Human resources compliance is a necessity for any small business today. A small business that isn’t aware of its HR responsibilities is headed for trouble.

When done correctly, HR compliance is a process. It’s a way of defining proper individual and group behaviors and assuring that laws and policies are understood and followed. This means you must know the laws and develop appropriate policies in relation to these laws. Compliance also means you and your managers need to communicate these policies to your people, along with your expectations.

Effective HR compliance programs need to be integrated into your business strategies and given more than just lip service. Compliance has to start at the top and trickle down to all levels, so everyone in the company knows that the workplace must be kept safe and discrimination won’t be tolerated.

These steps will help you achieve your compliance goals:

Educate yourself. HR laws change constantly. You must stay up-to-date on current laws, so you can establish appropriate policies and communicate them to your people.

Get good advice. One way to do this is to bring on cavnessHR to help with your HR. But there are thousands of HR professionals that you can go to for HR advice.

Create an employee handbook and HR policy manual and regularly update it. These should living documents as the laws will change and also your approach.

Train your managers. Since they have the most significant day-to-day interactions with your people, review your policy manual with each manager. Make sure they understand that they must uphold expected standards and be role models for other employees.

Train your people. Build their awareness of expected behaviors. Your HR manual shouldn’t be something your employees keep at the bottom of their drawers. Provide updates and provide periodic retraining on important issues, such as sexual harassment.

Open your ears. Listen to your people, listen to your managers, and listen to your internal and external experts. Together these people can help you get to the root of your compliance risks, help you manage those risks, and heighten your awareness about what is happening in your company.

Give feedback. Let people know whether they’re meeting your expectations. Reinforce the importance of success, and give your people the opportunity to correct areas of weakness. Emphasize accountability, and stress the consequences for noncompliance.

Document your decisions. Memories fade over time, and a lack of documentation can leave you vulnerable to HR noncompliance claims. Document all key decisions and evaluations, establish written policies, make sure everyone gets a copy of your written policies and signs them, keep a written record of critical communications, and maintain all personnel records. Documentation is critical.