Inclusion and opportunity are serious driving forces in the United States.

It is the job of human resource managers to adhere to the laws set in place against inequality and to protect the privileges of their employees. This includes, but is not limited to, workplace discrimination against Gender, Race, Sexual Preference, Age and Disability.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was put into place to protect the fair working rights of disabled individuals. In order to abide by this mandate, companies must comply with a variety of different terms and policies.  Many HR managers, however, don’t have proper knowledge of what that compliance really means.

Protecting yourself from being non-compliant

Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is not merely a suggestion, but a legal necessity. It’s essential that HR managers have a thorough understanding of what their company should be doing to comply, but many are confused by its terms.

Thankfully, there are many free online courses available that cover the overall terms of the ADA.

These digital platforms contain detailed information not only about what compliance looks like and entails but also what the penalties for non-compliance are.

Before discussing the course any further, however, you should be aware of just how important an accessible, non-discriminatory, work environment is to your employees.

The fight against workplace discrimination has made great progress in the past decade. However, while Americans have come farther than ever before to obtain the fair treatment they’ve been hoping for, this doesn’t mean that the hard work is done.

It often seems the case that business owners do not understand what true ADA compliance consists of, and all too often, it is simply ignored.

In addition to the detrimental legal and monetary penalties that can occur, owners and managers that ignore ADA compliance policies are also disregarding the civil liberties of a large group of individuals. No matter what form a disability takes, protecting the rights of this group is an absolute necessity.

The term “ADA Compliant” can cover a lot of territory.

Here are some of the guidelines that define which types of companies and facilities are responsible for workplace compliance:

Various state and locally run facilities i.e. public education, police departments, court systems, etc.

Commercial establishments, including:

 	Shops
 	Restaurants
 	Museums
 	Plus many more


Knocking down boundaries: general compliance and individual-based concerns

In terms of workplace compliance, there are generally two types of accessibility “barriers.” The term barrier, in this case, represents the problem areas that must be overcome to achieve equality and fairness for disabled individuals.

General compliance barriers tend to represent things like entrance points and staircases that can be difficult to use for some individuals. Individual compliance lends itself to more specific needs that have to be handled independently to accommodate unique circumstances.

It should also be noted that workplace ADA compliance does not solely benefit disabled employees.

Cluttered store aisles or narrow hallways

Abiding by ADA rules does not have to cost a company tons of time and money. In fact, there are several easy fixes that can make your working environment more inclusive of individuals with disabilities.

How can a free course in ADA compliance help?

Taking advantage of a free course in ADA Policy like the one offered by Go1, called The Americans With Disabilities Act: Being in Compliance, is a great way way to help HR managers understand what’s expected of their company.

Not only does this online courses provide the flexibility of completion in your own time and space, but it also covers everything you need to know about staying compliant.

Courses like this one provide a variety of strategies to help make your workspace and policies compliant, and it also provides you with critical information to help you understand the intricate details behind what ADA act.

Simply having an accessible entryway does not mean you’re providing a compliant environment for employees and customers. Compliance also requires leadership—which means help from management to ensure disabled employees are provided with the tools necessary for personal success and the opportunities needed for professional growth.

In is program from Go1, you’ll learn about different aspects of compliance, such as:

The rules of serving and assisting disabled employees

Understanding how the hiring and interview process should be handled

These lessons are a vital component in navigating ADA compliance and ensuring your disabled team members do not feel discriminated against.

Don’t leave compliance to chance. For HR managers, there are a lot of things to juggle in order ensure a proper and safe working environment for all employees. Rather than letting things slip through the cracks and risking costly mistakes (and even legal trouble), you should consider the use of these free ADA compliance lessons.

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

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How to comply with the Americans with Disabilities act - Go1

What you should know about the Americans with Disabilities Act and compliance

If you are planning on training your team on legal compliance, then you will need to get organized and come up with a proper plan. You will need to know and understand the goals that you are trying to achieve and be able to come up with a plan that will help you to achieve those goals. If you don’t have a plan in place then it will be difficult to meet your targets, making any training less effective than it otherwise could be.

