Employers may limit claims by taking these steps
By Louis C. Klein Special to the Acorn

Every year the California Legislature enacts new laws too numerous for any employer to adequately understand or implement. As a consequence, employers must continually position themselves to limit employee claims. One way an employer can successfully position itself is to conduct a business health audit at least once a year.

The following five steps of a Business Health Audit will aide in limiting potential employee claims.

+Review employee handbooks: Make sure that your policies and procedures are up-to-date and adequately reflect the company's expectations in clear terms.

+Audit job classifications: Understand the differences between exempt and nonexempt positions, clearly describe job duties and strictly adhere to job descriptions.

+Audit wage and hour com

pliance: Review employee overtime and whether the company is paying overtime properly. Enforce meal periods and rest breaks and consider instituting time sheet certifications. Maintain the proper records regarding overtime, meal periods and rest breaks.

+Audit privacy practices: Make sure that an employee's private information is kept confidential and not mixed in with the employee's personnel file. Examples include health information and I-9 compliance documents.

+Train and educate: Train and educate employees as well as supervisors on the employer's policies and procedures.

Unfortunately, conducting a business health audit will not completely stop employee claims, but it will put an employer in a better position to identify potential issues and to correct deficiencies before they escalate into litigation.

Klein is an attorney with Jackson, DeMarco, Tidus and Peckenpaugh, a law firm based in Thousand Oaks.