November HR To Do List

November will be gone before you know it, but it’s a great time to do some extra prep work so you don’t feel overwhelmed in December. Make a checklist of what MUST be completed this month.  It’s easy to overlook things so checking things off as you go is the key to staying on top of the game!

• If your company currently does not offer health insurance but employees need coverage, you may want to direct them to CoveredCA for individual plan options. Open Enrollment runs from Sunday, November 1 through Tuesday, December 15, 2020. Coverage begins January 1, 2021. If you don’t enroll in a plan by December 15, you can’t get 2021 coverage unless you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period due to a marriage, divorce, birth/adoption of a baby, or other qualifying life event.
• This year, Daylight Savings ends at 2am on Sunday, November 1^st. Even if you stay up late on Halloween watching scary movies to get in the groove of spookiness, you get an extra hour of sleep!
• The Pandemic has hit so many people so hard this year; this is a great time to choose a local charity to support during the Holidays. You may want to participate in Giving Tuesday, which is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is a movement to create an international day of charitable giving at the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season. Be sure to use the hashtag #givingtuesday when you post about your company’s donation.
• Election, Election, Election! Don’t forget: employees have the right to take up to two hours off (with pay!) for voting in elections! Election falls on November 3^rd.  You may require two days of notice from an employee if they are planning to take time off to vote. Encourage employees to vote – but don’t get political yourself! You can call the Secretary of State’s Voter Hotline at 888-345-VOTE for more information.
• Usually at this time of year, we remind employers to be sure their emergency plans regarding office closures due to inclement weather, etc. are in place. If you have employees working in your office, this still holds true! Be sure employees know what to do and who to call if they aren’t able to get into the office as usual. For employees working from home, they’ll need to know who to let know about power outages or other emergency reasons resulting in them being unable to log in from home.
• Be sure to send reminders to your employees regarding company holidays and time off requests during November and December. How do they request days off? Is there a deadline to ask for time off during high demand dates like Thanksgiving week, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years? Which days are Paid Holidays? Do all employees get paid holidays, or only full time employees?
• Start planning for year-end: plan your schedule for distributing information in December on renewing FSA plans for 2021, and plan for when you will send out information to 401(k) participants with information about adjusting contributions for 2021.
  • Review payroll records and make any needed adjustments ahead of time – have you entered every manual check? Have you paid all your quarterly taxes? Submitted quarterly forms to the state?
  • Review accounting records to be sure all vendors who should have a 1099 at the end of the year are flagged correctly. Work with your accountant or bookkeeper to issue 1099s to anyone who you pay more than $600. These aren’t due until January, but it’s a good time to review your records.
• Whether your employees are working remotely or in office, will you be doing something for them for the Holidays? Start planning your remote parties now. In Good Taste wines will host a sommelier-led wine tasting for you and your team!
• Start thinking about year-end performance reviews. What’s your process? Who is reviewed?

Are pay changes included with your process? Do you have all the forms you need? If working remotely, what will the virtual process look like?

Looking ahead to December, do you need to send Holiday cards to anyone? Employees?

Vendors? Clients/Customers? Do you need to order a Holiday gift for employees? Start thinking about it NOW and avoid scrambling in the craziness that is the month of December!