Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC can help you develop the appropriate framework to evaluate and solve your employee and labor relations problems. Spilman SuperVision services are a comprehensive set of tools designed to provide companies with a “soup-to-nuts” evaluation of their human capital and human resources processes and a vehicle to maximize excellence in human resources. Through SuperVision, Spilman professionals focus not only on compliance with all applicable employee and labor relations laws, but also on helping you make the human resources function provide positive, bottom-line value to your business, including achieving a positive return on investment for each labor dollar spent.

“Focus 90% of your time on solutions and only 10% of your time on problems.” —Anthony J. D’Angelo, The College Blue Book

Whether you have five, fifty, or over five hundred employees, your company will benefit from SuperVision. Each audit is customized to suit your business.

The Spilman SuperVision Audit

Employee Handbook

Does your handbook reflect your actual policies and rules? Is it up to date on the law? We will review your existing employee handbook for comprehensiveness and compliance with the full range of labor and employment laws and regulations. Your handbook policies must be based on the individual needs of your company. If your company does not currently have one, we can walk you through the process of creating a handbook based on your current written or unwritten policies and practices. We will ensure your handbook fits your business, your values and your culture.

Personnel Files and Medical/Health Records

We will review your procedures for maintaining personnel files and determine whether proper documents are included in your personnel files, such as hiring records and documentation of employment actions. We will also confirm that, consistent with state and federal laws, certain health- and medical-related records are maintained in an appropriate and secure location (and not with your company’s general personnel information). The SuperVision Audit will include an examination of a representative sample of actual personnel files and other records to determine whether your company’s practices comply with company policies.

Employment Applications, Recruitment and the Hiring Process

How do you post open positions? Do you look at social media when considering an applicant? Who is allowed to interview and have they been trained? We will review all your pre-employment practices, procedures and documents, your interview questions and process to confirm the methods you use to recruit and hire new employees are efficient, effective, and legally compliant.

Employment applications should

1. ask questions and solicit information you care about and are legally allowed to ask;
2. include an attestation as to the truthfulness of the information provided by the applicant;
3. include an at-will employment statement; and
4. include authorizations and releases to complete reference checks, criminal background checks, and drug testing (when applicable).

Job Descriptions

We will audit or create your company’s job descriptions, ensuring they are accurate, up-to-date, and compliant with all federal and state laws. We will verify that your job descriptions

1. include all physical requirements,
2. accurately reflect the duties performed by each employee and identify all essential functions,
3. properly classify your employee as exempt or nonexempt, and
4. are ADA compliant

Performance Evaluations and Disciplinary Forms

We will review your company’s practices, procedures, and forms for evaluating employee performance. If your company does not use performance evaluations, we will draft applicable forms for your use. We will help you develop a regular schedule for completing performance evaluations and salary reviews, if applicable. We will create or audit your verbal and written warning forms and make sure you have the tools necessary to create performance improvement plans.

Wage & Hour

We will undertake an audit of your payroll records to determine whether exempt employees are properly classified as such, that all payroll deductions are proper pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act and state law, and that work hours are being recorded properly. We will also review your payroll procedures relating to sick leave, vacation, and leave of absence to assess whether these practices are consistent with both your policies and the law.

Affirmative Action Plans and EEO-1 Reports

We will assist you in determining whether your company has any federal contracts or other conditions that require you to maintain an affirmative action plan and, if so, help you develop a plan and, determine whether you should be filing an annual EEO-1 report. If your company already has an affirmative action plan in place, we will assess your plans and your recruiting and reporting procedures for compliance with the current state of the law.

ERISA Compliance

We will review your ERISA plan for compliance with federal regulations. Under ERISA, you carry certain responsibilities as plan sponsors and default plan administrators. While your company may have secured insurance for health care, disability, life insurance, and other benefits, that is very often not enough. You, as plan administrators, are ultimately responsible for the existence of and providing summary plan descriptions, among other things. We will assist you in producing the specialized documents required by ERISA, including

1. summary plan descriptions,
2. wrap-around plan documents, and
3. plan documents for self-insured employers.

Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9/e-verify)

We will audit your employment eligibility verification (I-9) forms and practices to confirm your company has the right forms on file for all active and former employees. We will identify and assist you in correcting any errors for each completed I-9 form. We will also assess your company’s compliance with applicable laws relating to employment eligibility verification.

Record Retention

How long do you keep job advertisements, applications, or personnel files? We will review your record retention policies for compliance with state and federal law (or draft policies if necessary), as well as audit your actual practices to determine whether you are following your existing policies. We will also assist you with developing procedures to preserve documents in the event of litigation.

Other Spilman SuperVision Services

Union Avoidance Audits and Training

Long-term union avoidance can be achieved only through diligence, along with attention to the desires and sentiments of employees. Employers should periodically audit their workforce to determine whether management’s relationship with its employees remains strong or whether problems exist that may make the employees receptive to union organizing. Management must constantly take a very critical look at employment conditions to see whether any areas can be improved, so they can blunt any possible chance of a union-organizing drive. In short, union avoidance is a process that must occur irrespective of whether your company is currently targeted by a union, and we can help you develop a process tailored for your company.

If a union does target your business for an organization campaign, we can assist you in addressing the campaign even before a petition is filed. From reviewing communications for compliance with federal labor law, to helping you communicate with your employees to help them see a union is not the answer, to organizing the union’s potential bargaining unit in the most appropriate manner, we can help with all facets of an organization drive.

Employee Surveys

We work not only to help you respond to labor and employee relations issues, but we also help you engage in strategic planning for the future to proactively avoid many such problems. Employee satisfaction surveys are invaluable tools to measure employee engagement, attitudes and opinions. Such surveys are also used to assess the effectiveness of a company’s leadership team or a company’s risk of facing a union organizing campaign. The results of an employee satisfaction survey can be used to increase employee commitment, enhance cooperation, reduce turnover, implement more efficient and effective training programs and assess and address issues such as compensation and benefits matters. Focused surveys

1. allow measurement of what is important to the company;
2. help gauge the employee relations climate of the management and rank and file;
3. assist with assessing the company’s risk for a union campaign;
4. measure employees’ perceptions about the quality of their work life;
5. assess the effectiveness of the company’s leadership team; and
6. create alignment among the management and staff with the overall vision and goals of the organization.

Preserving Trade Secrets, Confidential Information and Customer Relationships

Your business information is only valuable for as long as it is confidential. We will advise you on maintaining confidentiality of business information and trade secrets, including techniques that will maintain the legal protection of that information. We can also assist in drafting contracts and policies that will restrict the ability of your employees to use the information they learn from your business should they leave your employ.

Legal and Leadership Training

Even “best-in-class” policies will not help your business if your supervisors are not following them. We offer engaging, thorough training that will explain employment laws—including harassment and discrimination laws—to your supervisors so they will be able to identify and resolve issues in the workplace. This can help your company deal with issues early and avoid litigation. Additionally, we also provide other human resource and leadership training designed to maximize the effectiveness of your employees. We offer training on a wide array of topics including but not limited to

1. sexual harassment,
2. EEO/non-discrimination/anti-harassment,
3. union avoidance,
4. corporate goal alignment,
5. developing a culture of effective corporate communications,
6. managing employee leave processes,
7. administering an effective discipline process,
8. maximizing the effectiveness of performance appraisals,
9. assessing institutional effectiveness, and
10. customized training.

These trainings can be recorded to be played during employee orientation to ensure a consistent onboarding message.

The Spilman SuperVision Audit is a full “wellness program” for your HR functions. We will assist you in addressing all of your HR needs, from checking written policies and procedures to working with your frontline supervisors to ensure they comply with those policies and procedures.

For more information, please contact Eric W. Iskra in our Charleston office at 304.340.3785 or via email at eiskra@spilmanlaw.com.

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[1] Anthony J. D’Angelo, “The College Blue Book.”