Mistakes that Small Business Owners Often Make

Owning a business whether large or small is a complex job. There are many things that need to be considered and many laws and regulations need to be followed. The law varies from place to place and thus it is important that you be aware of what is required from you as an employer. With a multitude of rules and regulations that are applicable to small businesses, it often happens that oversights take place by the owner. Mentioned below are some general oversights that can cause trouble for you as a business owner.

·Firing employees for taking leave of absence

Though this may seem like something you are allowed to do but the truth is that an employee is allowed by the government to take a leave of absence for a valid reason and on his return be given his old job back or a comparable one. The reasons that are valid are taking care of a sick family member (FMLA), going for overseas military duty (USERRA) and others.

·Cutting loan repayments directly from the paycheck

This may seem like an act of generosity by lending them money and then directly cutting it from their paycheck. Seems pretty convenient, doesn’t it? Well the truth is that no employer is allowed to make any deductions from the paycheck of an employee other than pay and other benefits available to the employee. Instead you can come up with some other sort of agreement in which the repayments can be made to you.

·Flexible lunch breaks

Every state has strict rules regarding the lunch breaks and rest breaks that every employee gets. It is important that you follow these rules to the dot, so that you can be compliant with the rules of the state. It often is easier to give the employees a flexible lunch break but this is not allowed and it is not even conducive for the growth of the company.

·Absence of labor law posters

This is one of the most severe mistakes that small business owners can make. You may feel that you are providing all the necessary information to the workers while hiring them but every employee has a right to know the rights which he has. To ensure this, it is important that the necessary labor law posters be put up in the workplace so that all the information is easily available. If you are on the lookout for labor law posters then you can find them by clicking here.

·Using “use it or lose it” vacation policies

Some businesses have a policy that employees are required to utilize their vacations in a month or they will lose it. However, many states prohibit such kind of policies. Vacations are to be taken on the desire of the employee and if the vacations are not taken, then they have to be compensated to the employee.

These are some of the mistakes that are made unintentionally by business owners. However, these activities are not allowed by many states and could lead to illegal practices in your workplace. Therefore, it is a good idea to check with the rules and regulations that are valid in your state and ensure that they are being followed in your workplace.