THE EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATION
The Employers Association
Trusted HR Advice, Tools & Training
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Legislative and Regulatory Highlights for Area Employers
LEADERS MAKE IN PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS The performance appraisal process serves three important functions. It helps companies encourage good performance, identifies and discourages poor performance, and allows employees to see how they contribute to the company’s overall progress. For most people, having their performance appraised is not a favorite activity. If this important process is not done well, it can actually destroy morale and do more damage than good. Leaders should be careful to avoid these common appraisal mistakes.
Mistake #1 – Not doing the appraisal at all or giving it little attention Appraisal is about improving future performance. Not doing it assures that things will not improve. Doing it late sends the message that performance improvement is not important. Mistake #2 – Letting bias creep into the appraisal or being less than truthful The value of appraisal is diminished by rating everyone average, believing some people can do no wrong, believing that some people can do no right, or being less than truthful to avoid conflict. Mistake #3 – Believing appraisal is an event and not a process Without feedback on an ongoing basis, appraisal will do no good at all. Mistake #4 – Blaming Appraisal should not assess blame, but should encourage a two-way exchange in a safe environment with improvement as the goal. Mistake # 5 – Ranking Comparing people with one another causes dissent. Rating against a standard or agreed-to goals is a much better alternative.
Mistake #6 – Thinking appraisals are only about salary Appraisals should help drive better performance. Some organizations plan salary increases off cycle from appraisals to avoid this problem.
Mistake #7 – Doing appraisals without help from others With today’s diverse technology and matrix organizations, leaders may not have complete knowledge of their subordinates’ work. It may be necessary to get input from others.
Mistake #8 – Assuming there must be negatives in every review If performance is outstanding, there is no need to think of something negative to say. Mistake #9 – Failure to set goals Performance appraisals should always include goal setting and a review of performance against goals. This assures accountability and responsibility. Accomplishment should be rewarded, not just effort toward accomplishment. c o n s t r u c t i ve c a t a ly s t fo r c re a t i ve c o n s c i o u s n e s s
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MOST COMMON WAGE AND HOUR VIOLATIONS
According to a Commerce Clearinghouse report, the most common wage and hour violations are:
1. Not maintaining accurate records of all hours worked by employees. 2. Failure to pay employees for all time that is recorded and worked. 3. Failure to calculate non-discretionary bonuses into the regular rate of pay for overtime calculations. 4. Not compensating employees for unauthorized overtime. 5. Failure to pay employees properly for compensable travel time. 6. Improperly administering compensable time off programs that substitute time off for overtime. 7. Not paying employees for training or meeting time. 8. Improperly compensating employees with respect to “on-call” time. 9. Failure to compensate appropriately with respect to meal and break periods. 10. Improper classification of salaried employees as exempt from overtime and minimum wage rules. (The Management Association)
EMPLOYER’S RIGHT TO DESIGNATE FMLA A question that comes up sometimes with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) involves employees who are going to be out for an FMLA qualifying reason but don’t want the time off counted as FMLA. In some instances, employees want to take their paid time off (vacation, sick or PTO) before the employer starts counting their FMLA. How should you respond? The FMLA regulations state that in all cases it is the employer’s responsibility to designate FMLA leave when informed by the employee or the employee’s spokesperson that the need for leave is FMLA qualifying. Once you are on notice and have sufficient documentation under your policy to designate FMLA, you must do so. Your policy should state that if the employee fails to provide the required certification, the FMLA leave will be delayed or denied. In addition, you should make certain that supervisors are trained to recognize absences that may fall under FMLA so that they can notify Human Resources to make further inquiries with the employee for FMLA purposes. With regards to the substitution of paid leave, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (USDOL) offers this guidance: Employees may choose to use, or employers may require the employee to use, accrued paid leave to cover some or all of the FMLA leave taken. Employees may choose, or employers may require, the substitution of accrued paid vacation or personal leave for any of the situations covered by FMLA. The substitution of accrued sick or family leave is limited by the employer’s policies governing the use of such leave. (Source:CAI; http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/benefits-leave/fmla.htm)
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Content contributed by The Employers Association, providing comprehensive human resources and training services to a membership of over 860 companies in the greater Charlotte region. For more information, contact Laura Hampton at 704-522-8011 or visit www.employersassoc.com.
september 2011
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