Apex Payroll

12/09/2021

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12/02/2021

Creating a Safe and Fulfilling Workplace for Another Challenging Year

As we enter the new year, the risks of COVID-19 may recede, but the trauma, pain, and disruptions of these past two years will still be with us, affecting our lives and our work. We’ve all struggled, sometimes in ways we can’t pinpoint.

In her book Bearing the Unbearable, Joanne Cacciatore describes grief as “a process of expansion and contraction.” Cacciatore explains that in a moment of contraction, we may feel unsteady and unsafe, and we “feel the call to self-protect.” In a moment of expansion, we “become more willing to venture out and explore” and “take risks.” This process isn’t exclusive to grief, of course. Whatever the cause, many of us right now are experiencing one or the other, or both.

A recent guest on the HR Social Hour Half Hour Podcast, Julie Turney, founder and CEO of HR@Heart Consulting, observed that people today recognize that they deserve better, and they are demanding better. They are less willing to settle, less comfortable with the way things are. People are fleeing jobs that are physically or psychologically unsafe. Others are chasing their dreams with a newfound passion.

For the foreseeable future, people will seek environments that are both flexible and strong enough to support a process of contraction and expansion. They will desire work that gives them a safe place to be and a fulfilling place to go. They will crave a future they can own and a course they can chart, and their jobs will either help or hinder them. Jobs that help them will be in high demand.

Fortunately, such sought-after work environments can be achieved with some basic practices. Let’s look at some.

Talk About the Future
Ask your managers to talk regularly with their direct reports about how they’re feeling today and what they’d like to be doing in the future. Due to the circumstances, you can expect the answers they hear to vary and to change. On a given day, an employee may feel optimistic and ambitious, eager to take on a new project or a new role. But a week later, that same employee may feel hesitant or anxious about taking on any new responsibilities.

Don’t assume an employee expressing conflicting feelings isn’t up for the task at hand. In normal times, it’s natural to second guess big decisions, and these are not normal times. Some employees may need a little extra encouragement. Others may truly be happier continuing to do what they’ve been doing.

Through these conversations, managers can help their people make informed decisions about their future that make sense for them and for the company.

Don’t Be Afraid to Set Deadlines
Giving employees time to decide what future makes the most sense for them can go a long way to building trust and gratitude. There will come a time, however, when a decision needs to be made. A manager who has been talking with a member of their team about a new career opportunity in another part of the company, for example, will need a definitive answer eventually, probably sooner rather than later.

When a manager has a conversation with a team member about opportunities for growth that require significant change, they should, as soon as possible, make it clear to the employee when a final decision needs to be made. That way the employee has a set timeframe to work through their feelings, and a deadline isn’t unexpectedly thrust upon them.

Provide Grief Support
A lot of people are grieving, and grief takes work. People grieving need the time, space, and freedom to do that work. The option to take bereavement leave after a loss can be invaluable to them, but so too is the liberty to take days off down the road when they’re needed. The grieving process isn’t linear, and the unbearable pain of grief can resurface unexpectedly, months and years later. The life of grief is long. Whatever you can do to enable employees to safely take the time they need to process a loss and heal, do it.

Take Care of Yourself and Your HR Leaders
Lars Schmidt, founder of Amplify, points out that, while the “market for HR roles has never been hotter,” the work of HR has taken a “sustained toll” on those doing that work. They’re “carrying the emotional burdens of their employees (and their own).” Burnout is common.

Be sure to give yourself and anyone else caring for your people time to rest, recharge, grieve, or whatever else each of you needs to do to stay healthy. “Resilience is not an infinite resource,” executive coach Sarah Noll Wilson reminds us. Take time off. You need it, too.

Don’t Take Departures Personally or Draw the Wrong Conclusions
When an employee leaves an organization, it’s always a good idea to understand why and consider what changes you could have made to keep them. What you learn may not persuade that employee to reconsider their departure, but it may assist you in keeping others. That said, sometimes employees quit and there’s nothing you could have done to convince them to stay. The best possible workplace in the world will still see people go elsewhere simply because those people want a change or because of circumstances beyond their control.

When your employees tell you they’re leaving, do your due diligence to find out why, but don’t overthink their departures or take them personally. If everything was good and they still left, that just means everything was good and they still left. It doesn’t mean that you didn’t do enough or should have done something differently. Believe in the work you’re doing. Be kind to yourself. As Lars Schmidt says in his book Redefining HR, “we’re on the front lines of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows of all our employees.”

Inspire Hope
Whether we feel the strong urge to self-protect or we’re jumping out of our seat to pursue a risky venture, we could all use a little hope. The philosopher David Utsler writes, “Hope offers no guarantees. Hope does not promise that life or the world will get better. Hope only insists on the possibility.”

