• Employers should consider the scope and applicable laws when performing an HR audit.

The benefits of human resources (HR) audits outweigh the negatives, and in no way should drawbacks discourage a company from performing an audit. Some important points to keep in mind to help make safety audits a consistent benefit to a company include the following:

Scope

Before employers begin an audit, determine the scope. A particular company many only want to examine its recruiting practices to ensure compliance with Equal Opportunity Employment laws. Another employer may want to audit all of its human resources policies, procedures, and systems.

Areas that are good candidates for auditing include:

• Employee handbooks,
• Equal employment opportunities,
• Discrimination,
• Affirmative action,
• Recruiting,
• Hiring,
• Termination/separation,
• Pay,
• Leaves,
• Benefits,
• Discipline,
• Drug testing,
• Privacy,
• Background checks, and
• Policies.

Determining the scope will help a company set realistic timetables to complete the audit.

Laws

Once the scope is set, the next step is determining what federal, state, or local laws apply to the audit area. This can be a lengthy and tricky process. A good starting point is identifying laws that depend upon the size of the employer for coverage (e.g., the Family and Medical Leave Act) and laws that apply because of the nature of the business or industry (e.g., Drug-Free Workplace Act).

Once the audit is complete, the information gathered needs to be reviewed and compiled such that it can provide the appropriate results. Audits usually indicate that there are opportunities for improvement, and these should be prioritized and handled.