Every company is different, with its own dynamics and requirements meaning that any game plan should be tailor-made to that company’s specific needs. It’s important to do research into just how the company operates to help ensure that any training plans put into place are relevant to them. Certain individuals within the company may also have specific roles that require specific training.

More importantly, it could help prevent instances of wrong doing happening in the first place.

One key aspect of building a legal compliance game plan is to know exactly which laws need to be abided, and who needs to abide by them. Below are some of the main topics that staff will generally need to be trained in if they are to comply with rules and regulations.

Some necessary areas that the workforce needs to be trained in are:

Safety: Where possible, an employer should always provide safety training to their employees. If a member of the workforce picks up an injury or illness as a result of their job and they had not received adequate training, then the employer could face serious consequences. This ranges from everyday issues such as obstructing walkways and avoiding slippery surfaces, to more specific instances such as handling toxic chemicals and operating heavy machinery. It is often also necessary to ensure that certain personal have certain equipment to help keep them and others safe in the workplace.

Emergency Training: In addition to training staff to help them recognize potential hazards in the workplace, it’s also necessary to train them in what they need to do in the case of an emergency. If there is a fire in the building then having staff that knows how to deal with the situation best could literally help to make the difference between life and death. Emergency training will often tie in with safety training to help ensure it is easy to vacate a building if needed and to help emergencies from occurring in the first place.

Discrimination: Discriminating against certain people based on their race, religion, gender and other demographics is against the law. Employers that have been found not to take necessary precautions and/or act accordingly when issues arise are liable for potentially severe penalties. Management, in particular, should obviously receive anti-discrimination training but the whole workforce should have some training also. The company should also make sure that the whole workforce is aware of procedures to make a complaint if needed.

One of the more serious inequality issues that occur in the workplace is sexual harassment. According to the American Association of University Women, the definition of sexual harassment is “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature”. Not only must the employer put into practice training that helps to recognize and prevent sexual harassment, they must also take very seriously any complaints that are made.

Compliance with the Law: Depending on which particular business you are in, there will be various laws that must be abided by. For example, in the case of a financial services company, this could mean making sure that only qualified people are giving financial advice. In a catering business, it could mean storing food in certain conditions. Depending on which industry you are operating, audits and inspection will be carried out and penalties may be imposed if legal requirements are not complied to.

Whenever introducing new staff to the company, it’s important that they all go through the appropriate orientation procedure as soon as they join. This should cover the basics such as pointing out emergency exits and other essential locations and facilities, as well as making sure they are supplied with any essential equipment. Any necessary documentation should also be provided and signed, including information on policies relating to legal compliance. In many cases, a new employer cannot legally begin to work before they have taken necessary training programs.

Instructing staff on what the rules are and how to obey them is an excellent and necessary start. Self-audits not only help to pick up on any unintended errors but also help to keep the staff on their toes as they will be well aware that their actions will be audited at some point in the future. These audits can often be carried out by in-house compliance staff--although some businesses may prefer to recruit a third party for the audit for a genuinely transparent and impartial audit.

If you are unsure of what you need to do to comply with necessary rules and regulations you could hire a business to do this for you. A team that is experienced in providing compliance training will be aware of what rules and regulations need to be adhered to and how to make sure that individuals are meeting expected requirements. They can also design a training program that you can adopt, helping you to train your workforce yourself in the future.

How to build a legal compliance game plan

Discrimination in the workplace is something that business, industry and society in general has worked hard to crack down on over the years. A lot has been done to protect the rights of workers of different gender, race, religion and other demographics and employers potentially stand to face heavy penalties if they are found to be in breach of the regulations. Even if an employer is not directly responsible for an act of discrimination, then they could still be held to account if necessary procedures are not followed.

