We are pleased to announce the release of sharedHR 7.9, which reflects our commitment to providing continuously updated HR compliance information and resources to assist our clients in managing their HR function. SharedHR 7.9 went live after regular business hours (PST) on January 1, 2007, 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 Employee Handbook and various forms and documents in the sharedHR Document Library.

In addition to the compliance and content updates, we are pleased to introduce the following new features and enhancements:

• Certification Tracking
• User Group Members And User Group Orgchart Reports
• Updates To Record Position/Salary Adjustment
• Sharing Custom Reports

Compliance Updates for 2007

New and Updated Forms and Documents in the Document Library

Given ongoing changes in state and federal laws, we have posted many new or updated forms and documents in the sharedHR Document Library. In the Manage Library Documents section of sharedHR, documents with a 1/1/07 date in either the Last Review Date or Last Upd Date column indicate that the sharedHR model is either new, or has been recently reviewed for sufficiency and/or updated. You can review new or updated versions of documents by clicking on the 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 Benefits section:
  • Notice About Your Prescription Drug Coverage and Medicare
• In the Compliance & Training section:
  • Job Safety & Health Protection
  • Minimum Wage Notice
  • Summary Tests for Exempt v. Non-Exempt Status
• In the Leaves of Absence section:
  • DOL- FMLA Letter
  • DOL - Medical Certification
  • Model FMLA/CFRA Leave Letter
  • Integration of Family and Medical Leave Entitlements
• In the Payroll section:
  • Pay Requirements by State
  • 2007 Payroll and Holidays Calendar
• In the Policies section:
  • Sample Drug Testing Policy
• In the Recruiting & Hiring section:
  • Application for Employment
  • Arbitration Agreement
• In the Separations section:
  • Unemployment Insurance Benefits
• In the Staff Files section:
  • 2007 Attendance Calendar

Employee Handbook Updates

There have been several new laws introduced for 2007 that should be reflected in company policy. We have updated the sharedHR Employee Handbook platform in 7.9 to incorporate the recommended policy language changes. As is sharedHR's continued practice, all of 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 of our clients to update their current handbooks as soon as possible to comply with the new and clarified laws by following the guidelines below.

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 changes (as listed below) 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 2007 State and Federal laws, court cases and regulatory guidelines:

Americans with Disabilities Act		Military Leave
Cellular/Wireless Telephones		Modified Work
Crime Victim Leave		Paid Family Leave
Discrimination and Harassment		Personal Leave of Absence
Equal Employment Opportunity		Sexual Harassment
Family Care and Medical Leave		Sick Leave
Inspection of Employment Records		Smoking
Jury Duty Leave

Certification Tracking

The existing Training Tracking system has been enhanced to allow for tracking of more details pertaining to certification, educational units, degrees, etc. A new level of organization has been added to the Training Tracking system, what we call Programs, that allows you to group related courses together for more focused reporting.

We have also added a new report titled the Certifications Report. This reports displays expiration dates, obtained dates, and/or the number of units or hours each employee has received for certifications and degrees. You will find this report in the Management Reports section of the Reports Index page.

User Group Members and User Group Orgchart Reports

To help you with implementing and maintaining your sharedHR site, we have added two new User Group reports. These new reports can be run from the Update User Groups page within the Update Company Information and Handbooks section of the site.

The first report is the User Group Members Report. This report allows you to view the details of the managers and members of your User Groups in three different formats:

• Who Can A Manager See?
• Who Can See An Employee?
• Employees Who Are Not in Any User Groups

Updates To The Record Position/Salary Adjustment Screen

To help ensure data integrity, we have changed the way the Record Position/Salary Adjustment Screen works. When you go to enter a new record on that screen, you must now select the employee and specify the Effective Date before you can enter the rest of the data. By entering those values first, sharedHR is better able to display that employee's values Prior to the Adjustment, and to fill the After Adjustment data entry fields with default values.

Sharing Custom Reports

SharedHR administrator-level users are now able to share any custom report that they design with other administrators within their company.

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