Services

FAQs

Is your company big enough to have HR issues, but too small to afford a full time HR director? Do any of these issues trouble you? Are they holding your company back? NationalHR has the answers to your most pressing questions.

Q: I’m finding that it’s more difficult than ever to find, recruit, engage and retain quality employees. How can NationalHR help?
A: Let’s face it. A “bad hire” costs a lot of money. NationalHR can offer your company a professionally trained Human Resources consultant to work onsite for the number of hours per week you require. With Fortune 500 companies on their resumes, they take the time to learn about your company’s environment, problems and opportunities. Then, they conduct a search to find and retain the people who are not only a fit for your immediate job openings, but also for your corporate culture. That’s just one of the many ways to retain the best employees, and preserve your bottom line.

Q: I’m never sure what I can and cannot say during an employment interview. How can I get the information I need without putting myself at risk?
A: How can an employer get the information he or she needs to make the optimum hiring decision without crossing the legal line? Via indirect questioning. Here’s an example:

Employer’s Question: “How many children do you have?”
Translation: “How many days are you going to take off when your children are sick?”
Indirect Question: “How do you spend your free time?”
Presumed Answer: “I spend a lot of time with my kids’ soccer league.”
Employer’s Follow-Up: “Oh! You have children!”

The next time you’re in hiring mode, rely on NationalHR for proven interview techniques that conform with the law while garnering the information you need to make the most informed decision.

Q: Why do I need an organizational chart?
A: No matter the size of your company, you need an organizational chart that accurately reflects how your business operates to protect your company from potential lawsuits and helps create the greatest efficiencies.

Q: Why do I need written policies and procedures?
A: Written policies and procedures are designed to comply with the law to help protect your company from erroneous accusations by employees. Plus, circumstances change over time, so policies and procedures must be living documents. NationalHR will continually gather feedback, monitor and adjust these documents as changes occur in your business.

Q: Why do I need written job descriptions?
A: Written job descriptions not only help protect your company from possible lawsuits, they also leave no question in your employees’ minds as to what is expected of them on a daily, monthly and yearly basis.

The best job descriptions also spell out exactly what the job holder needs to do to not only meet, but to exceed expectations. And if they are well written, job descriptions can be utilized at salary review time.

Q: I know I should have some sort of structure to my method of compensation, but I don’t have a clue. How can I lessen my risk of losing my best employees?
A: Every company needs to develop compensation schematics with attractive tax incentives for both the employer and employee. With proper plans in place, you can preserve dollars for your employees while lessening the tax burden for both you and them.

Q: There’s only one thing worse than losing my best employees, and that’s being stuck with my worst ones. How can I avoid that from happening?
A. Many employers aren’t aware of this, but there is no law that says that everybody has to get a raise. As a company owner, you can decrease pay for underperformers. Without doing anything illegal, you are simply inviting that person to use the door.

Q: Why is it so important to train my managers in communication?
A: Motivation and appreciation are two important ways to assure that employees get the job done, and done to the best of their abilities. To assure that neither of these features are lacking at a firm, managers must undergo communications training. NationalHR provides managerial training that can help those in supervisory positions bring out the best in their staff members.

Q: What is a Workers’ Compensation MOD and how can I improve mine?
A: Every member of your staff has a workers’ compensation rate that is attached to his or her job title. Rates for white collar workers are less than that for blue collar workers. For instance, a roofer might pay $15 of workers’ comp premium for every $100 of wages, whereas an administrative assistant might pay only 35 cents per $100. Every occupation has a rate. And though this is a shared aspect of every company, it is also where the similarities end. That’s because every company also has its own factors based on its history of accidents, which affects the workers’ comp premium rates. This is called the Modification Factor or MOD.

At National HR, we improve our client companies’ MOD because we’re good at preventing accidents and managing the outcomes after the occasional one takes place. We’re so good at it that we’ve actually been able to keep our clients’ workers’ comp premiums below their industry’s norm.

Q: I’m just a small to medium sized company. Am I really at risk for a lawsuit involving sexual harassment? How about age, minority or handicapped discrimination?
A:

Fact #1: Employment Law is the fastest growing area of litigation in this country, with the number of employment lawsuits having grown 10-fold in the past 20 years.

Fact #2: It’s sad to say, but there are many people out there looking for a “free lunch” and will use harassment and discrimination as their vehicle of getting it, whether imagined or manufactured.

Fact #3: Though companies have insurance, it’s not always the best coverage for their individual needs. Maybe there’s a big deductible that must be met, or maybe only a settlement is covered and not the cost of the attorney.

At NationalHR, we’ve seen insurance policies written in many different ways. But, bottom line, this is a tremendously large area of risk for your company—small, medium or large. The best solution is to make sure a problem doesn’t happen, rather than bringing in the attorneys when it finally does.

Q: Why is it so important to keep my compliance paperwork up to date?
A: We’ll answer your question with a question. If a representative from OSHA or the Department of Labor walked in today, would you pass a surprise audit?

At NationalHR, we employ Human Resource professionals with expertise in a wide array of issues, such as non-discrimination, OSHA requirements, Worker’s Compensation and internal benefits administration. You will always have someone working within the field of expertise you require, and at the lowest cost. NationalHR is the cost effective alternative to hiring a full or part time HR consultant because you can commission us for as many or as few hours each week that you need.

Q: Confidentiality is a real problem for us. How can NationalHR help?
A: Because your NationalHR human resource consultant is employed by us, confidentiality becomes a non-issue.

Q: Besides the ways described above, how else can NationalHR save us money?
A: By contracting with us, you don’t need to hire a full or part time human resource director. That means you don’t need another office or another computer, nor do you need to add another person to your benefits plan.

But, you do need to get the best your employees have to offer, and you need to protect yourself in this highly regulated and litigious business climate. NationalHR, will give you what you need to do business legally, efficiently and cost effectively.

NationalHR can make you an employer of choice. To find out how, contact us at 856-810-0700.