Following set procedures on discrimination and legal compliance not only helps to prevent instances of discrimination in the future, but it also helps to protect the employer against legal issues down the road.

One of the most important things is to be absolutely clear on just what constitutes discrimination in the first place. Somebody could be acting with what they genuinely think are good intentions while being completely unaware that they are in fact being discriminatory against other employees. “I didn’t know” is unlikely to hold any water should you find yourself at a discrimination tribunal, so there are no excuses for not making sure that everybody is up to speed on exactly what discrimination entails.

Discrimination in the workplace is the act of favoring one demographic over another for reasons that are not relevant to the situation in question. Below are some of the most common examples.

Gender: Decisions based upon a person’s gender rather than their attributes and qualifications is very likely to be discriminatory and is likely to get you into trouble. For it to be allowed that a particular gender can be favored over another it is necessary to show that the favored gender is better suited, or even necessary, to the role than the other. One example of this could be a counselor’s role aiding women that have been abused my men.

Race: Racial discrimination is one of the hottest topics in the work place and offenders could find themselves facing considerable penalties.

Disability: In many jobs, it is necessary for workers to have certain mental and/or physical capabilities if they are to be able to do the job. This means that people with certain disabilities cannot reasonably be considered for the job. If there is no such requirement for certain physical attributes, however, then there is no reason to exclude a person in the workplace based on disabilities they may have. An employer will also need to make sure that the premises and facilities provide full access to anybody with disabilities, otherwise there could be a case for discrimination.

Sexual Orientation: A person’s sexual orientation is, in itself, not a reason to select or overlook any individual for a particular role. Religious beliefs or any other factors are not acceptable reasons to discriminate against another person for their sexuality. If a person of any sexuality has been discriminated against for no other reason than that sexuality, regardless of what that sexuality may be, then that is a clear violation of the law.

Religion: Unless a person’s religious beliefs prevent them from carrying out necessary parts of any job then their religion should not be a reason for favoring or excluding that person in the workplace. While a bar manager, for example, cannot be expected to hire somebody who’s religious beliefs prevent them from handling alcohol, an employer cannot expect the same person to handle alcohol if it is not a necessary part of the job.


Pregnancy: Pregnant women’s rights are well protected by the law and breaking these laws can lead to severe penalties. In addition to being protected by the law while working, women are also allowed, by law, to take maternity leave. In many cases the father is also permitted by law to take paternity leave of up to 12 weeks in some cases.

In 2015, The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received nearly 90,000 workplace discrimination charges.

It is not only management that should be aware of discrimination and what defines it, but everybody involved in the workplace. Even somebody that is in what might be considered to be a low grade position with little to no authority can still be guilty of discrimination, intentional or otherwise. You will also likely find that even if an individual did act independently, the organization could still be held responsible if it is shown that reasonable steps were not taken to help prevent, or correct, the situation.

To make sure that your organization has shown itself to make an effort to educate all staff on discrimination you should ensure that all necessary training and information has been provided. Educating people on discrimination is one of the best ways to help prevent it from happening in the first place. It can also help to cover your organization legally should an incident occur. After all, it just isn’t possible to be in full control of every individual’s actions.

Depending on which jurisdiction you come under, employers have access to information packs and guides on what constitutes discrimination and how to make sure they are complying at all times. There are also businesses available for hire that specialize in discrimination laws and compliance and training staff in these laws and how to abide by them.

The best way to deal with discrimination in the work place is with education…this is the #1 way prevent it from happening in the first place.

Get the facts about discrimination and legal compliance

Ignorance to the law does not grant you immunity! Sounds dramatic, doesn’t it?

Well, when it comes to workplace compliance this is absolutely true. “Harmless mistakes” and a lax attitude towards federal and state mandates can quickly result in fines and lawsuits that can bring your business to a grinding halt.

