KPA Blog

Author Archive

Kathryn Carlson

Kathryn Carlson is the Product Director for KPA’s HotlinkHR, an HR management and compliance solution designed for auto dealerships. Kathryn has over 25 years of human resources management experience and is a certified HR professional (SPHR). Prior to joining KPA in 2009, Kathryn was a senior director of product management for ADP. For the past 9 years Kathryn has focused on developing HR software and HR compliance programs to improve efficiency, reduce risk, and ensure compliance for companies ranging from small businesses to international corporations. You can reach Kathryn at kcarlson@kpaonline.com.

Posts by Kathryn Carlson:

Retaliatory Firing: Don’t Fire Whistleblowers, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

Employees have a right to report alleged non-compliance to federal and state agencies without fear of retaliatory firing or demotion- no ifs, ands, or buts. A violation of an employee’s protected conduct of reporting potentially illegal or dangerous circumstances, the Department of Labor has made it very clear that retaliatory firing will not be tolerated.

A historical case of retaliatory firing landed one company with a $110,000 back wage payment, as well as fines imposed by OSHA, After an employee reported mechanical issues with his truck and was fired the next day, United Auto Recovery was required to rehire the employee, pay back wages and punitive damages, and was required increase trainings on employee rights, as well as to improve the workplace by posting employee rights posters.

Traditionally OSHA and the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) have been the primary investigators of complaints of retaliatory firing. Other agencies, including the SEC and FTC, have become involved with strong whistleblower protections under Sarbanes Oxley for employees of public companies; new laws including The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, which creates whistleblower protections for employees in the health care sector; and The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which provides expansive protection to whistleblowers in the financial services industries.

The bottom line is that you can’t afford to fire a whistleblower unless you have absolute, irrefutable evidence that the firing had nothing to do with the report of fraud, complaint of discrimination, or safety issues.

Tags: Department of Labor, HR compliance, OSHA, retaliatory firing, whistleblower protections
Posted in DOL, Employee Relations, HR: Industry Updates, OSHA | Leave a Comment »

March Tip of the Month: Use the Revised I-9 Form

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

On Friday March 8th, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a new Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. The form is available for immediate use by employers. Employers who need to make necessary updates to their business processes to allow for use of the new Form I-9 may continue to use other previously accepted revisions (Rev.02/02/09)N and (Rev. 08/07/09)Y until May 7, 2013 date. After May 7, 2013, all employers must use the revised Form I-9 for each new employee hired in the United States.

The revised Form I-9 has several new features, including new fields and a new format to reduce errors. The instructions to the form also more clearly describe the information employees and employers must provide in each section.

English and Spanish versions of the new form are available online at www.uscis.gov and I-9 Central.

KPA HR Management clients have access to the new Form I-9 directly in HotlinkHR. To learn more about how your dealership can stay up to date with state and federal forms automatically, visit the KPA HR Website.

Tags: I-9
Posted in Tip of the Month | Leave a Comment »

February Tip of the Month: Make sure your FMLA Posting is Current

Tuesday, February 12th, 2013

The Department of Labor has issued a revised Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) posting that includes important changes regarding the expansion of coverage of job-protected FMLA leave for families of eligible veterans and airline personnel and flight crews. Employers with more than 50 employees should make sure that they have the latest posting displayed in a conspicuous place where employees and applicants for employment can see it. In addition to displaying the revised posting, covered employers who have any employees eligible for FMLA leave must provide employees with the same information that is in the poster through an employee handbook or other written materials about leave and benefits.

KPA HR Management clients have access to the DOL model forms (valid through 2015) and the new posting the “Toolkit” section of HotlinkHR or may purchase complete sets of 2013 state and federal labor posters at http://kpa.theoshastore.com/shop-all-departments/labor-law-poster.html

Tags: FMLA. Family Medical Leave Act, hr regulations
Posted in Tip of the Month | Leave a Comment »

Online Shopping @ Work

Thursday, December 6th, 2012

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us, you may think that the chances of your employees shopping online during work hours are behind you as well. Think again. According to the latest CareerBuilder survey, 49% of employees plan to shop at work this holiday season with most planning to begin sometime after December 7^th. (more…)

Tags: online shopping at work
Posted in Human Resources Management | Leave a Comment »

Jon Stewart Exposes Veterans Hiring Mess

Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

This excellent clip from the John Stewart show highlights a key issue employers face in making good hires. It is especially relevant for those employers who are committed to hiring veterans, but it also hits home for any employer who simply wants to hire the best person for the job.

A big disconnect comes into play when hiring mangers rely on route, standardized education and certification requirements in the selection process. Here’s something important to note about these requirements: When these recruitment standards are set purposefully high to weed out the “unqualified,” they reject everyone in the process, including people who be a real asset to the company.

Having a baseline of education and experience is a good screening practice. However, not having the ability to look at a candidate’s background and make informed decisions on equivalency will results in missing out on some great employees.

