Compliance
Federal and state employment law guides, compliance checklists, and regulatory requirements for small businesses with 5-50 employees.
All Articles
Light Duty Work
Light Duty Work Examples and How to Build the Program
Light duty work examples by role, how to build a transitional duty task bank, write the offer, and cut the cost of an open workers comp claim.
Workplace Hazards Examples
Workplace Hazards Examples: Six Types and Controls
Examples of every workplace hazard type: physical, safety, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychosocial, plus how to find yours and control them.
Redundancy
Redundancy: What It Means for a US Employer
Redundancy is the British term for cutting the role, not the person. What it maps to in US terms, which UK duties never cross over, and what does apply.
Ageism
Ageism in the Workplace: How to Spot It and Stop It
Ageism is rarely stated out loud. Where age bias hides in hiring, training and promotion at a small company, and the audit that finds it.
Massachusetts Pay Transparency Law
Massachusetts Pay Transparency Law: Employer Guide
Massachusetts pay transparency law for employers: the 25 employee threshold, what job postings must show, the cure window, and the penalty ladder.
H1B For Employers
H-1B for Employers: Wage Levels, Fees, and the Cap
What a first-time H-1B sponsor pays and promises: the four DOL wage levels, every current filing fee, and which employers are cap-exempt.
OSHA Requirements For Employers
OSHA Requirements for Employers: The Full Obligation Set
Every OSHA duty a small employer carries: the general duty clause, the poster, hazard communication, competent person rules, training and reporting.
Military Leave Of Absence
Military Leave of Absence: USERRA Rules for Employers
USERRA rules for a military leave of absence: notice, the five-year limit, reemployment deadlines, the escalator position, and health coverage.
Garden Leave
Garden Leave: A US Employer Guide to Paid Notice
Garden leave keeps a departing employee paid and away from customers and systems through notice. How it works in the US and when it beats a non-compete.
Off Duty Conduct Policy
Off-Duty Conduct Policy: When an Employer Can Act
When you can act on what an employee does off the clock: state lawful-activity statutes, arrests, cannabis, and the nexus test to apply first.
Political Discussions At Work Policy
Political Discussions at Work: Policy Guide for Employers
What a private employer may and may not restrict when politics comes into the workplace: state statutes, labor law, harassment lines, and voting leave.
Immigration Reform And Control Act
Immigration Reform and Control Act: Employer Guide
IRCA bans knowing hires of unauthorized workers and citizenship status discrimination. Two enforcement tracks, current penalties, and how to stay clear.
Osha Form 300
OSHA Form 300: Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Rules
Who keeps the OSHA 300 log, what counts as recordable versus first aid, the 300A certification and posting window, and the March 2 filing.
Remote I-9 Verification
Remote I-9 Verification: Who Can Use It and How
Remote I-9 checks are open only to E-Verify employers in good standing. The live video rules, the box you must check, and what missing it costs.
Age Discrimination In Employment Act
Age Discrimination in Employment Act: Employer Guide
The ADEA protects workers 40 and over at employers with 20 or more staff. What it bans, the severance waiver rules, and the RIF disclosure.
Constructive Dismissal
Constructive Dismissal: What It Means for US Employers
Constructive dismissal for US employers: the objective standard courts apply, what actually clears the bar, and how to answer the claim when it lands.
Affirmative Action Plan
Affirmative Action Plan: Who Still Needs One
Executive Order 11246 is revoked, but Section 503 and VEVRAA plans still bind federal contractors. Who needs a written plan and what goes in it.
Required Employee Notices
Required Employee Notices: What You Must Send and When
The notices you have to hand or send to an individual employee, not pin to a wall: what each one is, who gets it, and when it is triggered.
Gross Misconduct
Gross Misconduct: What It Is and How to Handle It
Gross misconduct for employers: what counts, the investigation to run first, suspension rules, summary dismissal, and the unemployment and COBRA fallout.
Employment Laws For Remote Workers
Employment Laws for Remote Workers: A Multi-State Guide
Which state’s law covers a remote employee, and what changes in each new state: withholding, workers comp, leave, wage rules, notices, and expenses.
What Is E-Verify
What Is E-Verify? Rules, States, and Employer Duties
E-Verify checks work authorization electronically after the I-9. Which states require it, the three-day rule, and what to do with a mismatch.
