This episode is brought to you by Republic Intimity. With over 51 years of experience as a California Workers' Compensation Carrier, with an average employee tenure of 17 years and an average account tenure of 10 years, Republic has an A-plus Superior AMVest financial rating and is backed by the strength and support of Great American Insurance. Republic Intimity is how producers, policy holders, and injured workers can overcome the complexities of Workers' Comp and get a clear way forward. Hi, this is Alyssa Burley with Rangemase's Media Communications and Client Services Department.
Thank you for listening to today's top Rangemase news brought to you by our Safety and Risk Management Network Studio One. Welcome back everyone. My guest is Brenda Kaleel, Client Technology Coordinator with Rangemase. Today we're going to discuss the importance of updating your employee account in Rangemase's RM365 HR Advantage Portal.
Brenda, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me Alyssa. Of course. So we know businesses are constantly changing and evolving and that means the staff is too, whether it's hiring new employees or transitioning employees into different roles.
And abiding by the federal and state laws is a necessity, but the laws employers are required to follow can change based on the number of employees a company has throughout the year. So Brenda, how can employers be sure they are staying in compliance with all of the new laws? That's a great question. So no matter how the staff of a company fluctuates, Rangemase's RM365 HR Advantage Portal is an excellent resource to ensure compliance in any state.
So a reliable way to maintain compliance with requirements that may depend on a company's size is by keeping employee account up to date. And using the HR Portal, employers can update the number of employees working for them at any time to ensure compliance when using tools like the Smart Handbook Builder, Compliance Dashboard, and other features. The Smart Employee Handbook automatically updates depending on the number of people employed at the company in a specific state. Yeah, it's definitely important for employers to keep that number updated so they don't put themselves at risk of being out of compliance.
So what are some of the examples of when the employee account could make a difference for a company's policies? Well, in California, there are a number of laws that apply to employers based on the company's number of employees. For example, California employers with five or more employees must provide at least five days of bereavement leave. Another example would be employers with 25 or more employees must provide school involvement leave.
There are many laws that apply to employers based on employee count. And the HR Portal's Compliance Dashboard helps employers quickly see what laws apply to each employee count threshold. And since each state may have different requirements, it's a best practice to use the HR Portal to ensure you are in compliance with your state's laws. And if a business's employee count is not updated to reflect the accurate number of workers, the handbook generated by the HR Portal could include information that is not applicable to the employer, or it may exclude information that is applicable.
As a result, the employer could be out of compliance even though they believed they were adhering to what is in their handbook. Yeah, that makes sense that failing to update your employee count could cause some serious trouble for the employer. Now, how can our clients update their employee count? So to update your employee count through the HR Portal, go to ranchamacet.com, click on the Insights tab, and search for the article titled, Keeping Compliance Simple by Updating Employee Counts in the RM365 HR Advantage Portal.
This will provide clients with a step-by-step instructions, plus a number of other HR resources are available for businesses of all sizes through the Portal as well. Yeah, and once the employee count has been updated, what should our clients do next? Well, once you've updated your employee count, the HR Portal is a best practice to review the employee handbook for any policy changes that require approval. At the beginning of the year, it's also best to review the handbook and address any policies that have changed based on the laws that go into effect January 1st.
Note that there will be an orange number next to each section that requires your attention. Click on the policy alert to review the change and select Accept Policy Change. Once the changes to your policy have been accepted, your employee handbook will be updated and compliant. Please make sure to review each update carefully in order to ensure you are adhering to the changes within your organization.
And now that your employee handbook has been updated, make sure to distribute it to employees to ensure that they have the latest version. And remember, it's important to update employee counts regularly to ensure HR compliance at every stage. Brenda, if listeners have questions about updating their employee count, what's the best way to get in touch with you? As always, clients can contact me at bechaleel at ranchamacet.com, or they can call me directly at 619-486-6562.
Alright, well Brenda, thanks for joining in Studio One. Thanks for having me. This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning in to our latest episode produced by Studio One.
For more information, visit us at ranchamacet.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.