A New York City restaurant chain was asked to pay nearly $1 million as back wages and damages following an investigation by US Department of Labor. Some states in the US have minimum wages as low as $4.00 while others have in excess of $10.00. Some of these minimum wages have been enacted as recently as January 1st this year while others are yet to be rolled out. If a single compliance parameter in just one country can have such a high degree of complexity, variability and punitive potential, how can one ensure compliance across the HR universe in a multi-national setup?
Change is inevitable, they say. This is more so in the world of HR. The diversity in labour laws can be daunting for any HR manager, leave alone the landscape and frequencies of change in labour laws. More than ever, the HR function now understands their crucial role in establishing and driving a strong compliance-driven organization. With vast number of compliance laws/ regulations, HR managers often find themselves in violation, leaving their companies open to penalties.
Federal, state and local laws can be complex but the solution to deal with these complexities may not necessarily have to be that troublesome. Listed below are some simple yet potent principles that any organization can follow, irrespective of its size/ industry –
The People Principle: Keeping abreast and ensuring your organization complies with all the laws and regulations can be a gruesome task. It requires a talent pool with not mere skill and knowledge, but people with appetite to constantly stay apprised. Organizations need to invest in hiring the right talent combined with strong internal compliance training programs to keep their workforce up to date on the most current compliance obligations or even simpler.
The Platform Principle: A robust compliance management system can make your compliance seem as easy as remembering your user name and password! It keeps you on track with the latest updates in laws/ regulations but also acts as your single source of truth for all legislation that pertains to your workforce. Example, Equal Employee Opportunity Act (EEO) sets reporting and record-keeping requirements for employers to demonstrate compliance with EEO rules (U.S). Compliance platform will track the necessary information to comply with record-keeping requirements and can generate required reports in the specified formats for all your countries in-scope. It also facilitates audit and control of requisite compliance.
The Partner Principle: It’s particularly tough for a small/ mid-sized organization or an organization with multi-country operations to stay on top of the myriad of laws and regulations. According to a U.S. Small Business Administration survey, an SME spends approx. 80% more per employee on federal regulatory compliance than large companies. The key is not to just find any/ multiple vendors but to find a global partner who can enable rapid inroads into new countries.
Follow these quick tips and implement them all the way through. And if you aren’t really convinced that these potent principles are not that simple, talk to our specialist or drop a mail to irene.jones@neeyamo.com to schedule an appointment.
