HR Webinar Series 2021
Presented by:
Kris Tanner, Director of HR
Daniel Ditto, Compliance Officer

AGENDA
 FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act)
 1099 Contractors
 Sexual Harassment
 FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act)
 ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
 Workers Compensation
 Protection for LGBTQ Employees (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queer)
 State Guidelines for Termination
 Severance Agreements
 State Unemployment Insurance
 Documentation

FLSA- Fair Labor Standards Act
 What is it?
 Establishes minimum wage
 Overtime
 Record keeping
 Youth employment
 Governed by DOL and Wage and Hour

Minimum Wage and Overtime
 Federal Minimum Wage is $7.25
 Remember, each state is different
 Overtime
 Generally, over 40 hrs with exceptions
 Remember, some states are different
 Paid Time and a half
 Exemptions — prove you don’t need to pay overtime

Record Keeping
 Must keep records of employee information
 Birthdates
 Social security numbers
 Address
 Lots more
 Time keeping records

Youth and Child Labor Rules
 Rules are specific to age, industry and nature of the work
 Violations are very expensive
 Remember states have their own rules

Overtime Exemptions
 Employers can’t simply decide an employee is exempt
 Usually, the biggest mistake employers will make regarding FLSA
 Most common exemption are salaried individuals
 Outside sales
 Commonly called “White Collar Exemptions”

Salaried Overtime Exemptions
 Salary Basis Test- $684 per week
 Important but only part of the test
 Duties Test
 Executive
 Discretion
 Education or advanced knowledge
 Recognized creative field

How Can Ampian Help?
Provides software
and database for
record keeping
1
Consult and help
build job
descriptions
2
Review, consult,
and document
overtime exempt
positions
3
Trouble shoot any
deviations in pay
that may arise in
conflict of FLSA
4

W-2 Employees vs Contractors
 Misclassifying employees as contractors is a common DOL violation
 Misclassifying employees can become time consuming and costly
 Classifying an individual as a contractor is determined by a group of
circumstance
 “Economics Reality Test”
 Determined by the totality of the circumstance
 Behavioral - Control what, when, and how
 Financial - Control of economic aspects of job and method of payment
 Type of Relationship - Benefits? Length of terms? Contract agreement and documentation?

Economics Reality Test
 A contractor should be treated as another company
 Factors weighed in the test
 Is the contractor a licensed business?
 Does the contractor use his/her own tools and equipment?
 Does the contractor have control of his/her own hours, work, direction?
 Does the contractor have multiple clients?
 Does the contractor promote themselves to grow their business
 Does the contractor invoice for work done?

Contractor No No’s
 Call them contract employees or employees
 Pay them through payroll
 Provide contractors with benefits
 Discipline them or write them up
 Require them at meetings
 Control their schedule

How Can Ampian Help?
Help you build job
descriptions
1
Consultation for
review of contractor
relationships
2
Application of
Economics reality
test by experienced
HR advisors
3
Guidance on
documentation of
any transition in
classification
4

Sexual Harassment Prevention Introduction
 Sexual harassment training is not required under federal law. However,
many states have enacted legislation specifically requiring sexual
harassment training.
 EEOC recommendation
 At a minimum anyone in a supervisory position should receive training
on Sexual Harassment as both they (individually) AND the company can
have liability associated with how a supervisor or manager responds to a
complaint.

What is Sexual Harassment?
 Unwelcome sexual advances
 Requests for sexual favors
 Other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that affects an
individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with his or her work
performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work
environment

Impact on Sexual Harassment to the Business
 Sexual harassment in the workplace harms everyone
 Offer employees a safe and comfortable work environment
 Engaging in or not reporting sexual harassment a violation of Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act
 Liability for the employer may be federal, or state law or civil litigation
 By federal law you can not ignore

Remedies for Sexual Harassment Judgement
EEOC remedies for a sexual harassment or sex discrimination complaint
may include:
 Job reinstatement
 Back pay and benefits the victim should have earned
 Compensatory damages
 Punitive damages
 Liquidated damages (in sex-based wage discrimination) equal to the
amount of back pay awarded to the victim

