Spring Cleaning – A Sure Sign It’s Arrived

It is said that spring is the time of plans and projects. As proof, the lawn fertilizer ads have returned to the airwaves, spring sales on luggage and travel gear are stoking our lust for a vacation, and the urge to declutter, organize, and clean awakens like the tender shoots of daylilies peeking out from the soil. If you are like me, I start my spring cleaning with child-like optimism about how much I will accomplish and end up with piles of “stuff” categorized into Keep, Donate, and Throw, creating more of a mess than when I started. Over the years, I’ve gotten more organized with my organization, giving myself the gift of time to make the process more manageable.

Our HR “house” can usually benefit from a bit of spring (summer, fall, winter) cleaning as well. Whether you maintain your files electronically or via paper, creating a schedule to stay on top of your work “stuff” will help clear your mind and eliminate clutter. Your master cleanup list might include the following as a start:

• Policy/handbook check. Are your policies up to date, reflecting any changes in federal or state law that might impact your business?
• I-9s. Have you set up your I-9s into active and termed files and created a destruction schedule for I-9s that you no longer need to keep? Remember, you must retain I-9s for the longer of 3 years from the date of the I-9 or 1 year from an employee’s termination date, whichever is later. Shred any you don’t need!
• Employee files. Both electronic and paper files take up space. Confirm your company’s record retention requirements and purge those that you no longer need to retain. Relocate inactive files to a secure storage area. Another reason to power up the industrial shredder!
• Internships. Now is the time to start your plan to attract and engage interns. Once you’ve found them, keep them engaged through regular communication, and invite them to company events if geography allows.
• Audit your benefit premium deductions. This is a great time to ensure the employee benefit deductions are correct and address any cases of over- or under-deducting.
• Check your compliance posters. Are they current? Have you ensured that remote employees received them?
• Forms check. Are you using the most current federal and state tax forms? How about FMLA forms? Workers’ compensation? Some of these change without much notice, so an annual review is recommended.

Discarding hones one’s decision-making skills.

Marie Kondo

Noted organizational authority

Think of the spring-cleaning exercise as a method of improving yours. Now, we can all use a little help along the way. MRA has a number of tools that will help:

• Recordkeeping Retention Requirements
• What Employers Should Keep in Personnel and Other HR Files
• Federal Posting Requirements for Employers
• State Posting Requirements for WI, MN, IL, and IA Employers

Spending a few minutes (or more) each day will help you put this project to bed and make room for all the new documents coming your way this year!