HR Tips for Non-Compete

Many small businesses struggle to determine whether or not non-compete agreements are worthwhile to use.· Such agreements are employment contracts designed to restrict an employee’s right to start a competing business across the street or to take your clients, other employees, or even your training with them when joining your competition.· Depending on how the agreements are written and applied, they may help add protection to your business or simply add headaches.

From an HR perspective, be sure to think about the following six tips:

Manager Training is Key

The value of providing training to managers throughout the employment life cycle cannot be overlooked. Training ensures that your managers are knowledgeable about your company’s workplace law obligations and skilled in delivering human resources best practices in order to become successful in their roles. Training further enables business costs to be low, employer liability to be controlled, and allows for successful organizations to emerge. Did you know that in 2010 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed 99,992 charges against the private sector?


Managers should be trained in various discipline areas, but some may or may not apply depending upon the company’s size and industry. Below are some suggested strategic and compliance training topics to assist managers in increasing effectiveness and reducing exposure.

• Business Execution. Monitoring business goals, supervising employees, and managing organizational changes may result in improved business effectiveness.
• Leadership. Providing ample opportunities for employees to have open communication and share a common vision, mission and goal helps with decreasing employee turnover rates.
• Performance Management. Learning to provide evaluations that are fair, objective, and based on the organization’s goals opens the door to feedback and conveys to employees they are valuable assets to the organization.
• Diversity. Getting to know who your employees are, how to execute equal employment opportunities with non-discrimination tactics, and handling generational differences allows for increased employee satisfaction retention rates.
• Business Crises Management. Planning, analyzing and evaluating how to handle stressful, harmful, or safety-related hazards that occur intentionally or un-intentionally (such as violence, injuries, accidents, fires, earthquakes, etc.) enables managers to take action rationally and rely on the team when needed.
• HR Best Practices. Learning the basics about hiring, termination, harassment, business policies, employment laws, paperwork compliance, etc., sets forth better protection for managers and organizations. Often, the number and degree of EEOC complaints, OSHA violations, wage and hour penalties, or other claims are reduced when managers receive training on these topics to assist them in making informed decisions.

It is vital to understand that once training is received, managers should be able to “transfer” the training into actual real life situations and settings when an opportunity presents itself.· One way managers can transfer training learned is by utilizing action plans.· Proper training can assist organizations by enhancing performance, productivity, employee satisfaction and customer service within a department.· So, start training every day!

The Necessities of a Safety Manual

Employers are responsible for providing a safe workplace environment for their employees free from harm, health hazards, harassment, etc. Enforcement of workplace safety compliance is an issue that has gained increased attention from federal and state governing agencies.

According to the federal Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA), an effective safety and health program can save as much as six dollars for every dollar invested. On January 6, 2012, OSHA initiated a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) panel process to draft an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) rule. Where ever your business is in terms of a safety program, a safety manual is an important starting point for any company size. As a best practice, a company’s safety manual typically includes the following:

•     Supervisor responsibilities
•     Employee responsibilities
•     Reporting
•     Safety policies
•     Equipment usage/handling
•     Chemical/hazard handling
•     First aid & CPR
•     Safety rules
•     Documents
•     Disciplinary action
•     Accident reporting
•     Injury reporting
•     OSHA logs
•     Protective uniforms
•     Cleaning work spaces
•     Opening/closing items

Note: Twenty-four states operate their own OSHA-approved safety and health programs. Some state plan requirements may differ in certain aspects from federal OSHA. Regardless, state-imposed standards must be at least as stringent as the federal standards.

While OSHA is currently in the process of developing new standards of an IIPP, employers still need to adhere to their workplace health and safety obligations. So at a minimum, be sure to regularly review your company’s safety manual or consider establishing an IIPP. With the right information, the manual should help your business meet OSHA requirements and achieve an in-compliance status well before an OSHA inspection occurs.