Employers in the United States play a vital role in assisting the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to ensure that illegal workers are not hired by our organizations. The Form I-9 is the official document in which new employees provide legal documentation that establish both identity and employment authorization. In my role at Helios HR, I often find that most organizations are not complying with the I-9 regulations which can result in hefty fines per each inaccurate document.

"What is an Affirmative Action Plan?”, “Does my company need an AAP?”, “How do we implement it?”, “What do I do if we get audited?” These are all frequently asked questions I hear just about every week as the resident Affirmative Action Plan expert at Helios. Let me first preface by sharing that Affirmative Action Plans (AAP’s) are designed to satisfy the equal-employment opportunity/affirmative action responsibilities for minorities and women under Executive Order 11246, as amended; people with disabilities under section 503 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act; and covered veterans under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Act of 1971.

Are you unsure what documents should be kept in an employee’s personnel file? Maybe you have employees who have been with you for 10, 15, 20 years? What’s important and what should you shred? As HR people, we get that sometimes those files can become a little overwhelming. We are frequently asked by our clients to conduct audits of personnel files to make sure they are in compliance and staying current with best practices.

On January 18, 2013, Executive Order (EO) 13495, Non Displacement of Qualified Workers under Service Contracts went into effect. If you aren't familiar, this requires federal service contract workers the right of first refusal for employment with the successor contractor, who would otherwise lose their jobs as a result of the competition or expiration of a contract. Who Does This Regulation Apply To? The regulations apply to both prime and subcontractors above the simplified acquisition threshold (currently $150,000) and their solicitations, except those excluded that succeed contracts for the same or similar services at the same location. The regulations also excludes certain types of contracts and employees, as well as giving the head of a contracting department or agency the flexibility to exempt contracts from the regulations if it finds the requirements would not serve the purposes of the EO or would impair the government's ability to procure services economically or efficiently.

You've probably heard the phrase, "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.” If you're uncertain on if your next hire should be a 1099 Independent Contractor or a W-2 Employee, read the Federal 20 Factor Test and Common Law in Virginia below.