Let’s Make Every Day “Hire a Veteran Day”

Monday, November 12th, 2012

Today we observe Veterans Day. Make today more meaningful by committing your company to proactively recruit and hire veterans throughout the year. Our veterans have a consistently higher than average rate of unemployment, although they have the proven commitment, skills and training to make a positive impact on the private sector workplace.

Hiring a veteran is one way that employers can do well by doing good. The Veterans Job Bank can connect veteran job seekers and employers, learn more at https://www.nationalresourcedirectory.gov/home/veterans_job_bank.

Thank you to all our veterans and to our active duty military personnel for your service to our country.

Tags: dealerships, hire a veteran
Posted in HR: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »

How Measurement and Positive Work Environments Prevent Employee Theft (Part 5 of A 5 Part Series)

Friday, November 9th, 2012

10. Investigate

9. Audits

8. Hotline

7. Effective screening

6. Review building security

5. Evaluate Management Controls on an annual basis

2. Create a positive working environment

Compensation for effort is a given in the sales department, but what about other departments? Does your dealership have other programs to recognize employee performance, and are they appropriate?

If employees feel overworked and under-engaged, there is a higher likelihood of fraud or theft. Consider implementing a program that turns employees into invested stakeholders by educating them on the cost of shrinkage to the company. Then set a goal of reduction in the percentage and share a portion of the savings with all employees as part of a reward system. This encourages employees to watch each other and report theft if they see it.

Measure

Measure how well your employees recognize that your success is their success. The more engaged your workforce is, the more likely they see personal benefits to saving the company money and preventing fraud and theft.

… and the number one thing you can do to prevent theft and fraud in your dealership is…
1. Be proactive: Have a “3D” plan:

Deterrance

If you don’t do anything about employee theft, you are encouraging it to happen again and again. Not only by the person who stole this time, but by every other employee as well.

Detection

Use a systemic approach for early detection.

An internal theft prevention audit works backwards to find vulnerabilities. For example: Is there a second check of your payroll records? Can you prevent kick-back schemes? How do you audit inventory?

Determination

Finding areas in your dealership where fraud can occur.

Tags: hr strategies to prevent employee fraud and theft
Posted in Human Resources Management | Leave a Comment »

How Manager Training and Written Policies Prevent Employee Theft (Part 4 of a 5 Part Series)

Friday, November 2nd, 2012

10. Investigate

9. Audits

8. Hotline

7. Effective screening

6. Review building security

5. Evaluate Management Controls on an annual basis

4. Train Managers

Help managers recognize red flags (things out of ordinary that are worth investigating, such as a minimum wage employee suddenly driving a $40,000.00 truck). Keep an eye not only on employee actions, but also keep an eye on computer security and vendors.

If the same person is always responsible for payroll, or inventory, there is a higher chance for pilferage. Rotating responsibilities enables other employees to recognize anomalies and bring it to your attention. Spot check among managers that reports are reconciled and work has actually been done. This eliminates kickbacks.

If you don’t do anything about it, you are encouraging theft to happen again, not only by the person who stole this time, but by every other employee as well. Managers have a responsibility to respond quickly before the behavior escalates.

3. Written Policy- as part of handbook or as a separate written policy.
This communicates to employees that you value ethical behavior.

Using clear Language (not legalese), define what your dealership considers theft and fraud, and set the tone for the entire organization. For example, define how or if employees can use the shop for personal gain, or purchase parts using the dealership discount.

The policy should be Concise (less than two pages), so that employees know what behaviors are expected of them. Clearly define what is and is not acceptable, and keep the fraud and theft prevention policy separate from the ethics policy (core values).

Define Consequences for failure to comply with the policy. For example, if your policy is zero tolerance, then it needs to explain that termination is the consequence.

Make sure all employees acknowledge that they are aware of the policy. This acknowledgement should be in writing or digitally stored in a HR system like KPA’s HR Management System. This acknowledgement does two things: It is a record that employees have received the policy, and it provides a legal defense in the event that an employee fails to comply with the policy.

Tags: how to prevent employee fraud, theft
Posted in Human Resources Management | Leave a Comment »

November Tip of the Month: Update Your Labor Law Poster

Thursday, November 1st, 2012

How often are you required to update Labor Law posters in the break room?

a) Every 5 years

b) Every Year

c) Every time State or Federal agencies change a regulation on the poster

The answer is C
State and Federal agencies are busy. On average, they amend around 200 labor laws annually. They can change labor law regulations at any time throughout the year- and often do without notifying businesses. These changes often require employers to update their labor law posters, which notably happened earlier this year when the NLRB required employers to prominently display employee rights.

Check your labor law poster and make sure it is compliant with current regulations. If you have any questions, call one of our labor law poster experts at 1 (888) 369-9013.

Tags: labor law posters, update
Posted in Tip of the Month | Leave a Comment »