Top 30 Questions Every Employer Should Answer

30 Questions Every Employer Should Answer to Determine Their Risk Factors


1. Briefly describe the nature of your business. How many locations?

2. How many employees?

3. Do you use temporary help or independent contractors?

4. Do you anticipate increasing or decreasing your workforce within the next 6 months? If yes, by approximately what percentage?

5. How many employees are currently in supervisory or management positions?

6. How are the majority of your employees paid? (hourly, salary or other basis?)

7. What procedures are in place to distinguish between exempt vs. nonexempt employees?

8. Do you have a specific hiring process in place?

9. Do you have a specific corrective action and termination process in place?

10. Do you have job descriptions for each position?

11. Do you have an employee handbook?

12. Do you have written grievance procedures and policies?

13. Are you currently utilizing a performance review system?

14. Have supervisors and managers received formal training in sexual harassment avoidance or other anti-discrimination procedures?

15. Do you have a health plan?

16. How are you managing COBRA compliance?

17. How are you managing HIPAA compliance?

18. Do you use consumer reports, such as background checks, credit, DMV, criminal or other reports to make hiring or promotion decisions? Do you reference check each potential new hire?

19. Do you extend credit or allow your clients, vendors, employees to pay for products or services over time?

20. Do you maintain any or all of the following personally or financially identifying information regarding your clients, vendors, employees and applicants such as maiden name, address, social security number, date of birth, bank account info, credit card info, etc.?

21. Who in your company has access to this information?

22. What security steps are in place to protect personally or financially identifying information?

23. What procedures do you currently have in place to notify clients, vendors, employees and applicants if unauthorized access is gained to their protected information?

24. Have you experienced a data breach either paper or electronically in the past year?

25. Have any employment-related claims, grievances, administrative proceedings, demands or lawsuits been made against your company in the last 5 years?

26. How are you currently managing your human resources, employment law and privacy law compliance functions?

27. What are your most pressing issues regarding being an employer?

28. How are you currently addressing these issues?

29. What do you believe the consequences might be if you are out of compliance with federal, state and local employment laws?

30. Based on your answers to the above questions, do you believe you could benefit from the assistance of a highly qualified human resources, employment and privacy law specialist?



If you would like a complimentary risk evaluation of your answers, please contact me at:

TheWhitfordGroup@aol.com

704 905-7749

FTC Red Flags Rules Enforcement Date Extended

For those of you who have been following the multiple effective dates of the FTC's Red Flags Rules it will come as no surprise that the date has been extended once again.

The latest enforcement date was to be November 1, 2009, however, on October 30th the decision was made to extend the effective date to June 2010.

A reprieve, not really, the extension is to provide covered businesses additional time to get their policies, procedures and practices in place before enforcement begins in June.

Please let me know if you need my assistance in determining whether or not you are subject to the Rules and in getting ready for the enforcement deadline. I'm glad to assist.

TheWhitfordGroup@aol.com
www.TheWhitfordGroup.com
704 905-7749