HR Compliance and Processing

Compliance should start with HR (Human Resources) and these departments should be actively involved in making sure documentation, policies and procedures are followed in order to comply with various legal requirements. 

Since the HR department is the first impression an incoming employee often sees, they should set the tone for the culture of compliance.  HR documents play an extremely important role in compliance and should be reviewed by an attorney to be sure they contain the wording and phrases needed to keep the organization free of violations.

One of the many responsibilities of HR personnel is to create and update job descriptions for each employee.  These are essential for accountability and can attract qualified candidates for open positions as well as lend the professional quality status to an organization itself. 

Employees should be correctly classified for purposes of federal and state wages, hour, and benefits laws.  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to classify employees as either exempt or nonexempt and this determines whether an employee receives overtime pay or not.  The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) makes those classifications important for benefits purposes.  Physician and employee contracts should be carefully reviewed before being executed to be sure they comply with ongoing changes to applicable laws and statutes.  It is critical that organizations comply with requirements and process documents correctly.

A qualified attorney should be a continued resource to your HR department in order to be sure ongoing compliance is achieved and they can answer specific questions that may arise in day-to-day operations.