxes, health insurance/benefits and worker’s compensation. When choosing a PEO to partner with, there are many things to consider including cost, services and technology solutions.
We know how important it is to keep labor costs in line with revenue. Our plans are priced competitively and include value-added services like time-in/time-out systems. Our three tiers of PEO service plans are tailored to the size of your business and specific needs. We offer a 100% paperless solution which means that your employees can manage their needs through a computer, tablet or phone. We can truly improve your employees work benefits while freeing you up to run your business.
What are you waiting for? Companies that partner with a PEO benefit from 7-9% faster growth, 10-14% lower employee turnover; and they are 50% less likely to go out of business. Contact us today to get started!