How is Overtime Paid? A Small Business Guide to Overtime Laws

Are you at a loss wondering, "How is overtime paid?" Find out everything you need to know in our comprehensive guide.

UPDATE:  Effective January 1, 2020, salaried employees should earn $684 per week (or $35,568 per year).  Please click HERE for updated information.

Of course, you already know to pay your employees at least the minimum wage. But the laws surrounding overtime are complex and quickly become confusing.

Employees who work longer than normal hours are dedicating extra time to help you continue building success, so you want to make sure you do right by them. Plus, it's important to know the overtime laws to prevent legal trouble for yourself and your business.

If you're wondering how is overtime paid, you've come to the right place! In this guide, we'll tell you everything you need to know about federal overtime laws and how they pertain to your state.

Overtime Laws and Regulations

Although...

Like most Americans, small business workers want less stress and better work-life balance

Guest Post by Clint Perry at Unlimited Benefits

% Rated excellent/very good health by small business workers

 

The well-being of 60...

4 Company Culture Ideas that Will Bring New Life to Your Business

Company culture is an important element in every business. Does yours need a makeover? Read these 4 company culture ideas for a renewed environment.

Depending on the industry that you're in, the cost of onboarding an employee can cost you upwards of $25,000. If you're not working to keep everyone you have and help your most talented employees thrive, you're not working to build a stable company culture. If you're searching for company culture ideas, don't run to order ping pong table and beanbag chairs when it's your employees that make the culture.

Here are four ideas you should consider to build a better company culture.

1. Make Collaboration a Must

If it's not already baked into what you do, you need to create a culture by having your team collaborate more often and more effectively. Without a team building effort and an atmosphere that inspires people to work together, you won't have much of a culture at all....

Your Guide to Creating an Employee Handbook

Creating an employee handbook is a great way to set out your expectations as well as your company aims and ethos. We look at how to create one right here.

Are you wasting paper and printer toner making handbooks that no one reads? Or, are you spending valuable time sending it via email to your staff?

Here's the truth: if your employees don't feel motivated to read it, they won't.

There are a ton of ways to write an employee handbook that actually gets read. You can still include important rules and guidelines. But, the way you put this important book together must change.

Creating an employee handbook can be easy. These steps will take it from paper waste to the important file; keep reading to find out how.

1. Don't Be Dull

One reason your employees don't care about the handbook is that it's boring. Employee handbooks are often written like legal contracts full of threats.

Consider how you talk to your staff. Do you encourage open...

Dress for Success: How to Create a Dress Code Policy

Creating a dress code policy ensures that your employees look professional at all times. Learn how to create a dress code policy with this useful guide.

Dress code policies might seem like overkill for a small business. But every company needs a dress code, including yours.

Why? Today, business wardrobes are leaning more towards casual dress. Some companies forego dress codes altogether. They feel that workers do best when they're wearing clothes that are comfortable.

But not having a dress code is an open invitation to future problems. If there is no dress code, someone is going to push the limit. This could cause safety problems or customer service issues. It could even end with a lawsuit for discrimination.

These are all reasons that it's better to have a dress code policy for your business. For tips on how to create the best company dress code, keep reading.

Why You Need a Dress Code Policy

When it comes to managing a...

This is the usual reaction I find when a small business of twenty employees or less is approached about employee health, dental or vision benefits.

Many believe it’s too expensive. Well, it may be. But too expensive for who? The employer? I think not. The employee, maybe, but let the employee decide that for themselves. Offering benefits can only enhance an employer’s image to recruits regardless of the expense to either side.

Employee benefits, in the last five years, have become much less stringent on the rules regarding what an employer must contribute, how much paperwork an employer must complete and who can enroll, save for the ACA guideline regarding husband and wife groups but we’ll get to that later.

In today’s benefit marketplace many carriers have relaxed the regulations regarding employer contributions to be so minimal it allows for any employer to at least make a benefit offering. For example, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield,...

Do You Need a Recruitment Tip? Here Are 9 Tips From the HR Pros

Does your company have a successful recruiting strategy? If you think you need a recruitment tip or two, click here! Here are 9 recruiting tips from the HR pros.

Statistically speaking, every corporate job opening gets 250 resumes for a single job. For your business, this means a lot of CVs and resumes to sift through in order to find the one stellar candidate that fits the role.

How exactly does your business go about recruiting for job openings in order to find that perfect candidate? Have you always attracted the right type of people you're looking to hire, or do you need a little bit of extra help when it comes to creating the best staff you possibly can? Do you need a recruitment tip or two to get things going?

Read on for 9 awesome recruitment tips from some of HR's best.

1. Use Social Media to Promote Job Openings

Nearly 2 in 3 employees stated that their employer did not know how to use social media in...

6 Things Small Businesses Need to Know About HIPAA Compliance

If your small business deals with sensitive patient/client information, then you're going to want your staff to be well versed in HIPAA laws and regulations. Here are 6 things you need to know about HIPPA compliance and your team.

In your role, you have access to plenty of sensitive information. Your colleagues are trusting you to keep it safe. But what does the law say about privacy rights?

One of the most highly protected types of information is health-related data. Some HR records only contain scattered pieces of health information in employees' employment records, like sick notes and workers' compensation claims. Others small businesses that use a self-insured method to pay for employees' medical expenses have much more information.

How much of this information is protected by HIPAA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability? The information below will help you abide by HIPAA compliance laws.

What Small...

5 HR Tasks That Need to Be Done By Every Company

Every company has human resource issues they need to sort out, even if they don't have an HR department. Here are 5 HR duties every company should stay on top of.

It's 2018, and your small business needs to get with the times. No offense to the dedicated and kind people who work in small business now, we mean the industry as a whole.

Within a small business, there are still HR duties many companies aren't doing and some that needed to go a long time ago.

Is your company with the times? How are you using employee programs? Do you still have punitive programs in place?

What about new technology? All these things need a makeover or at least an upgrade. Lucky for you, we've done most of the research.

Learn how to get HR modern below.

See our recommendations for HR software that will make your life easier: HR Software

Start Internal

Before you go and use our expert tips, you should start with your experts: your current...

7 Ways In Which HR Solutions For Small Business Can Save Your Company

When running a small business, it's as difficult to stick to your budget as it is essential. HR solutions for small business can help you pinch those pennies. Here are 7 ways in which HR experts can save you money.

A small business is only as good as its management and budgeting when it is first getting started. No matter what kind of industry you operate in or how good of a product you have, these are the things that keep you on track. You can easily find yourself in some serious trouble without such leadership to guide the business and the resources to fund everything.

These skills develop as time goes on, leading you to more opportunities to make your business increasingly efficient and profitable. A great opportunity to look into is how you manage your small business human resources. Rethinking how you approach HR can save you a significant amount of time and money, in more ways than you might...