The top compliance tips + resources for HR in the new year

You’ve made it through the holiday season: the company parties, the seasonal workers, the tricky scheduling, and even the year-end reporting. Navigating the waters of this season as an HR professional is no simple feat, but you made it. Even though we’ve entered the new year full of fresh starts and resolutions, our days of managing compliance aren’t behind us.

Managing compliance in the workplace is an active, ongoing part of Human Resources that must be managed throughout the year. Don’t let compliance issues land your company with legal and financial consequences this year. Get things started off right in 2019, and remember these top compliance tips and resources to kick off the new year.

First, be sure to mark your calendars with important dates and deadlines for the year. You can access all those dates in our 2019 HR and Payroll compliance calendar: key dates HR and Payroll managers should know. This will help you stay on track with all those important dates in the workplace from ACA reporting deadlines to National Payroll Week.

Now, let’s take a look at the major compliance issues in the workplace and the resources HR needs to manage them:

Affordable Care Act tips for 2019 reporting

With a change in administration, the ACA has sent employers on a roller coaster over the last few years. While the debate is hot in Congress, the Employer Mandate still stands for all Applicable Large Employers in the U.S., and reporting deadlines are just around the corner (though the IRS did extend deadlines for Form 1095-C). Noncompliance can mean significant penalties for companies, so keep these resources on hand to be sure you’re not receiving Letter 226J from the IRS.

• The 2019 ACA reporting deadlines HR needs to know
• ACA compliance for employers and HR
• ACA reporting: your questions answered
• ACA terms to know

FLSA status and exemption resources

While major changes to overtime rules were expected at the end of 2016, an 11th-hour injunction from a Texas federal judge threw those changes to a screeching halt. Since then, we’ve seen a change in administration, and the regulation has been tossed around, causing confusion for employers and employees alike. For now, the FLSA status remains at its current salary threshold. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta says he'd like to see this threshold raised, but does not want an increase as “extreme” as the one proposed by the Obama administration. According to the Department of Labor’s regulatory agenda, this is a change we can expect to be proposed in 2019.

Regardless of when these changes come to pass, employers still struggle to correctly classify employees whether part-time, full-time, or contracted workers. Determining FLSA status can become especially tricky when you consider the specialty exemptions like the Learned Professional or Computer exemptions. Like every workplace compliance issue, violating FLSA compliance can have major penalties for your organization.

Read these articles for tips and resources on FLSA status and compliance:

• The HR guide to FLSA overtime rules and exemptions
• How to use FLSA status to classify employees
• How to classify FLSA non-exempt and exempt employees & contractors
• FLSA compliance this summer: what to do about unpaid internships
• 3 Myths about FLSA status your employees need to stop believing

Learn how to determine which employees qualify for these FLSA exemptions:

• FLSA Computer Exemption
• FLSA Administrative Exemption
• FLSA Learned Professional Exemption
• FLSA Executive Exemption

More labor law and compliance resources

While ACA and FLSA seem to take up plenty of the spotlight, there are other workplace compliance issues about which HR needs to stay educated like FMLA and ERISA. Check out these resources on other major workplace compliance topics:

• FMLA training: why you should make it a priority for managers this year
• What HR needs to know about its role in ERISA compliance: Form 5500, SDP & SAR
• Is your workforce prepared for modern drug policies?
• How to navigate holiday season workplace issues
• 4 Mistakes new managers make + how HR can help
• How to prevent and address sexual harassment in the workplace

If you’re looking for a resolution this year, commit to being diligent about workplace compliance. We not only cover these topics throughout the year, but we also offer ongoing resources for you to get important HR news:

Fuse’s HR Roundup

Every month, we round up some of the biggest and most impactful HR news stories and bring it to you in one place: Fuse’s HR Roundup. We cover compliance issues, workplace trends, and more, keeping you in the know. We publish these monthly on the Fuse HR & Payroll Blog. You can subscribe here.

Compliance Tracker

If there’s a workplace compliance update in the news, you can bet we’re writing about it. From IRS extensions to new OSHA posters, stay on track with our Compliance Tracker. Get brief, timely updates about the compliance news HR needs to know when you subscribe here.

Managing compliance isn’t easy—but it doesn’t have to be impossible. When you have the right tools and resources at hand, you can understand your responsibility as HR, automate many compliance tasks, and reduce your company’s risk of violations and penalties.