HR Administration

More laws affecting small businesses have been enacted in the past eight years than in all of the nation’s history.               

Enacted for the common good, they often force extra costs and burdens on smaller entities.

Most anti-government pundits talk about federal laws, but often state and local laws are the most punishing to enterprises.

In the end, billions of dollars are consumed effecting changes in business locales and practices but not all of it helps or protects the general public.

The average small business owner usually has very few employees, so ‘managing’ them may seem unnecessary.

As a group, members are engaged and invested, working closely with each other and things are usually running smoothly.

For many enterprises, this may be the case, but lack of ‘management’ will eventually put an end to the harmonious workplace.

In its place chaos and wasted effort usually reigns often ending in company failure.

The effective administration of payroll and human resources policies, procedures, record keeping communications and plan design present a huge challenge to every organization. 

Recent frequent and sweeping changes in health care programs, compliance requirements and reporting efforts have only served to compound the complexity of this challenge. 

As the law and standard business practices continue to focus on managed workplace risks and the health and safety of employees, an increasingly disruptive rise in opioid prescriptions threatens to undermine both worker welfare and the cost of doing business.

The Damage Being Done

A 2014 study conducted by the Workers Compensation Research Institute across 25 states found that 65% to 85% of injured workers in most states received narcotic painkillers.

As the end of the year approaches, business leaders are busy hitting those last few annual and Q4 goals. As if the end of a quarter weren’t enough to think about, leaders also are trying to set goals for 2016 and formulate plans to achieve them.

According to Mark Sinatra, the CEO of Staff One, “when you’re in charge of the course your business takes, it’s important to devote time to big picture ideas that will propel your company forward, not get bogged down with compliance issues and human resources headaches.”

Employment laws are rapidly changing at the county, city, state and even federal levels. It can be confusing and time consuming to stay on top of all these rules and regulations. This is especially true for smaller, growing businesses without a full-time internal HR team to help navigate the process. Too often SMBs are unaware of or are misinterpreting laws; meanwhile, candidates and employees are becoming more conscious of their legal rights within employment.

The year is coming to a close, which means it’s time to start looking at the exciting opportunities 2016 will have to offer your small business.

According to John Oechsle, CEO of Swiftpage, growth in the coming year will depend on the strategic decisions made today.

Here are a few areas Oechsle believes can optimize a small business’ potential for growth in 2016.

There are pitfalls to going global many small businesses do not realize are in their paths.

According to H. Glen Jenkins, a CPA with Warren Averett, LLC, smaller enterprises can be caught up in the anti-bribery legal morass that have vexed large corporations in recent years.

Shock waves are hitting a majority of smaller businesses receiving notices about the premiums due for employee policies in 2016.

The new rates exceed 20% for many enterprises based on surveys done by Information Strategies, Inc. and other organizations.

An average 23% increases were reported in ISI’s survey of 233 randomly selected businesses under 50 employees. Other soundings surfaced similar increases ranging from 19% to 24%. One respondent reported a 49% increase.

Successful businesses are built on strategic leadership, smart decisions and entrepreneurial drive, but even the best business owners can fall prey to a few bad business habits.

Small business owners are not exempt from this.