As a warehouse manager, you're held accountable to many regulations and legal requirements. Workplace safety and health regulations, cold storage standards, financial regulations, and employment law compliance must all be factored into your considerations. When it comes to warehouse staffing specifically, you must consider both employment-related regulations and the need for staff who are trained and certified in upholding your warehouse operational compliancy standards.
You're well-aware that non-compliance is not an option and that your facility could incur both fines and penalties for infractions that might occur as a result of non-compliance. To achieve your goal, it is necessary to maintain a well-trained, proactive, and safety-focused staff.
On Time Staffing's HireSatisfaction Program provides a highly effective recruiting and on-site staff management system designed to help meet the unique needs of your supply chain staffing requirements. We know that legal and regulatory compliance is a must, and can help you secure the logistics professionals necessary to keep your facility running at the highest possible standards.
This blog will explore compliancy considerations in warehouse staffing, addressing both compliancy in staffing practices and the role staff play in keeping your warehouse operations compliant.
Understanding Compliance in Warehouse Staffing
Compliance in your staffing operations is crucial for any warehouse. Taking an active approach to managing compliance allows you to avoid legal and financial penalties while ensuring on-site safety. Because compliance is often closely tied to industry best practices, a compliant light industrial staffing policy also helps you to maintain operational efficiency and your brand reputation for top performance as a compliant business partner within a greater supply chain system.
Key Legal and Regulatory Frameworks for Warehouse Staffing
When building your logistics team, there are many regulations that must be adhered to during the supply chain staffing process. Whether you are hiring permanent employees or warehouse temp services, many different regulations and labor laws apply to your operations. Here are the top legal and regulatory frameworks to consider in your logistics staffing solutions.
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - The FLSA provides a guide for fair pay, standard wages, overtime compensation, and so on. If it has to do with compensation and payroll, it must comply with the FLSA.
- Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) - OSHA determines the safety standards of your work environment, ensuring each logistics employee is properly equipped and that your facilities are compliantly safe for your workers.
- Federal Employee's Compensation Act (Worker's Comp) - Each employee must be covered by a worker's compensation policy to provide compensation for workplace injuries and illness.
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) - The EEOC enforces fair and non-discriminatory hiring practices relating to diversity and fair treatment on the job.
- Federal and State Labor Laws - There are also a number of labor laws that differ from state to state.
Hiring Practices and Employment Laws
The legal requirements for hiring and onboarding employees is determined by both state and federal laws. You must consider diversity and provide Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) paired with non-discrimination policies. You must hire new employees with a legally compliant employee contract and compensation package, basing compensation rates on certain standards. These standards vary from state to state but generally must be comparably equal among all who hold the same position and duties.
You will want to complete background checks to ensure employees are eligible (i-9 forms) for employment. Then new hires must be provided sufficient training and equipment to perform their work duties safely, with access to the employee handbook to help them navigate policies and procedures.
Wage and Hour Compliance
All warehouse staff must be paid at least minimum wage and should be provided time-and-a-half overtime should their hours go beyond 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week, unless state law provides different guidelines. Record keeping is required for hours worked and wages paid, including legally mandated break and meal periods.
Warehouse staffing can suffer from a few common pitfalls in wage and hour compliance, but distribution center managers can avoid avoid them by knowing the risks.
- Inaccurate time records
- Use automated time tracking software to increase time record accuracy and ease
- Improper overtime compensation
- Ensure your overtime policies align with federal and state law
- Implement overtime pay automatically with time-tracking and shift-scheduling software
- Unpaid on-call hours
- If an employee's activities are restricted by being on-call, ensure they are compensated at minimum wage to regular wage rates.
- Unpaid training / onboarding
- All logistics employees (non-exempt) must be paid a minimum wage or greater for mandatory training time.
Workplace Safety and Health Regulations
OSHA regulations touch every part of warehouse operations:
- Safe storage, retrieval, and lifting policies
- Materials handling and storage
- Safe use of ladders, stairways, deck boards, and loading docks
- Safe use of powered platforms, manlifts, and vehicle-mounted work platforms
- Occupational health and environmental control
- Safe design and maintenance of cold storage
- Provision of personal protection equipment (PPE) to warehouse staff
- Provision of medical first aid equipment and training
- Electrical safety
- Machinery and machine guarding
A warehouse must be aware of all OSHA regulations relating to the logistics work environment, from trucks on the loading dock to lift platforms used to access toweringly high shelves. From handrails on walkways to electrical outlets and switch boards, the best approach is a comprehensive regular inspection and a proactive preventative maintenance schedule.
OSHA-compliant equipment and employee safety training policies are also a must-have both to meet OSHA's initial safety requirements and also equip your team to maintain a compliant workplace from top to bottom.
Employee Benefits and Leave Policies
Some employee benefits are mandatory to remain in compliance with federal and state labor laws. These may include:
- Health insurance or health care coverage
- Worker's compensation insurance coverage
- Unemployment insurance
- Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) policies
- Minimum sick and vacation days by state law
In addition to providing the necessary benefits and leave, it is also important to handle employee leave requests and ensure proper documentation according to your state's labor laws.
Audits and Inspections
Compliance audits are a standard part of running a logistics business. Regular audits are necessary to ensure that your work environment is safe and that all mandatory standards are being met. With a robust compliance policy and a safety-focused company culture, passing compliance audits and inspections is a routine experience for warehouse operations.
During an audit, the auditor or inspector will likely tour the facility and request to see certain documents which you are required to maintain. They may request a guide or to operate independently. In most cases, a well-maintained facility will receive clearance and your auditor may also share a few notes or words of advice on how to improve your compliance rating or better align with best practices.
If there are any non-compliance issues identified, the correct approach is to build a plan that will ensure the issues are resolved and the solutions remain in place indefinitely in the future.
Warehouse Staffing Compliance Made Easy with On Time Staffing's HireSatisfaction Program
At On Time Staffing, our HireSatisfaction program can help you achieve your goals of consistent and easy warehouse staffing compliancy. We can help you stay informed and proactive in your compliance efforts with our proven track record of safety improvements.
Contact us today to take advantage of our on-site logistics staffing services and build a strategy to maintain warehouse staffing compliance as you expand your warehouse team.