How Can Ampian Help?
Help you establish
a policy against
sexual harassment
1
Consult on specific
state requirements
or training required
for states where you
operate
2
Help find a training
program that works
for your employee
population
3
Consult on
investigation steps
in the case of a
sexual harassment
complaint
4

FMLA
 The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was passed in 1993
 Most beneficial of employee related federal programs
 Employers are often hesitant to offer FMLA, but please note
that this is federal law, and if your business meets the employer
requirements, it is a legal requirement to offer

Employers Covered by FMLA
Definition of a covered employer:
• Private-sector employers with 50 or more employees are considered a covered
employer
• Separate business may be part of single employer for FMLA if there is
common management, or other factors

Employees Eligible for FMLA
An employee is eligible when they meet the following criteria:
• Works for a covered employer.
• Has worked for the employer for at least 12 months. (Does not need to be consecutive)
• Has at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12-month period immediately
preceding the leave.
• Works at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.

Basic Provisions of the FMLA
Qualifying reasons for FMLA leave:
1. For the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child.
2. For placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care.
3. To care for the employee’s spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition.
4. Because of a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of the
employee’s job.
5. Because of any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, child or parent is a
military member on covered active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to covered
active duty status).
6. To care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the employee is the spouse, child,
parent or next of kin of the covered service member.

How Can Ampian Help?
Provide training for
leaders and
managers
1
Partner on
communication of
proper FMLA forms
and requirements
2
Partner with you
for tracking of
FMLA protected
time off
3
Consult you on
employee eligibility
and certification
4

ADA
 The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was the first
comprehensive civil rights law in this country that addressed the needs of
people with disabilities. The law was amended by the ADA Amendments
Act (ADAAA) of 2008. It applies to employers with 15 or more
employees.
 The ADA as amended prohibits discrimination in employment, public
services and accommodations, and telecommunications. It also requires
employers to make a reasonable accommodation to an applicant or
employee if needed to perform the essential functions of a job.

Covered Employment Practices / ADA
The ADA makes it unlawful to discriminate in these employment practices:
 In addition, the ADA prohibits an employer for retaliating against applicants or employees for asserting their rights
under ADA
 The act also makes it unlawful to discriminate against an applicant or employee, whether disabled or not, because of
the individual’s family, business, social, or other relationship or association with an individual with a disability.
Recruitment Pay
Hiring Firing
Training Job Assignment
Promotion Benefits
Tenure Layoff
Leave All other employment related activities

Covered Individuals Under the ADA
 Employment discrimination is prohibited against qualified individuals with disabilities.
Covered individuals include applicants for employment and employees.
 As defined by the ADA, a qualified individual with a disability is:
1) an individual with a disability who satisfies the requisite skill, experience, education and other job-
related requirements of the employment position and
2) an individual who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential
functions of the job
 An individual is considered to have a disability if he or she has a physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an
impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.
This is just a sample of who is covered under the ADA

How Can Ampian Help?
Help you establish
policies regarding
non-discrimination
of any protected
class including ADA
1
Provide high level
training for leaders
and managers
2
Consult with you on
reasonable
accommodations
3
Consult on ways to
reduce liability
4

Workers Compensation
 Insurance that all employers are required to provide
 Every state mandates it but each state has a different process
 Injuries, even small, should always be reported
 Injuries need to be reported in a timely fashion
 Injuries need to be tracked for annual OSHA reporting

How Can Ampian Help?
Help shop for and
manage your
workers comp
policy
1
File and manage
Incident reports
when and employee
injury occurs
2
File OSHA annual
reporting
3
Consult on workers
comp issues that
arise
4

Equal Employment Opportunity
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces Federal Laws prohibiting
employment discrimination. These laws protect employees and job applicants against
employment discrimination when it involves:
Unfair treatment because of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender
identity and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability or genetic information.
Harassment by managers, co-workers, or others in the workplace, because of race, color,
religion, sex (including pregnancy) national origin, age, disability or genetic
information.
Denial of a reasonable workplace accommodation that the employee needs because of
religious beliefs or disability.
Retaliation because the employee complained about job discrimination or assisted with
a job discrimination investigation or lawsuit.