You can inspire hope by expanding the scope of what is possible for your employees. Talk with them about their dreams and ambitions so they can imagine what possibilities lie before them. Talk about where your company is going and what you’ll need from your employees. Help them envision a place where they can explore, take risks, and be supported.

Then work together to get there.

06/01/2020

Harassment Prevention Considerations with a Remote Workforce

Using video conferencing apps for meetings can make for a more productive and engaging time than group discussions over the phone, but there are also some risks to consider:

Attire
When working from home, the desire to work in comfortable clothes could tip from casual to inappropriate. You may have seen memes and stories about employees wearing professional tops without appropriate bottoms or family members dashing by too much in the buff. Fortunately, these wardrobe malfunctions are easily preventable with a little planning on the employee’s part. Remind them to plan ahead.

Backdrop
Ask that employees also take stock of what’s in their background before turning video on. Could there be inappropriate personal items or art that some might consider offensive? A number of video conferencing apps have virtual backgrounds that can eliminate both the threat of harassment as well as general distractions.

Video vs. Phone Call
Ensure that virtual meetings are scheduled equitably. For example, if a manager checks in with men on the team over the phone, but uses video for one-on-one meetings with the women, that would be a cause for concern.

Virtual Happy Hours
Both the use of alcohol and the act of communicating over a screen can decrease formality. Set expectations around respectful behavior and encourage employees to drink responsibly, if allowed, during happy hours. Remind employees that harassment and other conduct policies apply, just as they would at any other company-sponsored function.

Further Considerations Around Virtual Harassment
• Handbook Policies: Review your company harassment and discrimination handbook policies and ensure they’re inclusive of, and applicable to, remote work and interactions.
• National Origin and Race: An April 2020 Ipsos survey found that more than 30 percent of Americans have witnessed someone blaming Asian people for the coronavirus pandemic. The EEOC recently suggested that employers reduce harassment risk by clearly informing employees that fear of COVID-19 cannot be “misdirected against individuals” based on any protected characteristic, including national origin or race. Be alert for any discriminatory comments and be ready to act.
• Age: Keep an ear out for jokes about employees’ age. A seemingly harmless barb about an older employee’s unfamiliarity with technology could result in a discrimination claim.

03/02/2020

March Madness Is Upon Us

March Madness is upon us. While this annual event can impact productivity, employers may find that the positive effects it has on team engagement and camaraderie outweigh any negatives. Consider these facts from both sides of the coin:
• An estimated $1.9 billion is lost in workplace productivity during a typical March Madness tournament. (Challenger, Gray & Christmas)
• Employees will spend 25.5 minutes per workday on March Madness, for a total of 6 hours spread over the 15 workdays when games will be played. (OfficeTeam)
• As much as $3 billion will be bet on workplace bracket pools during March Madness this year. (FordHarrison)
• Nearly 9 in 10 employees who participated said participating in NCAA brackets at work helped build team camaraderie, and 73 percent said they look forward to going to work more when they are part of an office pool. (Randstad)
So how can an employer embrace the fun of March Madness while still enforcing the rules? Whether you view the tournament as a minor distraction that creates an opportunity to boost morale, or as a potential pitfall of legal liability, missed deadlines, and dissatisfied customers, the ball is in your court. Here are five ways to maximize the positive aspects of March Madness while minimizing disruptions.
1. Have fun: Make it clear to your employees that you want them to enjoy work and March Madness while not letting the tournament put a full court press on their work. Encourage employees to wear their favorite team’s clothing and/or decorate their workspace in their team’s colors.
2. Watch together: If you have TVs in your break room(s), turn them on to the games so that employees have somewhere to watch the games other than at their work station. That way productivity is not lost even for those not participating in the Madness activities. Provide snacks for the viewers.
3. Be careful with brackets: Organize a company-wide pool with no entry fee to avoid ethical or legal issues surrounding office gambling. Keep the brackets posted and updated in the break room.
4. Be flexible: Allow workers to arrive early so they can work a full shift and still leave in time to see big games that overlap the end of their shift. Conversely, allowing employees to delay their start time the morning after big games may help reduce absenteeism.
5. Follow the rules: Review applicable company policies—such as gambling, use of personal electronics and company computers, and work and break hours—with your employees before engaging in any March Madness activities at work, so it will be clear to all what is considered acceptable.
Determine how March Madness fits with your business culture and customer deliverables. If employees are getting their work done, customers are happy, and the biggest problems are reduced internet bandwidth or a little more noise in the cubicles or lunchroom for a couple of days, it’s nothing but net. (See what we did there?) Decide how you’ll be playing this before the opening tipoff and the Madness begins!

Keep in mind, though, that basketball isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and if you accommodate this kind of recreation, you should accommodate others. If you’re going to be flexible for March Madness, you should also be flexible for things that interest other employees, whether that’s running a marathon, volunteering, attending Pride events, or chaperoning school field trips.