If you want to keep things above board and avoid legal problems, then make sure you aren’t making these common compliance mistakes:

Everyone who is a potential employee at your organization must fill out an application form that’s compliant with your state and federal regulations. Different states require different information and it’s critical to be up-to-date about what to include on these forms. These mistakes are easy to make. Some employers, for example, provide the right forms and then they get lost or end up in the trash by accident. Don’t make this mistake!

Failure to provide harassment prevention trainingharassment prevention training.

Harassment is a serious issue that can have equally serious consequences for your business. That’s why many states have laws in place that require employers to provide harassment prevention training. Without this training, your employees may be violating the law without being aware of it. Even if your state does not require you to provide workplace harassment prevention training, it’s a smart thing to provide in order to avoid compliance issues in the future.

Every employee is required to complete a W-4 tax form after they have been formally hired at your organization. Most companies don’t miss this part, but it’s quite common that these forms become outdated after someone has been at an organization over time. The best policy is to require your employees to fill out a new W-4 every year to make sure everything is compliant.

Failure to provide anti-discrimination traininganti-discrimination training.

Like harassment, discrimination is another serious problem that can have costly consequences for your organization. While your state might not require formal anti-discrimination training, it’s a good idea to implement it to make sure employees don’t commit an offense due to ignorance of the law. Your employees could be having lunch, for example, and a line of questioning could end up crossing over into the discrimination territory. Many people are aware that it’s against federal law to discriminate against age, sex, and nationality but there are other groups that are protected against discrimination as well—including smokers.

Sharing an employee’s medical status or condition with others.

Sometimes employees need special accommodations due to medical situations that arise. While a manager or superior may be given access to the nature of the medical condition, sharing that information with others can be a serious privacy (and obviously compliance) violation.

Making same-sex marriage discrimination mistakes.

Same-sex marriage was made lawful after the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. This means that employers are committing federal violations if they do not update their policies regarding benefits, family, and medical leave, and so on. Since this was a relatively recent change, many organizations might need to revisit their documentation to ensure that they are in compliance.

Allowing telecommuting employees to commit unauthorized overtime.

The number of workers who have “gone remote” over the past few years has skyrocketed. In fact, it’s been estimated that 45 percent of the entire U.S. workforce telecommutes on some basis now. While this is having a surprisingly positive effect on productivity for many organizations, it’s can also lead to employees working too many unauthorized hours from home. To avoid making this costly compliance mistake, it’s absolutely critical to monitor the hours worked and make sure supervisors and employees are on the same page regarding hours.

Video surveillance in unauthorized areas.

While some employers have a real need to videotape and monitor employees, it’s important that privacy violations don’t occur. In most cases, employers only have the legal right to videotape common or public areas where there is no expectation of privacy. Further, employees should always be aware that they are or could potentially be recorded.

Intruding on someone’s privacy due to unreasonable search.

Your employees have a legal right to privacy and this includes protection against unreasonable searches. Lockers, desks and employee changing rooms may all be considered areas that are off limits to unreasonable searches.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered communities are protected against harassment, privacy invasion, and discrimination. Over the past few years there have been a number of news stories that have brought these communities into the forefront of the national spotlight. Comments and questions may be made in the workplace that violate the legal mandates that protect these individuals. To prevent this, it’s important to provide training that outlines the your policy regarding LGBT discrimination and the consequences of violating it.

Workplace compliance fines and lawsuits cost American companies billions of dollars every year. Some mistakes may be due to simple documentation errors, while others may come about due to employee ignorance to the law. Either way, compliance mistakes could end up costing your organization dearly. The best way to prevent these violations is to stay informed and provide continuous training for management and employees.

Are you making these workplace compliance mistakes?

As 2016 comes to and end, many businesses are beginning to think about what 2017 will look like in terms of rules and regulations.

While there are many compliance issues to be considered for a wide-range of areas, four of the top sectors include:

These categories contain a variety of requirements and suggestions that American businesses need to be aware of in order to avoid legal ramifications and monetary penalties. Through the observation of these areas, employers will also be providing safe, fair working environments for their employees.

