Four Belated New Year's Resolutions for Employers

If you are an employer, chances are you haven't yet had an opportunity to make New Year's resolutions. January is full of tasks such as open-enrollment for benefits and sending W-2 and 1099 forms, and you may not have had time to ponder your goals for 2010.

May I suggest a few? The day-to-day tasks of managing people often consume a lot of attention, leaving little time for the types of "clean up" tasks mentioned here. But your job will be a lot less stressful if you get these things under control.

1. Audit Your I-9 Forms
2. Make sure that you have signed copies of all important policies in your employees' files
3. Issue periodic reminders about your harassment policy
4. Schedule training for managers and supervisors

Your goal should not be to create a corps of HR professionals; it should be to give supervisors and managers enough information that they recognize the red flags. You want them to know when they should stop talking and pick up the phone to call HR. Training should be held regularly, because supervisors and managers get caught up in the daily grind, and may forget HR issues if they don't hear about them often enough.

This article appeared in the January 14, 2010 issue of San Diego News Network.