Staying compliant in 2025
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Every new year brings new legal changes and clarifications to be aware of. It’s a great idea to start a new year by looking at annual policies and making updates to your handbook and other documentation.
Compliance in Indiana
Here in Indiana, we haven’t had any major changes to our state laws, but these are some minor clarifications and requirements to keep in mind.
New hire reporting requirements. The requirement to report new hires to the state of Indiana is not new, but there are a few small changes to know about this year. You now need to report the new hire within 20 days of hire and include their date of birth. Employer phone and/or email may also be requested.
Youth employment reporting. This is geared toward employers with five or more minors working for them. If that includes you, be sure you’re compliant with the Indiana Youth Employment System (YES). Follow the requirements limiting the number of total hours minors can work. It’s helpful to keep things like schedules, job descriptions, and new hire paperwork in case of audits.
IOSHA. Indiana has its own OSHA compliancy rules (IOSHA), and depending on your industry, you may need to do some verifications. Be sure you’re doing annual safety training and reminding staff so they know things like where chemicals are stored, what to do if chemicals are spilled, where to go if they need to evacuate, etc.
Civil Air Patrol and Emergency Response Leave. In addition to the military leave requirements in place at a federal level, Indiana prohibits disciplinary action against employees missing work to participate in a Civil Air Patrol or to respond to emergencies as a volunteer firefighter or volunteer medical responder. Additional changes are anticipated this year, so be sure to monitor these laws.
Federal Compliance
Any time we transition to a new administration, it’s especially important to continue to monitor federal changes throughout the year. Here are some things to be aware of so far.
FLSA overtime changes blocked. The changes to exempt vs. non-exempt classification rules that were enacted last year have been blocked and retroactively rolled back to the pre-July 2024 salary levels. This means you have the option to roll back the changes you’ve made and to not follow the changes as you hire people moving forward. Just because you can doesn’t necessarily mean you should, though. Keep in mind the impact on employee morale and retention!
Pay transparency initiatives. There have been no major federal changes here, but if you’re posting positions remotely, this will impact you. If applicants for a remote position can work from any state, be sure to follow the strictest state transparency laws. Colorado, California, Washington, and New York have full pay transparency requirements, and Rhode Island, Nevada, Connecticut, and Maryland have partial transparency requirements.
Joint-employer rule. This defines when two or more entities share or co-determine essential employment requirements; for example, if you’re hiring individuals through a staffing agency. The NLRB and DOL made some broadening interpretations of what a joint employer is heading into 2025, so it’s a good time to review contracts and operations for compliance.
Background checks. There’s been no major federal legislation, but this is something to keep in mind if you have remote postings. Some states or cities have “ban the box” rules where you can’t ask people if they’ve been convicted of criminal wrongdoing, so make sure you follow the strictest state and local requirements if you’re allowing employees to work from anywhere. The FCRA and EEOC are working on some updates where you may not be allowed to look at credit during a background check if it’s not part of the job requirements, so keep an eye out for changes there.
We’re not lawyers at Purple Ink, so if you have questions or are concerned about being fully compliant in these areas, sometimes it’s best to run things by your legal counsel – just to be safe.
If you’re interested in policy review and development assistance, or help creating a compliance checklist that you can use to monitor that you’re following regulations, reach out to Purple Ink!
Kourtney McCauliff, SHRM-CP, is the Director of Consulting Services at Purple Ink (www.purpleinkllc.com).