On January 1, 2020, we are going to wake up to two significant wage changes that will impact most Colorado small businesses. Are you prepared for these changes?

What’s Changing?

• Hourly Employees: Colorado Minimum Wage- Colorado minimum wage has been on an increased schedule of $.90 per year for the past 2 years. In January 2020, you will see the third and final $.90 minimum wage increase. Effective January 1, 2020, Colorado Minimum Wage will be:

Colorado Minimum Wage- $12.00/ hr

Colorado Tipped Employees- $8.98/ hr

*Denver increased its local minimum wage to $12.85 per hour effective Jan. 1, becoming the first local government in Colorado to set its minimum higher than the statewide level per a new statute passed by the legislature in 2019.

• Salaried Employees: Minimum Salary Rate (Federal Overtime Rule)- The minimum annual salary for exempt (salaried) employees is going to increase in 2020. Effective January 1, 2020, the Federal...

An employee's first week is the most important week of the employment life cycle. This is when you create the foundation to the new employee's future behaviors, your future leadership capabilities and their perception of what working with you will be like.  Making sure you provide the right tools, resources and training opportunities will ensure optimal success.  Let's take a look at some common mistakes that small businesses often make and 4 steps to ensuring a great first week.  

Small Business Mistakes:
When it comes to onboarding a new employee during their first-week employers make a few mistakes. First, employers expect a new employee to hit the ground running. Quite frankly, no two business are ever the same. You can never have a plug and play employee.

The second mistake that we often see within an employee's first week is that the required paperwork is not correctly completed... if at all. It is required by law that the I-9 is completed within 3...

*Presented at Colorado Springs, CO SCORE meeting on July 12, 2019

I'm obsessed with Richard Branson. Anything that comes out of that man's mouth is like gospel to me. I aspire to be a Richard Branson, well a female/ American, Richard Branson one day. I believe that his people philosophy is really where it's at. And I think that this quote right here says it all: “A company is people... employees want to know... am I being listened to or am I a cog in the wheel? People really need to feel wanted". -Richard Branson

To start off on the right path of having sound employee practices, let's look at some recruiting tips and tricks. This blog is going to look at how to prepare and attract the right candidates and to evaluate those candidates. But first, let's look at the mistakes small businesses often make when it comes to recruiting. I'm sure all of you guys have seen these mistakes.

Small Business Recruiting Mistakes
1: Lack of Planning
First and foremost, small businesses...

Small Business and Employee Ethics- Avoid Disaster!

Have you taken the appropriate measures to makes sure that you are protected from the dishonest actions of your employees?  Employees ethics is a HUGE risk for all small businesses.  Make sure that you are protecting yourself and your business.   

For most small businesses, employees can be the businesses most significant risk.  According to The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimates that companies lose 5% of their annual revenue to employee fraud and abuse.  Unethical employee actions hit small businesses the hardest.  Most small businesses do not have the financial ability to sustain the hit of significant employee fraud or theft occurrence.  Unfortunately, the cost of employee theft isn’t only the cost of the theft.  Employers also need to factor in the additional expense of legal fees, employer time spent on legal action, loss of employee...

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...

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....

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...

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...