The End of Year HR Punchlist

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Rob Radcliff

                                          

Earlier in the week we discussed policies and procedures that should be in place to deal with end of year employee departures. Companies should also consider a number of other HR related issues as the year draws to a close. Here are my thoughts:

  1. Evaluation of all employment policies, including the employee handbook;
  2. A review of all federal and state law changes that may impact employment practices - talk to your lawyer;
  3.  A review of all employment contracts;  
  4. A review of all employment files - are they up to snuff?; and
  5. An evaluation as to whether the company should adopt post-employment covenants including non-competes, non-solicitations, and garden leave policies.

Now is the time to make any necessary changes before the New Year begins. Let me know if you have any additions to the list.

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The Inevitable End of Year Employment Move

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Rob Radcliff

Generally, many employees will wait to move to another employer until after they have received any year end bonuses or commissions they are due.  We are all familiar with stories where a top producer bolts after they get their end of year check. 

For these reasons, it is important the employers be prepared to review company policies for employment transitions. This would include post-employment covenants such as non-competes.

Critical to the employment transition practice is ensuring that the employer has protected any proprietary or trade secret information that departing employees can access. Departing employees should immediately lose access to any type of proprietary or trade secret information. This should include locking the employee out of their email account or limiting access.  That employee is now a competitor.

Employers who are vigilant about having these types of policies in place will ultimately protect their business and their product from an inevitable employee departure.

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