Termination
Employee Termination: How to Do It Legally and Well
Terminating an employee legally: what at-will allows, the documentation that protects you, final pay rules, and the mistakes that create claims.
Furlough
Furlough: What It Is and How It Differs from a Layoff
A furlough is temporary unpaid leave with the job still there. How it differs from a layoff, the exempt salary trap, WARN, and benefits.
EPLI Insurance
EPLI Insurance: What It Covers and What It Excludes
EPLI covers employee claims like wrongful termination and harassment. What it excludes, why wage and hour is carved out, and what a policy costs.
Disparate Impact
Disparate Impact: The Rule That Needs No Intent
Disparate impact makes a neutral policy unlawful by its effect alone. The four-fifths rule, the burden shifting, and where federal enforcement now stands.
Title VII
Title VII: What It Covers and Who Has to Comply
Title VII bans employment discrimination on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Who it covers, what it reaches, damages caps, and deadlines.
WARN Act
WARN Act Requirements for Employers by State
The federal 60-day layoff notice rule explained for employers: the 100-employee threshold and how to count it, the three triggers, who receives notice, the three exceptions, and what a violation costs. Plus a state-by-state table of which states add a mandatory mini-WARN law and which rely on federal law alone.
WARN Act Washington
Washington WARN Act Requirements for Employers
Washington's mass layoff notice law took effect in July 2025 and reaches employers at 50 employees, half the federal threshold. Why layoffs across several locations get added together, the paid family and medical leave restriction no other state has, the construction project exception, and what a missed notice costs.
WARN Act NJ
New Jersey WARN Act: Employer Requirements
New Jersey has the strictest layoff notice law in the country and the only one where severance is a statutory entitlement. Ninety days of notice, a statewide trigger counting part-time staff, one week of pay per year of service owed even with perfect notice, four more weeks without it, and a state agency with no power to enforce any of it.
WARN Act NY
New York WARN Act Requirements for Employers
New York covers employers at 50 employees, requires 90 days of notice, and has four triggering events where federal law has two. Relocation and a sustained cut in hours can trigger notice without anyone being terminated, and since March 2025 the filing form asks whether automation caused the layoff.
WARN Act Massachusetts
Massachusetts WARN Act Rules for Employers
Ask whether Massachusetts has a WARN law and you get two contradictory answers, both partly right. The reconciliation: no separate state statute, but a published filing threshold of 50 employees against the federal 100. What triggers a notice, how to submit it, and why the final wage deadline is the bigger risk here.
Sexual Harassment Training
Sexual Harassment Training: Rules and How to Run It
Which states mandate sexual harassment prevention training and on what cycle, who must be trained, what it must cover, free versus paid delivery, the records you have to produce, and what the evidence says about making it work.
Child Labor Laws
Child Labor Laws: An Employer Guide to Hiring Minors
The federal rules by age bracket, the hour limits that cause most violations, why school hours are set by the minor's district and not yours, what you must keep on file, and what federal penalties actually reach.
WARN Act California
California WARN Act: Coverage, Notice, and Penalties
Cal-WARN applies at 75 employees, not the federal 100, and counts part-timers. What triggers a 60-day notice, the four required recipients, the new notice content rules, the narrow exceptions, and what a missed notice actually costs.
OSHA Violation
OSHA Violation: Types, Penalties, and What to Do
The six violation categories and what each costs, why penalty amounts did not increase this year, the stacked reductions small employers are entitled to, the fifteen-day clock after a citation, and the shortest honest compliance list.
Workplace Safety Posters
Workplace Safety Posters: What the Law Requires
The one poster federal OSHA requires and why it is free, the other federal notices and the headcount at which each applies, size and placement rules, when an updated version actually obliges a replacement, what remote teams need, and how to spot a poster solicitation.
Workers Compensation Insurance Requirements by State
Workers Compensation Requirements by State Explained
There is no federal workers comp requirement for private employers and no federal agency overseeing the state programs, which is why the comparison tables everyone copies from each other drift. The three facts that hold everywhere, the six questions that decide your obligation, how states count employees, and the official route to a correct answer for your own state.
HIPAA Violation Examples
HIPAA Violation Examples: What Counts and What Does Not
Every guide lists the examples and skips the two questions people actually have: whether the rule reaches your business at all, and which of the things routinely called HIPAA violations are governed by an entirely different law. With the current penalty tiers, the annual caps enforcement actually applies rather than the published ones, and real cases with the amounts attached.
