We’ve compiled a checklist of common year-end HR tasks spanning compliance, benefits, payroll, salary administration, and general HR planning to prepare for 2012.
Compliance
- Review your policies and procedures and make sure they still apply and/or comply with changes to laws and regulations that occurred throughout the year.
- Conduct an HR audit, preferably with a third-party. Make sure your HR and filing systems are in compliance.
- Review record retention guidelines and dispose of appropriate records before the new year.
- Review job titles and revise job descriptions for employees whose jobs, duties, or roles have changed within the course of the year. Be sure to also check FLSA exemption statuses to make sure these are still accurate.
- Add critical HR filing and reporting deadlines to your calendar.
- Prepare for any regulatory updates that go into effect January 1.
Benefits
- Make sure that new disclosure requirements and summary plan descriptions for retirement and health plans have been incorporated.
- Revise benefits levels per IRS 2012 limits for defined contribution and benefit plans.
- Review limitations on deferred compensation and check for excess contributions to qualified plans, especially for your highly compensated employees.
- Determine which employees have life insurance over $50,000 to report taxable imputed income for taxable group term life insurance.
- Check social security withheld to determine if an employee exceeded the 2011 limit. If so, make an adjustment or refund.
- Re-evaluate your benefits package, including disability, life, and health insurance policies and obtain competitive bids.
- Remind employees to spend the remaining balances on their flexible spending accounts before the end of the year so that their leftover money is not forfeited. You may consider reminding employees of reimbursable expenses. For a list of these, click here.
- Send COBRA rate increase notifications to COBRA participants, if applicable.
Payroll/Salary Administration
- Make sure employees review their W4s if they have changed their status during the year or anything else that would change payroll withholding.
- Review taxable fringe benefits for W2 reporting, as these must be reflected in payroll for W2 reporting.
- Distribute W2s by the end of January 2012.
- Update employee address, demographic, and emergency information, including municipal information for local tax filing.
- Have salary conversations with each of your employees and provide expected 2012 compensation in writing.
- Issue final year-end paychecks which include year-end bonuses and holiday/overtime pay.
- Adjust payroll to reflect changes in salary/wage adjustments, merit increases, minimum wage increases (note: Ohio minimum wage will increase January 1), and changes to benefits withholding.
- Integrate new federal and state withholding tables. Remember that the temporary payroll changes which went into effect in 2011 are set to expire unless the federal government decides otherwise.
Planning
- Distribute vacation and attendance calendars/planners to your supervisors and managers.
- Determine your organization’s 2012 holiday schedule and post or communicate it to employees.
- Plan, update, and post any critical company activities or events for 2012.
- Ask supervisors to assess current staffing levels in their departments/teams and submit job requisitions. Also take note of pending retirements, terminations, and expected turnover.
- Conduct a training needs assessment and establish employee training and development plans for 2012.
- Review employee performance reviews and determine which employees…
- are eligible for promotion
- need additional training or skill development
- require a performance improvement plan
- should be terminated
- Schedule recently promoted supervisors or managers for new supervisor training.
- Plan your most critical projects for 2012. If you don’t know what you should focus on, consider conducting an employee engagement survey in the first quarter to uncover areas of the workplace your department could improve.
Additional Resources
HR Project Assistance
For assistance conducting HR and FLSA audits, revising and auditing job descriptions, workforce planning, employee engagement surveys, and a variety of other HR projects, please contact [email protected].
Benefit Plan Audit
Do you have 100 or more employees enrolled in your defined contribution plan(s)? Your plan is required to be audited, and must accompany your 5500 filing. Now is the time to save! ERC members receive a No-Cost 2011 Benefit Plan Audit, and can lock in your 2010 rate for the next five years, through our exclusive partnership with Skoda Minotti. Click here for details!
Employee Handbook Service
As you revise your policies and procedures, keep in mind that ERC and Employer Risk Solutions Company (ERSco) offer a unique and innovative service exclusive to ERC members that provides an employee handbook for private employers that is easy, legally compliant, customized and affordable. For more information about this service, click here.
Training
Schedule your employees for training sooner than later! For a list of training topics offered by ERC, which can be customized to your organization’s needs, click here. Or, to register your employee(s) or yourself for an upcoming public training event in 2012 offered in our Workplace Center, click here.
