Human Resources Department Checklist

by Bob McComas, BOL Guru

I. OVERALL REVIEW
a. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
b. FORMS AND POSTERS
c. PERSONNEL FILES
d. JOB DESCRIPTIONS
e. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN (50 or more employees)

II. DISCUSSION
a. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL REVIEW
i. Review for completeness.
ii. Review for compliance to current regulations (i.e. HIPAA, Fair Labors Standards Act, EEOC, Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act, etc.)
iii. Review for clarity and comprehension.
b. FORMS AND POSTERS
i. Review for compliance (up-to-date and placement) federal and state
ii. Review for all locations

c. PERSONNEL FILES
i. Review for proper set-up.
ii. Separate medical information and I-9's
iii. Check for missing items or incomplete information (i.e. applications, W-4, employee authorizations, Acknowledgement of Receipt for Employee Manual/Handbook, etc.)
iv. Check for relevancy of information or redundant information.

d. JOB DESCRIPTIONS
i. Check for completeness and compliance (ADA).
ii. Check for exemption test for white-collar positions.

e. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLANS (50 or more employees)
i. Review for completeness and compliance ready.
ii. Review for current goals and actions for improvement

III. HEALTH AND WELFARE PLANS
a. PLAN DOCUMENTS
i. Health insurance. All original plan documents, plan descriptions and summary plan descriptions, contracts with providers, and contracts with plan administrators should be kept in a central and secure location. This also includes extra claim forms for health, dental, disability and death. Also copies of IRS opinion letters for qualified plans, IRS Form 5500, which is filed 7 months after the end of the plan year should be kept in the file. Determine if one plan is to be used for all entities. Saves money and easier administration.
ii. Retirement plan(s). All original plan documents, plan descriptions and summary plan descriptions, contracts with providers, and contracts with plan administrators should be kept in a central and secure location. This includes quarterly reports on investment options, plan performance reports and IRS Form 5500, which is filed 7 months after the end of the plan year.

IV. SET-UP
You will want to have centralized personnel files if you have a centralized payroll system. Personnel files should contain employment application, W-4, resume (if provided), copy of enrollment forms for health insurance, records of keys, cards, codes, etc. issued at beginning of employment, copy of salary actions, performance reviews, employees notices. I-9 Forms must be kept in a separate file.

V. ESTABLISH RECRUITING SYSTEM
Determine what the process will be to staff positions. Who controls openings and how. Use an approval process (requisition form) for approving openings. Determine who does initial recruitment, interviewing and selection decision.

VI. ESTABLISH PERSONNEL POLICIES
With multiple entities, there are probably different policies in place. Decide what policies will be applicable for all employees. Write policy manual and employee handbook. Rollout. Get signed employee Acknowledgement of Receipt forms from all employees to ensure they understand the new policies.

VII. ESTABLISH SALARY ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM
You should have written job descriptions on all positions. You will need to develop a salary structure with salary ranges for similar jobs. You will need to develop a performance appraisal system to ensure all employees are being appraised at least annually. Salary increases can be tied to performance review meetings.

VIII. HR DEPARTMENT STAFFING
With a start-up situation, there should be one department head and one support (administrative assistant) to do most of the work. As the bank grows and you can cost justify additional department personnel, I suggest the next person you add is a recruiter/administrator. This person can take a lot of work off the department head in the area of staffing and handling day-to-day employee questions. This allows the department head to focus on managing the bigger picture items such as health care, retirement, employee morale issues, and handling employee problems with department heads. If needed you can use an outside HR consultant to assist you in policy writing, job descriptions writing, salary administration plans, affirmation actions plans, etc.

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First published on BankersOnline.com 3/29/04