The holiday season is a time for celebration, reflection, and spending quality moments with loved ones. However, for many small business owners, it can also be a season filled with challenges, especially when it comes to managing employee time off and maintaining productivity.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll cover 8 ways you can navigate the holiday season with ease. We'll discuss the importance of accommodating employees' needs for time off, ensuring a fair and efficient time-off policy, maintaining productivity during the holiday period, and much more. Let's embark on this journey of creating a harmonious and enjoyable holiday season for both employees and employers.

The Importance of Holiday Time Off

The significance of granting holiday time off stretches beyond mere tradition. It delves into the very essence of your company's identity and how you care for your workforce.

Embracing the holiday spirit by allowing your employees to recharge and savor quality...

Employee classification is a crucial aspect of ensuring fair labor practices and compliance with state and federal laws. In the state of Colorado, employers must understand the distinctions between exempt and non-exempt employees to properly manage work hours, breaks, overtime, compensation, benefits, and FLSA compliance. This blog aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the state's exempt vs. non-exempt classifications to help employers navigate these important distinctions.

1. Scheduled Work Time:
Exempt employees are not required to track their work hours and are expected to work as many hours as necessary to complete their job duties efficiently. On the other hand, non-exempt employees typically have set schedules or specific hours they are required to work, usually within a standard workweek of 40 hours.

2. Breaks:
Exempt employees have more flexibility regarding breaks as they are not entitled to mandatory rest or meal breaks under federal law (although some state laws may...

We've been anticipating another mid-year compliance update as this seems to be the norm for Colorado legislation now. We aim to keep the small business community informed of changes to the employment law landscape that directly impacts you. It's a long one so join us for the journey and we'll walk you through what you need to know!

Mid-Year Compliance Update Summary

Now

• CO Military Leave Clarification
• FED Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
• CO Unemployment Insurance Premiums

Soon

• CO Protecting Opportunities and Workers Rights (POWR) 8/7/2023 
• CO Bereavement Leave Through HFWA 8/7/2023
• CO Workers Comp Updates 8/7/2023

Later

•  CO FAMLI Benefit Calculation Update 1/1/2024 
• CO Equal Pay For Equal Work Act 1/1/2024 
• CO Application Question Restrictions 7/1/2024

NOW

Military Leave Clarification

    HB 23-1045 This is an expansion from the already required USERRA Military Leave. CO...

Exploring the Impact of AI on Recruiting, Learning and Development, Policy Writing, and Decision-making

In recent years, the demand for artificial intelligence (AI) technology has skyrocketed and has been extensively used in various sectors. The human resources (HR) industry is no exception. AI can help HR professionals in their roles and responsibilities, from recruiting new employees to developing and training existing ones. However, while AI has the potential to make hiring and managing employees more efficient and accurate, it is important for HR professionals to be aware of the potential pitfalls AI can create – such as discrimination, bias, and copyright infringement. This blog will examine the ways in which AI is impacting HR, focusing on innovations within recruiting, learning and development, policy writing, and decision-making. The following discussion will also include warnings on adverse impact due to AI-produced discrimination and copyright...

From Policy Creation to DEI Advocacy Work: A Guide for Small Business Owners

Small businesses are the heart of our communities and play a significant role for the economy. As a business owner, you always want to make your company succeed in every possible way. One crucial aspect of that is to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Before diving into why diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is crucial, let's first define what these terms mean:

Diversity refers to differences in gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, physical ability, age, and more.

Equity means fair treatment, access, and opportunities in one's social, political, and economic life.

Inclusion means a welcoming environment where everyone can participate and contribute fully.

So, why is having a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace essential, especially for small businesses? Firstly, it's the moral and ethical thing to do. Every employee,...

A few aspects of WFH you may not have thought about... and how to address them.

As we have shifted our way out of the pandemic, the long-term results are becoming clearly identified. Many of us have known for a while that remote work will be one of the lasting impacts of COVID-19... and our newfound love of the QR code (but this new love shall be left for another blog). This has caused employers to implement remote employee policies for both long-term and short-term arrangements.  Now that we are seeing trends and expanded complexities, it is important for employers to understand and update policies and best practices in order to protect their employees and business from any legal or financial repercussions.

When creating a remote work policy, it’s important to address state and federal laws that may affect your organization. Employers must determine whether they need to comply with state labor laws such as minimum wage and overtime requirements,...

SECURE Act 2.0: An Overview

In the final days of 2022, Congress passed a new set of retirement rules designed to facilitate contribution to retirement plans and access to those funds earmarked for retirement. The law is called SECURE 2.0, and it is a follow-up to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act passed in 2019. The sweeping legislation has dozens of significant provisions; here are the major provisions of the new law.

New Distribution Rules

Required minimum distribution (RMD) age will rise to 73 years in 2023. By far, one of the most critical changes was increasing the age at which owners of retirement accounts must begin taking RMDs. Further, starting in 2033, RMDs may begin at age 75. If you have already turned 72, you must continue taking distributions. However, if you are turning 72 this year and have already scheduled your withdrawal, we may want to revisit your approach.1

Access to funds

Plan participants can use retirement funds in an...

Problems Hiring? 

We found the secret sauce in the middle of the night at the most random place...

It is no secret that the majority of today’s workforce issue is the ability to attract great talent… or any talent for that matter.  It seems that COVID hit our world and wiped out our workforce.  We keep waiting for the return, but it just doesn’t seem to show any sign of a rebound. 

Over the past 12 months or so, the HRB team has started to notice a trend- companies who have a great culture are not having trouble hiring or retaining employees.  However, companies who struggle with their workplace culture, are struggling to hire and retain new hires and their current workforce.  Of course, we put on our detective hats and started looking into this pattern deeper… what we found was very interesting.  Did you know that (according to businessnewsdaily.com) when searching for a new job, 77% of surveyed respondents to a...

 Starting a new job is stressful, and let’s be honest, so is hiring someone!

The average US employer spends $4000 and 24 days to hire a new worker. (Business Wire, 2019)

If you are like most small businesses, you may not have a lot of manpower to spare – being down a person for even a fraction of that time can mean even more hard work shared between you and your already hardworking team, all while you are taking on the additional and difficult task to find someone new.

Reviewing and interviewing applicants can feel like a frenzy when candidates often have so many options to choose from. When you finally find the right person and they accept your offer, its finally time to relax… well, maybe not quite yet.

Image Credit: @Mattsurelee

Lets try to put ourselves in your new employees’ shoes. Imagine with me for a moment that you are in their position, but rather than starting a new job, you are a guest at a hotel:

You show...

As small businesses, there is so much to balance as we care for our employees. This past year has undeniably kept Colorado small business owners on their toes and busy with a myriad of legal changes. We see all the hard work these changes have required and are proud of the way our community has stepped up to the plate and prevailed! More changes may not be business owners’ top priority this year, but the Colorado General Assembly has their own action plan that will impact us none the less. In the next year, they will be mandating a state sponsored retirement savings plan, the Colorado Secure Savings Program. This plan is designed to make retirement savings more accessible to the Colorado workforce.

With continually pressing financial demands of the present, creating savings to use years from now is often not at top of mind. The fact is financial planning and retirement savings can make for a more predictable future and are exponentially more effective the sooner they begin. At...