As a company that proudly supports organizations across Canada, one of Salopek & Associates’ core Values is to provide accessible support and service to our clients. To us, Accessible not only means physically being available to pick up the phone or meet in your office, but it also reflects the effort we have made to reduce barriers to accessing our HR support. A differentiator with Salopek is that we work with clients to support in all your people needs, without the requirement of a long term retainer or contract, and we pride ourselves on providing timely, expert HR advice to all organizations who contact us, regardless if it is your first time reaching out to Salopek or you are one of our many long standing clients.
One of Salopek’s unique service offerings popular with organizations new to our support is HR Specialist On-Call, which offers organizations with limited human resource support a timely and cost effective option for receiving expert advice on challenging people issues. Through this service, we provide expertise on a wide range of HR functions and challenges. Here are a few examples of questions Salopek assists organizations with everyday and how we can support you and your business:
Overtime
Q: One of my employees is claiming I owe her overtime pay, but I don’t agree. I pay her a salary; I thought that makes her exempt.
A: Managing overtime properly is important, because if its not, it can be expensive. An overtime policy or agreement effectively communicates your organization’s expectations around overtime and documents employee acknowledgement and acceptance of set practices. Contact Salopek to get an understanding of the legislation and ensure that your policy and your practices are legislatively compliant. Just because an employee is salaried does not mean that you don’t owe them overtime.
Performance Management
Q: One of my managers is under-performing, what can I do to help him meet my expectations?
A: Managing employee performance is not always easy but it’s an important part of a manager’s job. More than just an annual performance review, performance management is the continuous process of setting objectives, assessing progress and providing on-going coaching and feedback to ensure that employees are meeting their objectives and career goals. Call Salopek for advice on how to address some of your performance management issues and create an effective performance management process.
Recruitment
Q: One of my staff members just quit and I need to replace her, where do I start looking?
A: There are several steps involved in the full-cycle recruitment process and it is important to ensure you are conducting and documenting a thorough process. Salopek can walk you through the recruitment process, highlight best practices and assist you in accessing recruitment documents and resources to ensure you implement a fair and effective recruitment process. We can also support with executing the recruitment process through our cost effective Recruiting-by-the-Hour service, which offers full-cycle recruitment support by the hour, with no retainer of placement fee upon hire.
Offer Letters, Recruitment Documentation and Effective On-boarding
Q: The last time I hired a new employee, they questioned aspects of their employment agreement. I am wondering if I am being clear enough and including everything I need.
A: An Employment Agreement helps employees and employers to clarify and set the parameters of their working relationship. Typically, it outlines each party’s rights, duties and obligations. It should include basic elements such as start date, job title, duties and responsibilities, all aspects of financial compensation, terms of termination (including severance and any post-employment restrictions, such as confidentiality and non-solicitation), and any other special promises or considerations. Contact Salopek and request a review of your employment contracts or offer letters. A review will take an hour and you will most likely come away with some helpful tips on best practices.
Have an HR question or challenge that you could use some support with? Give us a call or contact us through our website and we will be sure to get back to you with the expertise to help you develop an action plan that will allow you to effectively address the issue and move forward with confidence.