📣 Rachel Ackerman, Senior Director, People Operations @ Barstool Sports:
Ooh this is a good question and one I dealt with firsthand managing over 3,000 employees, including 7 unions, with incredibly complicated contracts, when I worked in sports.
The easiest thing I could suggest is to see what your HR tech stack offers in terms of the ability to build the nuanced rules and policies into the system so you can automate it as much as possible.
If automation isn't possible in the current state of tech you have, is there an ability to propose getting new HR tech into the org to help facilitate this task? Building a strong business case, including what would be in it for the org (automation, lessen human error, efficiency, etc.), the employees (lessen the potential of a liability by not paying folks correctly), and you as the admin (time saved, stress lessened, etc.).
If automation is completely off the table, I'd recommend putting together your own SOP by carefully reading through the contracts/policies/etc. several times and downloading the important pieces that you need for payroll/time and attendance into an easier to digest Standard Operating Procedure/manual/whatever you want to call it.
📣 Timmi Lasley, Administrative Manager @ Sexy Pizza:
I'll echo what everyone else has said regarding tech stacks and real life pattern viewing, and also add something that has helped us immensely as a small business: joining an advocacy group for your industry who may offer labor law updates or consultations as member benefits. I work in the Restaurant Industry in CO and we are members of both Good Business CO and the Colorado Restaurant Association.
Both of these orgs offer what I'll call a monthly legal "stipend" that we have used in the past to answer specific questions. (Usually a 15 min call a month with a partnered law firm for a VERY specific question on labor law.) Because sometimes, you've parsed out a legal requirement as far as you can and you still need that final authority whose job it is to navigate these things in order to do it correctly! Ultimately, automation will be your best friend, but a helping hand may be out there for you too. Keep an eye out!
📣 Gretchen Bourg, Human Resources Manager @ Park Printing Solutions:
100% what @Rachel Ackerman and the others have said.
I am an HR generalist in the manufacturing space and, prior to that, I managed operations (including payroll and timekeeping) for a performing arts nonprofit. In both roles, I advocated for electronic time and attendance tracking because it's just such high stakes.
I have used the TAA module within our last two payroll/HRIS systems, and have been able to make a case for the additional expense to leadership by pointing out how critical it is that TAA is done accurately and in compliance with wage and labor laws (yes, even in my very cash-strapped nonprofit). People on both sides of the paycheck don't like it when things are wrong.
With electronic timekeeping, overtime compliance is built into the system, you can set up automatic punch rules to ensure meals are paid or paid up to a certain duration, PTO requests are tracked and paid out seamlessly, and the hours feed directly into payroll to avoid data entry errors. We even had electronic reminders for missing punches that allowed our employees to submit a punch that would go through an approval process to correct it. BAM.
Would be happy to help you craft a case to management, if you need the support!
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