In order to prepare you for the year to come, the following contains a breakdown of need-to-know information.

The healthcare plan transition relief is expiring

Following the signing of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, many businesses were allowed a relief from its employment for a variety of different reasons.

Beginning on January 1, 2017, these reliefs will expire for large employers. The government has been mandated that these businesses begin providing compliant coverage by the end of 2016. Grandfathered plans and flex-contribution relief are also included within this group.

There is, however, some discrepancy amongst the qualification of “large employers.”

Following the passing of the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employers Act (PACE) in Fall of 2015, the categorization of business type is now done at a state level. While some states will allow business under 100 employees to be labeled as a small company exempt from the relief expiration, other states follow the more common guidelines stating that employers with more than 50 full-time employees are to be considered “large.”

It is imperative that businesses follow the guidelines for their state and determine what type of insurance coverage they are required to offer.

How United States vs. Texas is affecting immigration policies

Due to the Supreme Court’s recent decision to vote against the protection of unlawful immigrants in the United States vs. Texas lawsuit, many businesses will now be facing a series of challenges concerning immigration policies within their companies.

While the standard I-9 forms used in the past to determine the legal status of potential new employees have expired, businesses are still required to issue them as a part of their employment screening process.

Businesses that ignore this policy and knowingly hire men and women who aren’t entitled to work in the United States could be facing sizable financial penalties. These fines will range in cost between $375 and $16,000 per discovered violation.

In addition to guidelines against the hiring of illegal immigrants, business owners may also be forced to terminate certain employees who are no longer allowed to work.

While up to 50,000 people affected by the Supreme Court’s decision have been granted temporary deportation deferments, certain mandates will be released to employers announcing that they are no longer able to work in the US.

The equal employment opportunity council is passing a new enforcement plan

2017 will see an overhaul of policies and procedures regarding the treatment of employees thanks to a new strategic enforcement plan put into place by the Equal Employment Opportunity Council (EEOC).

This plan will introduce a series of regulations put in place to guard employees from discrimination and attempt to remove it from the workplace.

Some of the strategies discussed within the plan’s guidelines will work to assist in the following goals:

Preventing discrimination during the hiring and screening process

Ensuring an employee’s right to legal access

Discrimination throughout hiring procedures

Guaranteeing equal pay amongst employees & safeguarding an employee’s ability to exercise their legal rights

The EEOC will specifically work to prevent issues like employer retaliation following legal claims and vague contracts that can inhibit an employee’s right to fair working conditions.

Increased attention to harassment prevention

Going hand in hand with their efforts to abolish discrimination in the workplace, the EEOC is also working to protect employees from harassment.

In the present day, up to 60% of employees are still facing harassment at work. This is most commonly seen within the realm of race and ethnicity, but sexual orientation and gender-identity based cases have also drawn notable attention.

In a report issued by EEOC commissioners Chai Feldblum and Victoria Lipnic, they are requesting that businesses employ the use of prevention programs and on-site training to deter employees from engaging in distressing behavior against fellow workers.

Feldblum and Lipnic are quoted as saying:

“We cannot be complacent bystanders and expect our workplace cultures to change themselves.”

It is imperative that men and women be protected from harassment and derogatory behavior. The suggestions made in the aforementioned report will provide the tools necessary to end these sorts of negative actions and provide safer working environments for employees.

By working against these compliance issues, employers will be taking the steps needed to protect themselves from large financial penalties and legal action. A vital part of operating any business in 2017 will be keeping up with the ever-changing rules and regulations that are put in place to ensure fair business operations.

What will be the top workplace compliance issues in 2017?

No matter what industry you work in, Australian employers are responsible for providing staff with a safe workplace, free from hazards and health risks. If you run a company or organisation, it’s important that your business is compliant with current workplace safety laws and regulations, to promote a safer workplace and ensure the safety and wellbeing of your employees.

