Why Internal HR Compliance Matters

At Emerald Software Group, we place a high value on ensuring our products support compliance with external regulations at both the state and federal level. However, that's not the only area where you should be concerned about consistency in your HR processes. What Might Happen If Steps are Skipped? KPA, a risk management and compliance [...]

Categories: Blog by Chuck Ros | Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding
Customization Matters in Hiring Software Tools

Although many businesses within a given industry have similar requirements for hiring and onboarding software, there's something to be said for having the ability to fine tune an application to precisely meet your company's needs. Workforce.com has an interesting article available about a major manufacturing and retail firm that discovered every cent spent on customized [...]

Categories: Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding | The Onboarding Experience
Would You Participate In a Workplace Ranking Program?

Have you read the recent Workforce.com article about workplace ranking programs? It raises some interesting questions. How does entering this kind of contest benefit employers? How does it benefit employees? What are the downsides of participation, and what happens if you don’t win? Employers’ Perspective The benefits most employers hope to gain from entering a [...]

Categories: Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding | The Onboarding Experience
How Pending OSHA Program Updates May Impact Employers

OSHA is gearing up to create a new program for preventing injury and illness in the workplace. This I2P2 (Injury & Illness Protection Program) is still in the development and discussion stage, but employers should be aware that significant changes are probably on the way. The updated rules are likely to be based on common [...]

Categories: Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding | The Onboarding Experience
What's Up With The Chamber Of Commerce?

The United States Chamber of Commerce recently stepped up again to protest against the enforcement of immigration compliance. In 2008, the Chamber attempted to block the Department of Homeland Security from mandating the use of e-Verify for federal contractors. That approach failed at the federal level, so now the fight is taking place at the [...]

Categories: Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding | The Onboarding Experience
Why Buying Specialized HR Software Makes Sense

Attorney Kevin Troutman recently posted an article over at laborlawyers.com that highlights the increasingly complex world of healthcare employment. The triple threat of new laws, court rulings, and administrative changes is placing additional pitfalls in the way of hospitals and other healthcare organizations. Troutman investigates the top 10 hazards in his informative article. Here are [...]

Categories: Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding | The Onboarding Experience
Safe Harbor Rules Help Employers Manage Multinational HR Data

As with many areas of government regulation, the European Union has more stringent rules than the U.S. regarding the privacy of personal data. The EU Directive on Data Protection includes privacy principles that are similar in many ways to the GAPP we’ve discussed in previous posts. However, they are backed by the law in the [...]

Categories: Blog by Chuck Ros | Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding
Overview of Strategic Workforce Planning Part 1

Last week, we talked a little about Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) and how it is changing the way HR does business. Today, let's take a look at one institution that has been using workforce planning for quite some time. The state of Texas requires that all state agencies (except for educational facilities) must use strategic [...]

Categories: Blog by Chuck Ros | Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding
Misclassification During Onboarding May Invalidate Agreements

The IRS and DOL have some pretty steep penalties in store for employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors when they are actually employees. But there are peripheral legal issues involved as well. A recent court case in Pennsylvania demonstrates what can happen in litigation. Categorization Impacts Enforceability A company that hired an independent sales [...]

Categories: Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding | The Onboarding Experience
AICPA Introduces New Data Center Standards

Effective in June of 2011, the old SAS 70 auditing standards are being replaced with the SSAE 16. This new standard has been developed to closely align with the international version (ISAE 3402) that is being rolled out concurrently. Why the change now? Old Standards Created Too Many Loopholes One reason is that the previous [...]

Categories: Blog by Chuck Ros | Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding
Overview of Strategic Workforce Planning Part 1

The Texas State Auditor’s Office workforce planning guide has a lot more to offer than the basics we looked at last week. So, let’s continue perusing the guide to see what specific steps they recommend taking in the process of Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP). Communication about Value Before an SWP initiative can get off the [...]

Categories: Blog by Chuck Ros | Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding
DOL and Puerto Rico Join Forces

The Wage and Hour Division of the DOL has begun collaboration with the Department of Labor and Human Resources in Puerto Rico to boost employer compliance on the island. Although not a state, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico is subject to the same federal laws that govern the rest of the U.S. This means that [...]

Categories: Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding | The Onboarding Experience
U.S. Workplace Privacy Laws

The United States has no legislation that’s really comparable to the EU Privacy Directive. Instead, various aspects of privacy are covered by separate rules. For example, the healthcare industry is bound to comply with HIPAA. Information collected by federal agencies is subject to the Privacy Act of 1974. Financial institutions are each governed by different [...]

Categories: Blog by Chuck Ros | Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding
How to Eat an Elephant

Just over 2 years ago, I had a very aggressive client project manager inform me that his organization was going to go live with a new ATS, onboarding application, an HRMS solution, and several interfaces flying between all systems by January 1st.   The only problem with this schedule was that it was early October when [...]

Categories: Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding | The Onboarding Experience
Employer Use of Private Employee Information

We’ve been looking at a lot of data privacy standards over the last few weeks. These various principles and guidelines offer a broad overview of industry best practices that can often be applied to workforce data. But the fact is that the employer/employee relationship remains fraught with boundary issues when it comes to collecting and [...]

Categories: Blog by Chuck Ros | Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding
Safe Harbor Rules – Part 2

Last week, we started looking at Safe Harbor data privacy principles and the purpose they serve in helping U.S. employers comply with EU privacy laws. The principles themselves are fairly straightforward as they apply to the workforce. They include the following: Notice & Choice – Employers must notify job candidates, new hires, and employees when [...]

Categories: Blog by Chuck Ros | Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding
Is HR Ready for Strategic Workforce Planning?

Over the next few months, we'll be taking a close look at the concept of strategic workforce planning (SWP). This is an emerging area in HR and there's a lot to learn. At the most basic level, this type of planning has always played a role in the employment sphere. For example, HR has traditionally [...]

Categories: Blog by Chuck Ros | Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding
Social Media Background Checks May Raise Litigation Risks

Workplace data privacy compliance is a big issue in HR right now. Chuck’s been talking a lot about this topic at his blog. Now, Workforce.com has published an article about another aspect of privacy in an age where transparency is increasing every day. Social media background checks are becoming more and more common. This isn’t [...]

Categories: Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding | The Onboarding Experience
Onboarding Compliance Specialist

Keeping up with what’s going on in onboarding compliance always brings up some interesting search results on Google. Right now, there are some employers specifically seeking to hire onboarding compliance specialists. Let’s take a look at what these HR professionals do. Here’s an excerpt from one employer’s recent job posting: “This position supports the new [...]

Categories: Blog by Chuck Ros | Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding
South Carolina Penalizes Employers Who Hire Undocumented Workers

We’ve talked a lot about what ICE is doing to increase compliance levels with form I-9 processing for U.S. employers. But the fact is that even steep monetary penalties levied by USCIS pale in comparison to the hard line approach state governments can take. Recently, the South Carolina Department of Labor took the drastic step [...]

Categories: Emerald Software Group | HR | Human Resources | Onboarding | The Onboarding Experience