For your company to do its best, your HR policies must be in compliance with federal, state, and local laws. Unfortunately, this can be challenging for many small businesses. There are just so many different regulations that it can be hard to keep up. When companies don’t follow the law, they can end up facing legal penalties, lawsuits, and fines. But HR compliance is about more than just avoiding legal issues. When you’re in compliance with the law, your workers have a safe, fair work environment. Plus, our research at Asure shows that companies that are in legal compliance are far more likely to have faster growth.

In our HR Benchmark survey, we found that 82% of fast-growth firms said yes to all five of our HR compliance questions. Only 57% of zero-growth firms answered yes to the same questions. If you’re interested in taking your company’s growth to the next level, read on.

Stay Ahead of the Compliance Curve with These 10 Tips

By following compliance regulations, you can improve your employee’s experience. When you have a reputation for HR compliance, you’re more likely to attract better workers. In turn, those workers are more likely to be productive and stay with your company longer. Over time, this can lower your recruitment and training costs. 

To begin enjoying these benefits right away, use the following tips.

1. Know the Law 

Before you can do the following tips, you or someone in your HR department needs to gain a thorough understanding of the law. If you don’t understand HR compliance laws, you can outsource your HR services. You can also use a subscription service, like Asure’s HR compliance library, to train workers on the law.

2. Train Your Workers

Even if you outsource your HR department, you still need to train your workers on HR laws. Many states also require specific training sessions on things like safety, anti-harassment, or paid leave. For example, Washington State requires workplaces to display a poster about the state’s paid leave law. Meanwhile, California requires any company that has at least five workers to conduct two hours of harassment prevention training with each employee.

You can incorporate these training sessions into your onboarding or set up annual training requirements for your workers. To make the training process easier, you may want to try virtual, on-demand training sessions.

3. Offer Management-Specific Training 

After everyone completes their employee training, you should have managers receive additional HR training. Some topics, like education on sexual harassment training and discrimination compliance, need to be addressed in more depth for managers. For instance, your managers will need to know that they are required to report instances of discrimination and the process for reporting it. 

Additionally, some managers will be responsible for receiving harassment, discrimination, or other HR complaints. Multiple people should be designated for receiving reports because it’s always possible that one of your managers could be the subject of a future complaint. Plus, using multiple managers ensures your workers can report a problem to someone they feel close to.

4. Have a Process for HR Investigations 

You need to have an investigative process set up before you have a problem. This will ensure the real and perceived fairness of future HR investigations. Prompt investigations reduce the harm to your workers. Additionally, a formal process helps you handle these problems in an organized, consistent way.

5. Do I-9 Audits 

You don’t want to find out you have I-9 issues because of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) inspection. Instead, you should conduct your own I-9 audits. A single incorrect response can lead to a significant fine, so it’s important to make sure your I-9s are completed and stored properly.

6. Review Job Postings for Your Exempt Workers

Thanks to a recent Department of Labor (DOL) ruling about the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), salary workers must earn at least $58,656 per year from January 2025 onward. Because of this, it’s a good time to review which workers are exempt from overtime. Take a look at your job postings and plan ahead so that you’re ready for this major change.

7. Use Outsourced HR 

Small business owners already wear so many hats. Having to understand HR compliance doesn’t have to be another task on your to-do list. Instead, you can outsource your HR practices to another company. It’s impossible to know what you don’t know, and outsourced HR is an easy way to gain a world-class HR team without having to pay for an entire department.

8. Update Your Employee Handbook 

Next, take some time to update your employee handbook. In our HR Benchmark Report, we found that fast-growth companies were far more likely to update their handbook each year.

Other than incorporating changes to regulations, these updates are useful for your company’s operations as well. For example, you may be paying far more overtime than normal. While you’re legally required to pay for any overtime that is worked, you may want to create a policy that requires employees to get management approval before employees can work extra hours. 

9. Review Workplace Safety Measures 

One of the reasons you should ensure your company is in legal compliance is because it keeps your workers safe. As a part of your HR compliance measures, make sure your company is following rules and recommendations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). For example, you may need to update your policies on hazard communication, workplace violence, process safety management, or confined spaces. 

10. Monitor Affordable Care Act (ACA) Eligibility Requirements 

If you have 50 or more full-time workers or full-time equivalents, you must offer health insurance to your workers and document the details according to ACA reporting requirements. As your workforce grows, it’s important to carefully track the number of employees you have so that you know when you must start providing coverage and which workers must be offered insurance. 

Discover the Best HR Compliance Measures 

Want to become a fast-growth company? Asure can help. To learn more about how to leverage our HR compliance services to fuel business growth, reach out to our team of small business HR experts today.