We are pleased to announce the release of sharedHR 7.6, which reflects our commitment to providing continuously updated HR compliance information and resources to assist our clients in managing their HR function. SharedHR 7.6 went live after regular business hours (PST) on January 5, 2006, and as is our practice, resulted in no service interruptions on the site. We encourage all sharedHR Administrators to login to sharedHR and see what's new.

With the start of the New Year, sharedHR Administrators are provided with important state-specific and federal compliance updates that impact policies in the sharedHR Handbook and various forms and documents in the sharedHR Library. To assist clients in incorporating changes relevant to them, sharedHR will be hosting a free Webinar on How to Update Your sharedHR Handbook. As part of our continuing expansion of our client service offerings, we also have made improvements to the Help Section of sharedHR, including the addition of a new Quick Start User Guide.

New and Updated Forms and Documents in the Document Library

Given ongoing changes in state and federal laws, we have posted many new and updated forms and documents in the sharedHR Document Library. In the Manage Library Documents section of sharedHR, documents with a 1/1/06 date in the Last Upd Date column indicate that the sharedHR model is either new or recently updated. You can review the new or updated version by clicking on the document title.

Documents with a red date in the Last Upd Date column indicate that the sharedHR model is new or has been more recently updated than your current version. If you use a customized version (i.e. not a sharedHR standard document), you can review our new or updated model to see what differences exist that may need to be added to your current model.

Please see below for a list of forms and documents that have either been added to or updated in the sharedHR library. (Please note that these forms and documents may or may not be relevant to you depending on the states for which you have purchased sharedHR compliance):

• In the Compliance & Training section:
  • Check Your Withholding
  • Child Labor Law
  • Discrimination
  • Document Retention Periods
  • Earned Income Tax Credit
  • Emergency Phone Numbers
  • Employer Statutory Compliance Summary by State
  • Equal Opportunity is The Law
  • Family Leave Act
  • Human Rights Act
  • Industrial Wage Orders
  • Job Safety and Health Protection
  • Minimum Wage
  • Notice to New Employees
  • Parental/Maternity Leave
  • Payday Law
  • Report of Independent Contractor
  • Sexual Harassment
  • Smoke-Free Workplace
  • Time Off for Voting Notice
  • Tobacco Use Prevention
  • Workers' Compensation
  • Your Rights Under USERRA (Finalized Posting)
  • Whistleblowers are Protected
• In the Leaves of Absence section:
  • Checklist for Family and Medical Leaves of Absences
  • Paid Family Leave Fact Sheet
  • State Disability Insurance Information
• In the Recruiting & Hiring section:
  • 2006 W-4
  • Application for Employment
  • Application for Employment (With Drug Test)
  • Arbitration Agreement
  • Confidentiality and Proprietary Rights Agreement
  • Interview Guide
  • Job Analysis Questionnaire
  • New Hire Checklist
  • Orientation Checklist
  • Report of New Employee(s)
  • State Income Tax Withholding Form
• In the Separations section:
  • Separation Checklist
  • Termination Letter
  • Unemployment Insurance Benefits
• In the Staff Files section:
  • Attendance Calendar
  • Request for Approved Time-Off
  • Request to Inspect Payroll File
  • Request to Inspect Personnel File
• In the Payroll section:
  • 2006 Payroll and Holidays Calendar
  • Pay Requirements by State

Employee Handbook Compliance Updates

There have been several new laws introduced for 2006 that should be reflected in company policy. We have updated the sharedHR Employee Handbook platform in 7.6 to incorporate the recommended policy language changes. As is sharedHR's continued practice, all our policy changes are reviewed by legal counsel so that our clients can rest assured that their employment risk is significantly reduced. We encourage all our clients to update their current handbooks as soon as possible to comply with the new and clarified laws.

Updating your sharedHR Employee Handbook(s) is a straightforward process using sharedHR. Under Administration Tools, clicking on Update Company Information and Handbook(s) takes you to the Update Handbook(s) section of the site. Unless you have already started a draft version of your currently released Handbook, you will be prompted to do so. Once in draft mode, you can review and answer the questions on each tab and make any of your own changes to reflect your current company policy and procedures. Be sure to "save" your changes at the end of each page. (Remember you can review the Draft Handbook version, and compare it to your Current (Released) Handbook version by clicking on the options in the upper right hand corner of the Handbook set up screen). Lastly, be sure to review the updated language and familiarize yourself with the new sections prior to releasing the updated Employee Handbook to your employees.

The following sections have been updated (depending on the states in which you operate) to reflect the changes in 2006 State and Federal laws, court cases and regulatory guidelines:

Purpose of the Handbook Domestic Partner Policy Payroll Schedule Military Leave Jury Duty Leave Equal Employment Opportunity Discrimination and Harassment Sexual Harassment Introductory Period Inspection of Employment Records Performance Reviews

Vacation / Paid Time Off Occupational Injury Benefits Searches Electronic Communication / Media Telecommuting Cellular / Wireless Telephones Smoking Pregnancy Disability Leave & Accommodation Leave for Victims of Serious Crime Leave for Victims of Domestic Violence

Webinar on How to Update Your sharedHR Handbook

This year, we are providing even more support to our clients by hosting a Webinar on How to Update Your sharedHR Handbook. This is free to all current sharedHR clients and partners, and we will walk you through what you need to do as a sharedHR Administrator with regard to reviewing current policy, incorporating the latest information into your published sharedHR Handbook(s), and notifying your employees. The Webinar will be held on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 from 10:00 am to 10:30 am PST. To reserve your place, please email your name and company to by January 25th.

This Webinar is the first in a series of Webinars we will be offering our clients as part of our efforts to provide you with excellent customer service. If you have any suggestions on other Webinar topics that you would be interested in learning about (related to sharedHR), please email us at .

Improvements to the Help Section and Quick Start User Guide

Although sharedHR is designed to be as intuitive to use as possible, we are continually seeking to improve the user experience of sharedHR, and an expanded and updated Help section is part of this effort. The Help section is accessible by clicking on the link in the upper right hand corner of the home page. SharedHR Administrators now have access to a Quick Start User Guide that has been developed to help our new clients familiarize themselves with the site during implementation. Existing clients may find this PDF document to be a useful resource in reminding them of specific features available or introducing a new sharedHR Administrator to managing the many features of sharedHR. You may also notice we have expanded our Frequently Asked Questions section too, and look out for future improvements to this Help section as we continue to build upon the information available to Administrators making parts of the site easier to navigate with information quickly available.

If you need assistance with any of sharedHR’s newest features, please contact .