EEOC Charges
 The EEOC has made it VERY easy for an employee to file a charge of
discrimination. It is a click of a link on the EEOC website.
 The fact that the EEOC has taken a charge does not mean that the
government is accusing anyone of discrimination. The charging party has
alleged that an employer has discriminated against him or her and it is
the EEOC's job to investigate the matter to determine whether there is
reasonable cause to believe that discrimination has occurred.

EEO Record Keeping Requirements
 The laws enforced by EEOC require employers to keep certain records,
regardless of whether a charge has been filed against them. When a
charge has been filed, employers have additional recordkeeping
obligations. The EEOC also collects workforce data from some employers,
regardless of whether a charge has been filed against the company.
 Employers are required to post notices describing the Federal laws
prohibiting job discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex
(including pregnancy) national origin, age, disability or genetics.

How Can Ampian Help?
Help you establish a policy
regarding non-discrimination
1
Help you formalize a specific
EEO policy including
identification of who an
employee could speak to if
they have a concern
2
Provide labor law posters
including all required legal
postings
3

LGBTQ Protection
 In June 2020, the US Supreme Court decided that the 1964 Civil Rights
Act, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment
discrimination on the basis of race, color, religious, sex or national origin
will now include the same protections to individuals who are gay, lesbian
and transgender employees.
 Prior to this change in 2020 some states (more than ½) allowed
discrimination and employment action against these individuals.
 The supreme court held that “an employer who fires an individual
merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII and makes it
unlawful to fail, or refuse to hire, or to discharge any individual, or
otherwise discriminate against any individual” including those listed
above.
Source: supremecourt.gov

How Can Ampian Help?
Help you add any language
needed to existing policies
regarding the update to
include LGBTQ employees
1
Help you formalize a specific
EEO policy including
identification of who an
employee could speak to if
they have a concern
2
Provide labor law posters
including all required legal
postings
3

State Guidelines for Terminations
 Terminating an employee will be somewhat different in every state
 Termination will trigger several potential actions, many required by law
 Final paycheck — paid out in a certain amount of time
 Benefits — close them out of allow employee to take them on
 PTO — payout required in some states
 Deductions in pay — different in every state and sometimes not allowed, Minimum wage
applies
 Paperwork — Discrimination, protection, unemployment, etc.

How Can Ampian Help?
Advise you of state
by state
requirements
1
Pay employees
within required
legal guidelines
2
Consult on proper
termination
3

Severance Agreements
 Not required
 Can be a good protection tool
 States have specific laws or they are void
 Employees have time to revoke or accept
 Careful not to create precedence or discrimination

How Can Ampian Help?
Consult and advise you
through the termination
process and manage
Payroll and Benefits
1
Provide legal severance
agreements and
document decisions
2
Provide consultation and
help in addressing post
termination
disagreements that might
occur
3

Unemployment
What is State Unemployment Insurance?
• Temporary financial assistance to unemployed workers who are unemployed
through no fault of their own.
• Each state administers a joint state/federal unemployment tax program that
provides cash to eligible workers. SUTA is a quarterly tax paid by the employer.
Ampian files these taxes on our client’s behalf each quarter (941 quarterly taxes)
• As unemployment claims are won or lost, your SUTA rate increases / decreases
over time. To keep costs low, our goal is to avoid paying unemployment to former
employees who are terminated for just cause.

Unemployment
- Manager training
- Progressive Discipline
- Employee Handbooks
- Addressing issues at the first sign of concern
- Ampian involvement early and often
How do I keep my SUTA rate low?

How Can Ampian Help?
Ensure you have a
current employee
handbook
1
Help properly
prepare and
document employee
corrective action and
termination
2
Respond to
unemployment
claims with your
input, but on your
behalf
3
Prepare Employers
for Unemployment
Appeals
4

A Final Word on Documentation
 Through the employee lifecycle, there are many opportunities to properly
document:
 Hiring
 Evaluations or Performance Reviews
 Training
 Corrective action
 and more…
 Clear and complete documentation is critical to employee
management and successful dismissal of an employee for cause
 If it’s not documented, it didn’t happen

QUESTIONS?