Failing to comply with health and safety regulations can not only put your staff at risk, but can also result in severe financial implications, as well as damage to your company’s reputation.

An example of this can be seen in a recent case where Essential Energy was convicted and fined $300,000 following the death of an electrical worker at Bulahdelah, NSW.

Essential Energy receive fines for employee’s death

Earlier this year, SafeWork NSW, the state’s workplace health and safety regulator, charged Essential Energy with a breach of section 32 (1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), for failing to comply with its duty under section 19(1) to ensure the health and safety of workers.

A company employee, aged 47, was fatally electrocuted while carrying out his work, in an incident which “could easily have been prevented” according to Executive Director of SafeWork NSW, Peter Dunphy. 

During SafeWork NSW’s investigation, it was found that Essential Energy was aware of the risk of keeping the top conductors energised while workers removed the bottom conductors, however the company chose to keep them energised for service delivery reasons. This led to the staff member being electrocuted, resulting in his death.

Invest in workplace safety training for all staff

Tragic incidents, such as the one above, should and could have been avoided. Many workplace accidents, injuries and fatalities can be easily prevented with proper compliance methods and an appropriate investment in workplace safety training.

Considering the potential loss in productivity, legal expenses, fines and insurance arising from a workplace incident, workplace safety training is well worth the investment.

With WH&S compliance training, you can increase staff awareness of potential hazards in the work environment, as well as educating individuals on correct reporting procedures and policies. 

Through the use of workshops, online courses and e-learning training modules, you can make sure staff are properly engaged in workplace health and safety, while reducing the risk of accidents, injuries and hazards for your organisation.

If you’re an employer looking to invest in workplace safety training, Go1 SafeWork can make this process a whole lot easier for you and your staff.

We have compiled a course package containing some of the top workplace health and safety courses available through e3Learning, to make it easy for businesses to improve their workplace.

You can make your training process quick and easy with this convenient package containing 3 online safety courses that every Australian business needs – and best of all, this package is available completely free.

Covering a range of topics, the Go1 SafeWork package provides the training that you need to get your team up to scratch and help improve workplace health and safety for your organisation.

Through this package, you’ll be able to educate your team on the following important WH&S topics:

By making the safety of your workplace a top priority, you’ll be showing your commitment to the safety and wellbeing of your employees. You’ll also have peace of mind knowing that your business is compliant with Australian laws and regulations.

As Peter Dunphy, Executive Director of SafeWork NSW, said when discussing the Essential Energy tragedy, “every worker should return home to their family at the end of the working day.” Enrol in Go1 SafeWork’s free online courses and get started on creating a safer workplace for your staff.

Why workplace safety training is essential for your business

Investing in compliance training online is one of the key steps we recommended recently for building a better compliance program for your business.

If you’re looking to update and improve the compliance processes within your organization, moving your training online is a great place to start.

Taking this step has a number of benefits for both your employees and your bottom line, saving you time and money while making the process easier and more engaging for staff. Let’s look at these benefits in more depth.

Save time and money on compliance training

As we’ve said before, compliance is a combination of time and money – it doesn’t work without an appropriate investment of both of these factors. And you no doubt want to get the best possible return on that investment.

Carrying out compliance training online reduces the amount of time your employees spend in the training room, and for most organizations we know that time equals money. With e-learning, particularly if you’re a large organization, or have staff across various locations or working remotely, online training will save you a significant amount of money compared to face-to-face training by an instructor, as well as travel fees, venue hire and printing costs.

In fact, using a good Learning Management System for online training can reduce training expenses by more than 50%. Moving your compliance training online can also reduce the risk of your organization receiving penalty fees or fines, saving you further money in the long run.

Make compliance training easier for your staff

These days, online training courses are available for all areas of compliance, making training incredibly easy, convenient and effective for your staff.

