8 Resources Every HR Professional Should Know About

8 Resources Every HR Professional Should Know About

We’ve compiled a collection of eight (8) of our favorite HR resources – free comprehensive tools and information that many of our members find valuable for common tasks like staying compliant, administering FMLA, or finding and supporting employees.

1. Staying Legally Compliant

The Department of Labor (DOL) offers a variety of e-law Advisors, interactive tools that provide information about a number of federal employment laws. Employers typically find these tools very helpful in providing greater understanding of compliance and employment law information. Specific e-law Advisors include FLSA, H1-B, Health Benefits Advisor, OSHA, Drug Free Workplace, Contractor Compliance, and more. Similarly, the DOL also provides an Employment Law Guide that helps employers create policies for their handbook.

2. Accommodating Employees

Employers frequently need to support employees through difficult conditions and circumstances. Whether you’re accommodating employees to be compliant or to better support employees as you create a great place to work, the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is an ideal resource that provides ideas and examples on what level of accommodations and flexibility are appropriate for different situations. It also helps employers better understand a variety of disabilities and psychological/medical conditions that impact their workforce.

3. Administering FMLA

Leave administration, particularly FMLA, is one of employers’ greatest responsibilities and challenges. Employers are frequently looking for resources surrounding administration of this law to help them administer it. This site is one of our members’ favorites as it highlights all of the most common forms, fact sheets, and general guidance for administering family medical leave required by the law.

4. Creating and Updating Job Descriptions

O*Net is a comprehensive, free resource for job analysis and job description information. It provides detailed information including a summary of a job, alternate job titles, tasks, tools and technology used, knowledge, skills, abilities, work activities, and work context. It even contains information on interests, work styles, work values, wages and employment trends, and education/training requirements relevant to a specific job. The tool is useful for employers that are creating job descriptions and supports a range of other HR functions like hiring and performance management. The Dictionary of Occupational Job Titles is also another ideal resource for job related information, included within O*Net.

5. Developing Employees

Career One-Stop has all the components of a comprehensive career development service (without the cost). Employees can explore careers, assess themselves, write job descriptions, evaluate and profile their skills, and find developmental programs and resources. This tool, as well as the Ohio Workforce Informer, Riley Guide, and BLS Career Guide to Industries, are other valuable career development tools for employees to utilize when developing themselves and can complement employers’ career development programs.

6. Staffing and Workforce Planning

Employers often seek information about local employment trends that impact their business for staffing and workforce planning purposes. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov) provides ideal national information for this purpose, most organizations don’t realize that the state of Ohio provides a labor market website that details information about local employment trends and projections, current employment statistics, supply and demand, and skills/training. In addition, Ohio Means Jobs is a free website to search for candidates and post jobs that also helps employers recruit and staff.

7. Auditing Wage & Hour Practices

FLSA compliance is one of ERC’s most common questions and an area where many employers may find themselves non-compliant. In the event of a Wage & Hour audit, the DOL provides a checklist of items requested. This checklist is not only ideal for organizations being audited by the DOL, but also for those that want to prepare for an audit. You can download this checklist here.

8. Posting Requirements

The DOL makes posting requirements available to employers including information about what organizations must post, citations and penalties, and other information. Click here to view these requirements. Employers can also download PDF posters on this site.

In conclusion, the Department of Labor and other governmental agencies can offer free resources and support for your organization. With vast amounts of information, online tools, free training and webinars, and access to experts, they can be very helpful for employers and particularly HR departments – often in ways that many organizations don’t anticipate.

Additional Resources

HR Training
Gain even more crucial skills and resources to be successful in your HR role through various ERC HR training courses. For more information on these informative training courses which cover all aspects of HR including employment law, compensation, benefits, performance management, orientation, communication, please click here

HR Help Desk
ERC’s Help Desk staff is exceptional at working with governmental agencies to answer employers’ questions, resolve problems, and locate information, resources, and forms to meet your needs – especially when you don’t have time to do the research yourself. Just e-mail [email protected] for assistance.

HR Practices
Benchmark how your HR practices compare to other Northeast Ohio employers by participating in our Policies and Benefits Survey. This survey covers benefits, compensation, recruiting, hiring, communication, training, development, and safety practices. Click here to participate.

Other HR Resources
In addition to resources discussed in this article, ERC members enjoy an array of additional resources related to compensation, benefits, and policy information; HR Help Desk service, sample forms, job descriptions, and policies; cost-savings (and free services provided by some of our Preferred Partners); and more. Click here to find out more about the benefits of being an ERC member.