First Name:

Last Name:

Telephone:

Email:

Address:

City:

State:

Zipcode:

Incident Details:

form base
Home » Consumer Information » Employment

Employers Rights & Responsibilities

Employer Rights

A variety of state and federal laws help mediate relationships between employees and employers. If you start your own business, as soon as you hire your first employee, you’ll need to be aware of these laws. As an employer, you are responsible for familiarizing yourself with law governing your relationship with your employees. You should be knowledgeable about the following topics:

  • Appropriate hiring practices such as conducting interviews, background checks, and privacy respect
  • Wage and labor laws, specifically minimum wage, overtime, and workers’ compensation time
  • Evading sexual harassment and discrimination based on gender, race, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, etc.
  • Prerequisites for sick and vacation time, parental leave, and other kinds of leave
  • Guidelines for writing an employee handbook, conducting performance evaluations, and disciplining workers
  • Methods of terminating an employee without violating their legal rights
  • Safeguarding your business and respecting employees’ rights when they resign
  • Running background checks, performing workplace searches, and observing employee conduct without imposing upon workers’ rights

Employers must be extremely conscientious bookkeepers because you are responsible for keeping track of all documentation unique to employees, contractors, and other personnel. The following list specifies which documents you will need to have handy whenever you add a new employee to your team:

Here's a list of the most important documents and forms that you should consider each time you hire someone:
  • Employment letter – documents the terms and conditions between parties and introduces a starting point for future salary and performance adjustments
  • Employee handbook – make available to employees as soon as possible, if not during the application and interview process. Require employees to sign for the handbook, and keep the receipt on file
  • Covenant not to compete – agreement between employer and employee that keeps your business safe if an ex-employee leaves to work for a competitor or starts their own operation in direct competition with yours
  • Confidentiality agreement – useful if the employer plans to reveal trade secrets or additional inside information to an employee
  • INS Form I-9 – form required by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service that helps ban illegal aliens from the workforce.
  • IRS Form W-4 – must be filled out by every employee to verify tax withholdings for each pay period New Hire Reporting Form – must be filed with a state agency in no more than 20 days depending on what state you’re in
  • Employee benefit signup – allows employees to name dependents and choose other options if the employer offers health insurance, 401(k), etc.
  • IRS Form SS-4 – required by the IRS for all new employers with the exception of sole proprietorships