With e-learning, employees can log in to their relevant training courses or modules from anywhere in the world, from the convenience of their home or office. Staff won’t need to attend all-day training lectures, meaning they can keep their focus on their work responsibilities and maintain their productivity without interruption, until choosing to log in.

While you can easily train all staff, right across the board, from an online portal, you can also customize each individual’s training materials, making it a more personalized and worthwhile experience for each user.

As a recent article by Game Effective says, with online compliance training, “employees know that they are getting relevant information that pertains to their position, and that increases the value of the compliance online training experience.”

Improve employee engagement with compliance 

You’ll also be providing staff with a far more engaging user experience by moving your compliance training online.

Instead of having team members attend long-winded lectures on compliance issues, employees will have access to targeted online training activities and modules based on their job duties. As a result, they’ll be more motivated to learn and actively participate in training on these subjects.

People also retain more information when the subject matter is made more engaging, making e-learning more effective than the traditional modes of delivering compliance training, such as workbooks, assessments and training room scenarios.

Using up-to-date training modes and interesting, relevant course content is beneficial for your company’s organizational culture, particularly with new hires who have just started and are going through compliance training as part of their onboarding or orientation.

Use an LMS to deliver your compliance training

Using a Learning Management System such as Go1's online training platform to create and deliver your compliance training gives you access to customizable reporting, engagement tools and analytics.

This allows you to easily track staff progress, see how each team member is going with the content and whether they may need additional direction, assistance or further resources. You can even use your own compliance content with the Go1 platform, creating a fully customized program for your employees.

Maintaining and updating compliance training content is also simple, as administrators can simply log in to their online compliance program, make any necessary modifications or changes to the course materials, then deploy the updated compliance training to all staff, in all locations.

To find out more about compliance, before moving your training program online, you might also like to read through our previous articles on this subject:

Why You Need to Spend Time and Money on Compliance

Get Started on Better Compliance for Your Business

Benefits of moving your compliance training online

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a nightmare for some and a blessing for others. For businesses, especially the human resources departments, understanding all of the new changes and compliance regulations can be quite a challenge. Failure to comply will mean large fines for companies—even if a company doesn’t realize it isn’t complying accurately.

“There’s nothing like getting a little experience under your belt, especially when it comes to complying with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But experience in this area is hard to come by,” said Natalie Burg of Forbes, in ‘What Small And Large Organizations Alike Can Learn From The First Year Of Annual ACA’.

The ACA is not only a landmarked health reform, it’s also unchartered territory for businesses when it comes to legal compliance and all that is involved.

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), “The landmark health reform legislation enacted in March 2010 is designed to expand the availability of health insurance, reform the regulation of health coverage and restructure its delivery.”

ACA calls for expansion in health care coverages such as:

Employers that employ 50 or more employees are required to offer affordable and essential health care coverage to their full-time employees (employees that work 30 hours a week or more)

Provisions for insurance premium subsidies for certain low- and middle-income households (SHRM)

A mandate that individuals without health insurance through an employer or other source, such as Medicare, purchase it on their own or pay a penalty for not doing so (SHRM)

Establishment of state-based insurance exchanges—marketplaces where individuals can shop for and purchase health insurance (SHRM)

“The law also prohibits lifetime limits on coverage and arbitrary cancellations of coverage, and it requires that nondependent children up to age 26 be permitted to stay on a parent’s health policy,” said SHRM.

It took many companies and business owners by surprise when the ACA was challenged, yet found constitutional by the courts. “For most human resources and employee benefits professionals across all sized companies, the constitutional validation of the ACA by the Supreme Court was unexpected,” said ADA Research Institute. No more than 10 percent of professionals surveyed were expecting the Supreme Court to uphold the entire law. Consequently, companies may be behind in their ACA preparations.”

“It’s never been more important for employers to have clearly defined worker classifications. Incorrectly defining employees, contract workers and temporary workers has big consequences under ACA — especially this year,” Burg from Forbes said.