11/01/2019

Many Managers Are Uncomfortable Communicating with Their Employees – Here’s How You Can Help Them

Here’s a startling statistic: Nearly 70% of managers are uncomfortable communicating with their employees. That number comes from a Harris Poll conducted on behalf of Interact, and it indicates that managers may at times shy away from doing basic management duties.

If uncomfortable managers avoid giving feedback, offering praise, showing vulnerability, providing direction, or communicating in general, they’re not helping the bottom line. Poor employee performances will go unaddressed. Star performers won’t feel recognized. Employees may distrust their managers and not admit mistakes. Efficiency and productivity won’t be a good as they could be, and that’s money down the drain.While some managers might do better in non-management positions, others need only a little training, practice, and experience to overcome their discomfort. Here are a few ways you can develop new managers and improve the performances of existing ones:

Best Practices Before Promoting Someone to Management

Identify potential managers based not just on individual performance, but likelihood of success when put in charge of a team. Management requires a specific skill set—the ability to lead, to take decisive action, to facilitate compromise, to defuse escalation, to assess performance with clarity and kindness. When considering whom to promote to management, look especially for those employees who exhibit these skills or show signs that they have the potential to develop them.
If you see employees with the potential for leadership, give them informal leadership duties and see how well or poorly they do. Some discomfort on their part is expected, so don’t rule out someone just because they’re not fully comfortable the moment they’re asked to lead something. That said, if their feelings of discomfort persist as they’re given more informal leadership responsibilities, they’re likely not well suited to a formal leadership position—at least not yet.
Provide relevant skills training. If you identify an employee with strong potential for leadership in the organization, prepare them to take the role by teaching them the skills they’ll need to be successful. Consider paying for them to attend workshops or conferences. A mentorship program could also be helpful if you have good managers to help onboard new managers.
Best Practices with Current Managers

Provide skills training in needed areas. It’s possible that a manager may be uncomfortable communicating with employees because they’ve never really been taught how to do it. If that’s the case for any of your managers, teach them the communication skills they’re lacking. Coach your managers and give them time to practice their managerial skills. When they become more competent, they’ll feel more confident.
Manage your managers. Like any employee, managers need direction, guidance, and someone to hold them accountable. Do for them what they do for their subordinates.
If a manager’s performance is having negative impacts on the company and guidance and training do not help, you may need to look at putting them on a performance improvement plan. This plan should have clear, attainable goals and a set timeframe for completion. If they improve, great, but if not, then it may be time for the next step.
If the performance improvement plan doesn’t result in improved performance, it may be time to move the employee out of management. Employees who excelled as individual contributors may not do well in management, and that’s okay. They may be happier going back to what they were doing before, if that’s an option.
"If uncomfortable managers avoid giving feedback, offering praise, showing vulnerability, providing direction, or communicating in general, they’re not helping the bottom line."
Management isn’t easy, and some of its duties will be uncomfortable no matter what. That said, the best managers don’t try to avoid unpleasant conversations when those conversations are needed. Because they’re generally comfortable with their managerial responsibilities, they’re able to face the more challenging moments with more confidence and conviction. And that helps your bottom line

09/09/2019

5 Reasons to Rehire Former Employees

It’s not uncommon for organizations to have a policy against rehiring former employees. This sort of policy makes perfect sense with respect to troublemakers, poor performers, or others who left under a dark cloud. It’s also understandable given that companies invest a lot of money training and developing their people, and employees who go elsewhere take that investment with them, sometimes to a competitor.

But times have changed, and expectations with them. Few employers these days expect employees to stick around for many years. Most know that employees will move between employers multiple times over the course of their career and that many of them will even change careers entirely, some more than once.

It’s not that workers today are disloyal or uncommitted. The culture of the overall job market has redefined expectations around these concepts. A loyal, committed employee isn’t likely to reveal trade secrets to a competitor or publicly badmouth their employer, but they may intend to further their career with a different company at some point in the not-so-distant future. Loyalty and commitment have more to do with what the employee is doing for their employer presently—not what they will be doing for them indefinitely.

With the overall culture of employment having changed, individual organizations have updated their own culture to align with these new expectations. Not only are companies allowing eligible former employees to apply, some employers are even encouraging it! Here are five big reasons why you might consider doing the same:

