HR Audit Services

Making people count

Your Challenge
Over the last decade, the number and value of cases brought by employees against employers has significantly increased. This trend is attributable to the substantial changes in employment law in Ireland, increased awareness of and focus on employment issues and rights, and the publicity surrounding successful claims. In addition, the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) was established under the Social Partnership Agreement Towards 2016 to achieve a national culture of employment rights compliance. The Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008, sets out to: Establish NERA on a statutory basis and strengthen its powers of inspection and enforcement including the power to prosecute summary offences Involve NERA inspectors in the enforcement of employment permits legislation and strengthen that legislation as regards records and other employers obligations Increase the penalties for employment law offences: up to 5,000 and/or 12 months imprisonment for summary offences and up to 250,000 and/or 3 years imprisonment for indictable offences This places even greater responsibility on employers to ensure that they have policies and procedures that are compliant with all aspects of Employment Legislation.

Our Response
Mazars have developed a suite of Human Resources Audit Services. These services not only assist organisations in dealing with the risks associated with increased compliance requirements, but also the challenges in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the HR function. Our services centre around three main offerings, reflecting the needs and requirements of organisations at various stages in their growth and development:

1. HR Compliance Audit 2. HR Best Practice Audit 3. Specialised HR Audit 1. HR Compliance Audit

Employment legislation in Ireland is extensive and complex and a potential risk area for employers. Are you aware of your duties as an employer under the following employment legislation? Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994-2001 Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 Industrial Relations Act, 1990 (Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures) (Declaration) Order, 2000 Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 - 2001 Maternity Protection Acts, 1994 and 2004 Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 Employment Equality Act 1998 and 2004 Minimum Notice and terms of Employment Acts , 1973 to 2001 The Ethics Acts (public sector)

Unprecedented legislative change in the past decade has led to a significant increase in the number of cases being taken by employees in the Employment Appeals Tribunal and other such bodies leaving many employers open to considerable financial penalties and legal costs.

Are you exposed to these risks?

Do you have a comprehensive set of employment policies and procedures compliant with Irish employment legislation? Are these policies and procedures documented in an employee handbook? Is your record keeping e.g. personnel files, leave and recording of working hours, compliant with employment legislation? Are you familiar with employment legislation governing contract, fixed-term and part-time employees? Have all of your employees signed a contract of employment? Are you aware of the vast changes in employment legislation, and the impact these changes will have on your organisation and the way in which you manage your staff?

The Mazars Compliance Audit will assist you in determining and minimising any exposure by: Reviewing all HR activity from an employment legislation compliance perspective including: o Employee files / employee contracts of employment o Employee policies and procedures / employee handbook o HR record keeping practices in relation to e.g. working hours, employee claims, disciplinary actions, grievances etc Identifying gaps in compliance with employment legislation Developing recommendations and providing solutions to eliminate the gaps and areas of exposure identified Following a Compliance Audit, you can be confident that the likelihood of an employment-related case has been significantly reduced, and that your organisation will be well equipped to manage any employment-related complaints or allegations and ensure compliance on an ongoing basis.

2. HR Best Practice Audit

For organisations ready to advance their HR function to a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness, the HR Best Practice Audit includes the Compliance Audit outlined above and reviews your HR activities from a best practice and strategic perspective. In addition to the components outlined in the Compliance Audit above, this exercise also includes a comprehensive review of: Employee communication and employee relations Competencies of the HR team and/or other key individuals within the organisation Remuneration approach and packages Recruitment and selection procedures Training and development practices Performance management system Approach to retention and development of excellent talent Following a HR Best Practice Audit, you can be confident that not only will your HR practices be fully compliant but that a series of measures to improve the efficiency and performance of your HR function, the development and retention of your talented employees and the improvement of employee performance management have been identified.

3. Specialised HR Audit
Not all organisational needs fall neatly into the requirements listed above and as such we have developed an la carte style audit service which allows you to select the dimensions of the review from the perspective of the specific needs and challenges your organisation is facing. We are happy to tailor a specific audit / review service to your requirements.

Our Approach
Our HR audit services are practical and proven, we examine all aspects of HR compliance and best practice in the context of the environment and sector in which your organisation operates. This includes HR policies, procedures, employee files, documentation, and practices and is divided into three main stages: Phase 1 Initial Analysis: Mazars provides you with a pre-audit request list to allow you to compile the necessary documentation and information for review by the HR Audit team. Phase 2 Pre-Audit Questionnaire: Self-assessment questionnaire which includes a series of easy to answer questions in a user-friendly format developed in the context of your specific needs. Phase 3 On-site HR Audit: Internal review of all HR activities and practices in line with the type of audit you have chosen to undertake. During this phase, the consulting team will utilise a proprietary Mazars HR Audit Checklist tool, which is continually updated in line with current employment legislation and best practice.

Our Outputs
Following the audit process, Mazars will develop a comprehensive and confidential HR audit report. Specifically, this report will outline: Key findings of the HR audit providing a current-state analysis of all your HR activities and a rating of each finding of either low, medium or high priority to your organisation A comprehensive set of recommendations for each finding and associated implementation plan Moving from recommendations to results Mazars has the expertise and knowledge to help you prioritise and put into practice the implementation plan. The solutions we provide incorporate both the specific terms and conditions in place your company and compliance with employment legislation. These solutions include: Updating existing / developing new employee handbook Supporting forms and documentation to the employee handbook Template contracts of employment Provision of record keeping solutions Tailored solutions reflecting the results of the audit and HR best practice On-going HR consultancy support

Our Team
We believe that the strength of our HR capability lies in the strength of our team. The Mazars HR team is built around a core group of qualified and experienced HR practitioners with a range of knowledge across the broad spectrum of employment legislation and HR best practices issues. Our team are accredited with: The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) The Institute of Management Consultants and Advisers (IMCA)

HR Audit Case Study

Issue
A leading Irish distribution company had significant concerns over the HR policies, procedures and practices in place in their organisation.

Action
Following initial discussions with senior management, Mazars conducted a HR Compliance Audit which incorporated a review of compliance with employment legislation and elements of best practice which were of concern to the organisation. The audit approach included meetings with key staff members, on-site review of all employee files, current policies and procedures, supporting documentation, and a review of the HR system in place.

Findings
The review identified a number of serious compliance breaches including the absence of employee contracts, non compliant policies, no employee handbook, inconsistent employment terms and conditions, breaches in compliance with the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 and employee files not in line with legislatively driven record keeping requirements.

Outcomes / Benefits
The Mazars HR audit team produced a comprehensive report setting out the gaps noted together with a series of practical actions to address these gaps. Mazars provided a series of template contracts of employment, terms and conditions, and a comprehensive employee handbook detailing company policies and procedures and a best practice record keeping system. A nominated individual within the organisation was identified and trained in how to ensure HR compliance into the future.

Please get in touch...

Contact: Dera McLoughlin tel: 01 4494400 email: dmcloughlin@mazars.ie

Mazars Harcourt Centre, Block 3 Harcourt Road Dublin 2 tel + 353 (0)1 4494400 email:mazars@mazars.ie

Mazars Mazars Place Salthill Galway tel: +353 (0)91 570100 email: mt@mazars.ie

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