Employee classification may be one of the largest areas of confusion. If a company employs 50 or more employees, it is mandated to provide medical health insurance to its full-time employees. However, this can get tricky as HR reviews the employee list and may discount contract employees or others that may have worked more than 30 hours in a week.

Calculating whether an organization is subject to the employer mandate should be done monthly, and a record of such calculations should be maintained. Here are the steps:

First, calculate the number of full-time employees—those who are regularly scheduled to work an average of 30 or more hours per week.

Next, calculate the total number of hours worked during the month by employees who are not full time, and divide the total by 120. The result (rounded down) is the number of FTEs represented by the hours worked by the organization’s non-full-time employees.

Last, add the number of full-time employees and the number of FTE employees represented by non-full-time employees. The result is the organization’s total FTE employees.

Collecting and maintaining the correct data is another challenge area. ACA requires specific tax forms and other data to be turned in on a regular basis. The system is new and there are bound to be mistakes; however, it could take up to – and even beyond – 18 months after filing taxes for a company to be notified of a mistake.

“Simply put, don’t trust that your methods were perfect the first time around,” Burg said. The fact that you haven’t heard anything to the contrary yet doesn’t mean anything.”

It is recommended to check and recheck the data yearly for any mistakes or discrepancies. It is also a good idea for periodic checks and updates because of employee turnovers and changes of status.

“That shows good-faith effort to be compliant,” said John Haslinger, vice president of strategic advisory services for ADP. “Otherwise, you’ll probably do the same thing wrong for 2016, 2017 and into 2018. You could be looking at a multi-year penalty.”

Notifications to employees. The HR department will be responsible for letting employees (current and new) know about health care options, as well as marketplace insurance and how to obtain it.

Summary of costs. While most companies provide a basic (or even detailed) booklet on costs for the different health care plans offered, with ACA there are even more plans and costs for employees to choose from, making it more time consuming and even confusing for both employees and employers.

IRS filing. ACA requires more data and tax forms to be filed, which means more work for HR departments. It may also require specialized training to make sure everything is done correctly to avoid costly fines.

“The ACA is a work in progress, and it’s going to keep changing,” said Burg. “To stay compliant, employers should be as “To stay compliant, employers should be as To stay compliant, employers should be as  vigilant about watching for forthcoming changes as they are about tracking their important employee data.”

How the Affordable Care Act has affected legal compliance

Legal workplace compliance issues have become a “hot topic” for companies today. Sure, conflicts come up in any work environment and that’s part of the cost of doing business. You have so many different personalities, roles, and expectations that it’s simply impossible for things to be “smooth sailing” all the time.

However, some employees cross the boundary between conflict and compliance—and when this happens you need an effective strategy for addressing the problem before it gets out of hand. Just as the working world is evolving at a breakneck pace, so are the compliance issues we are facing today.

Decreased productivity from your employees. This is generally due to anxiety, feelings of helplessness, or preoccupation with the discrimination that is taking place.

Disgruntled employees and a rise in conflict-based incidents. Discrimination can lead to frustration, anger, and annoyance between co-workers and this can cause disruptive arguments and fights in the workplace.

Financial issues for your employees and your overall business. When an employee is facing discrimination they are not able to carry out their job to the best of their abilities. This can cost a business their two most valuable resources: time and money (and that’s before legal gets involved!)

Costly legal issues which may be ongoing as a result of a filed discrimination charge or against the company for not taking action. Legal problems can shut down any business, and discrimination is a very common source of legal issues in the workplace today.

Sexual harassment is absolutely illegal and should never be tolerated in the workplace, regardless of gender. However, the unfortunate reality is that we are still seeing a rise in sexual harassment in many states today.

Physical and verbal harassment of a sexual nature

Sexual harassment is a proven path to creating a hostile work environment and that’s why the best companies spend time educating their employees on the topic.