Former employees already know your organization. They’re familiar with the operating procedures, the rules and traditions of your culture, and the people with whom they worked previously. Consequently, it takes less time for them to be acclimated to the work environment. You can usually onboard them more easily and train them more quickly, filling the position at a fraction of the cost.
Oftentimes, former employees return with additional knowledge, skills, and abilities. Sure, they took your investment in them to another workplace, but they’re coming back to you with other employer’s investments in them, which can now be leveraged at your organization.
Communicating that you welcome back former employers highlights the fact that people like working for you and see your organization as the place they’d like to be, even if they have other options.
It creates trust. Prospective candidates and current employees understand that you don’t see them as a potential threat to the organization that needs to be deterred from leaving. Instead, you show them that you trust them and that your interest in their lives and careers extends beyond the time they work for you. That reciprocal trust makes the employment relationship much more productive, rewarding, and enjoyable.
Your competitors are likely open to rehiring their high performing former employees, and if you’re competing with them for workers, you don’t want to unnecessarily limit your pool of strong candidates. That just puts you at a disadvantage.
"Not only are companies allowing eligible former employees to apply, some employers are even encouraging it!"
Even with these five benefits, a former employee may not be the best candidate for the position. In some cases, what a new employee brings to the table outweighs what the former employee offers, and the new employee is clearly the better bet. In other cases, however, the former employee is the smart hire, and ruling them out because they once quit would be a mistake. Boomerang employees may not always be worth rehiring, but they’re often worth considering

08/16/2019

Pros and Cons of Paperless Payroll

Paperless payroll is a paper-free payroll process that has become hugely popular in recent years. But despite the groundswell of support for paperless payroll solutions, employers should examine the details before making the switch.

Six pros of paperless payroll

Electronic storage — Stores payroll documents on your computer, eliminating clutter and making payroll documents easier to find. Offers unlimited storage options and the files can be accessed at any time from a mobile or desktop computer. Also, by reducing all that paper and waste, you promote your business as being ecofriendly.
Electronic funds transfer — Allows you to transfer wages to your employees electronically, such as via direct deposit or pay cards, eradicating or minimizing the need for paper checks.
Employee self-service — Gives employees the ability to access their payroll information online. They can digitally view and print paystubs, send time-off requests to their manager, update their personal information, track their work time and schedule, and access payroll information 24/7. Managers can monitor work schedules, approve time-off requests, and share HR and payroll documents with employees.
Electronic time sheets — Allows employees to clock in and out online or via an electronic timekeeping system that doesn't require paper time cards. Cuts down on time card fraud and performs time card rounding.
Payroll compliance — Calculates wages and deductions plus enables online payroll tax reporting, increasing speed and accuracy while lowering the risk of noncompliance. Keeps your payroll records organized, helping you adhere to federal and state recordkeeping standards. Because the system is online it's much easier to meet your payroll deadlines, even during unexpected events such as bad weather.
Money saver — The American Payroll Association says that employers are switching to paperless payroll because it makes good financial sense. Sources of savings include spending less on stationery and printing, minimizing manual labor, reducing fraud, and letting employees self-manage certain aspects of their payroll instead of having to contact your payroll staff.
What to watch out for

Although paperless payroll is the wave of the future, it isn't without its pitfalls. Fortunately, with a little care, you can avoid these. Keep in mind the following caveats as you proceed:

Paystub regulations — Many states have paystub laws, which may cover electronic paystub delivery. Stay on top of your local regulations. For example, in some states, employers that offer direct deposit must also give employees the option of paper checks. Also, some states require that employers give employees the ability to opt out of receiving their paystubs online.
Security concerns — When it comes to computerized data, security is always a concern. This is especially true in payroll, where there's an abundance of confidential and sensitive information. Back up regularly and make sure you're using the latest security controls.
Talk with the appropriate professionals before making decisions on how you want to manage your payroll system and how local regulations affect your decisions.

06/25/2019

Local Minimum Wage Increases
As usual on July 1, a number of cities across California will see an increase to their minimum wage. The new rates are as follows, with employee count listed if applicable:

Alameda - $13.50
Berkeley - $15.59
Emeryville - $16.30
Fremont (26 or more employees) - $13.50
Los Angeles (25 or fewer) - $13.25
Los Angeles (26 or more) - $14.25
Unincorporated Los Angeles County (25 or fewer) - $13.25
Unincorporated Los Angeles County (26 or more) - $14.25
Malibu (25 or fewer) - $13.25
Malibu (26 or more) - $14.25
Milpitas - $15.00
Pasadena (25 or fewer) - $13.25
Pasadena (26 or more) - $14.25
San Francisco - $15.59
San Leandro - $14.00
Santa Monica (25 or fewer) - $13.25
Santa Monica (26 or more) - $14.25

06/03/2019

Did You Know?

Only hours actually worked count toward overtime when determining if employees are owed time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek. For instance, if Monday was a paid holiday observed by the company—meaning no one worked and everyone got paid—a non-exempt employee could still work a full 40 hours in that workweek without being in overtime territory (barring any daily overtime that might be applicable).

In the case of a paid 8-hour holiday and 40 hours of work, the employee would receive 48 hours of straight time; the breakdown of holiday pay and regular pay should be reflected on their paystub to avoid confusion and fend off future wage claims. The same applies to vacation time, sick time, and other non-working leaves—the overtime premium only applies if more than 40 hours of real work are done.