Sexual Harassment Training California
California Sexual Harassment Training Requirements: A Small Business Guide
California employers with five or more employees must train every worker. Hours, deadlines, records, and the free state course explained.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
Pregnancy Discrimination Act: A Compliance Guide for Small Employers
What the Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires, whether it applies at your headcount, how it differs from the PWFA and ADA, and a compliance checklist.
Paid Sick Leave Laws by State
Paid Sick Leave Laws by State: A Guide for Small Employers
Which states require paid sick leave, the size thresholds that decide whether you are covered, remote worker rules, and how to write a policy.
ACA Compliance
ACA Compliance: What Employers Need to Know
ACA compliance for employers: the 50-FTE threshold, how to calculate it, what applies under 50 employees, deadlines, and current penalties.
Compliance Calendar
HR Compliance Calendar: Deadlines for Small Employers
A month-by-month HR compliance calendar for small businesses, with the deadlines that apply at your headcount and a downloadable spreadsheet you can edit.
HR Compliance
HR Compliance: A Guide for Small Businesses
What HR compliance is, which federal laws apply by employee count, common issues, and best practices for small businesses without an HR department.
Employee Monitoring Laws
Employee Monitoring Laws: A Small Business Guide
Employee monitoring laws explained for small business: federal rules, a state-by-state notice table, AI monitoring laws, and how to stay compliant.
Workplace Retaliation
Workplace Retaliation: SMB Prevention Guide
Workplace retaliation is the #1 EEOC charge. Learn what counts, how to prevent claims, and the documentation small businesses need to stay protected.
Types of Harassment
Types of Workplace Harassment: SMB Guide
The 11 types of workplace harassment small businesses must recognize. 4 EEOC categories, state training mandates, and a documentation playbook.
How Many Hours Is Full Time
How Many Hours Is Full Time? Employer Guide
No federal law defines full-time hours. FLSA says nothing, ACA says 30, BLS says 35, convention says 40. How to choose the right threshold for your team.
At Will Employment
At-Will Employment: Small Business Guide
At-will employment lets either side end the relationship at any time. Learn the 3 exceptions, state rules, and how to document at-will status correctly.
What Is a Right to Work State
What Is a Right to Work State? Employer Guide
Right-to-work states prohibit mandatory union dues. Learn which 28 states have these laws, how they differ from at-will, and what employers need to know.
FMLA Meaning
FMLA: What It Means and How It Works
FMLA gives eligible employees 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. Learn who qualifies, what it covers, and how small businesses should handle it.
Fair Labor Standards Act
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Employer Guide
What the FLSA requires: minimum wage, overtime, exempt vs nonexempt, recordkeeping, and child labor. A practical compliance guide for small businesses.
Disparate Treatment
Disparate Treatment: Employer Prevention Guide
Disparate treatment is intentional discrimination based on a protected class. Learn how small businesses prevent claims through consistent documentation.
Exempt vs Non Exempt
Exempt vs Non-Exempt: How to Classify Employees
Learn how to classify employees as exempt or nonexempt using the 3-part FLSA test. Salary basis, salary level, duties test explained for small businesses.
AB5 Law
California AB5 Law: What Employers Need to Know
California AB5 uses the ABC test to classify workers. Learn how it affects small businesses, who is exempt, and how to reclassify contractors as employees.
I-9 Documentation
I-9 Documentation: What Employers Must Verify
I-9 documents prove identity and work authorization. Learn which documents to accept (List A, B, C), the 3-day deadline, and how to avoid common mistakes.
EEOC Complaint Employer
How an EEOC Complaint Hurts an Employer
An EEOC complaint costs small businesses $75,000+ on average to resolve. Learn the process, financial impact, and how documentation protects your business.
Break Laws
Break Laws by State: Employer Guide to Meal & Rest
Federal law does not require breaks, but 21 states require meal periods and 8 require paid rest breaks. Complete state-by-state guide for small businesses.
Workers Compensation Insurance
Workers' Comp Insurance: Small Business Guide
Workers' compensation insurance explained for small business employers. State requirements, costs, claims process, employer obligations, and compliance checklist.
How Many Hours Is Part Time
How Many Hours Is Part-Time? Employer Guide
Federal law does not define part-time hours. Learn how small businesses set thresholds, avoid ACA penalties, and document classification in their handbook.