Would your HR practices withstand a compliance review, employee complaint, wage-and-hour investigation, or employment claim?

Year-end is an important opportunity for HR teams to identify compliance gaps before they carry unresolved risks into 2027. Outdated policies, incomplete employee records, inconsistent classifications, wage-and-hour mistakes, poorly documented accommodations, missing workplace notices, or inconsistent disciplinary practices can expose an organization to avoidable risk.

This 90-minute compliance-focused webinar provides HR professionals with a practical framework for conducting a year-end HR audit and identifying the areas that deserve immediate attention.

Rather than conducting a general review of HR operations, the session focuses on the employment-law and documentation issues most likely to create regulatory, financial, or litigation exposure.

Why This Webinar Matters:

A year-end audit can help identify issues involving:

• Employee and personnel records
• Exempt/nonexempt classifications
• Independent contractor classifications
• Timekeeping and overtime
• FMLA and ADA administration
• Discrimination and retaliation safeguards
• Employee handbook provisions
• Workplace notices
• Multi-state employees
• Discipline and termination documentation

What You Will Learn:

• Structure an effective HR compliance audit
• Identify high-risk areas requiring immediate attention
• Review employee records for confidentiality and documentation issues
• Audit FLSA classifications, timekeeping, overtime, and record retention
• Reevaluate employee vs. independent contractor classifications
• Review FMLA and ADA processes for consistency and documentation
• Identify discrimination and retaliation red flags
• Evaluate policies and employee handbook provisions
• Verify required workplace notices
• Review termination and disciplinary practices for consistency
• Identify multi-state compliance gaps
• Prioritize findings and build a 2027 corrective-action plan

Key Compliance Areas Covered:

1. Employee Files & Recordkeeping

Key audit questions include:

• Are medical and accommodation records appropriately protected?
• Are performance and disciplinary records adequately documented?
• Are managers maintaining unofficial employee records?
• Are required payroll and timekeeping records being retained?
• Who has access to sensitive personnel information?

2. Wage & Hour and FLSA Audit

Review:

• Exempt vs. nonexempt classifications
• Hours worked
• Overtime calculations
• Off-the-clock work
• Remote employee timekeeping
• Meal-period practices
• Payroll deductions
• Wage and time records

3. Employee vs. Independent Contractor Classification

Audit:

• Contractors performing employee-like functions
• Degree of control over work
• Economic dependence
• Duration of relationships
• Contractor integration into business operations
• Differences between contractual labels and actual working relationships

4. FMLA, ADA & Accommodation Processes

Review:

• FMLA eligibility and notices
• Leave documentation
• Medical-information handling
• Accommodation requests
• Interactive-process documentation
• Return-to-work procedures
• Manager escalation processes

5. EEO, Discrimination & Retaliation

• Complaint procedures
• Investigation documentation
• Promotion and discipline consistency
• Termination decisions
• Retaliation safeguards
• Handling of protected complaints
• Required EEO notices

6. Employee Handbook & Policy Audit

Policies should reflect how the organization actually operates.

• Anti-harassment and discrimination
• Attendance and leave
• Remote/hybrid work
• Workplace conduct
• Confidentiality
• Technology use
• AI use in the workplace
• Complaint reporting
• Discipline
• State-specific requirements

7. Workplace Posters & Required Notices

Audit:

• Federal postings
• EEO notices
• Wage-and-hour notices
• State-specific posters
• Multiple work locations
• Remote-worker access where applicable

8. Multi-State & Remote Employee Compliance

Review:

• Where employees actually perform work
• State wage-and-hour requirements
• Leave obligations
• Pay transparency requirements
• Payroll practices
• Expense reimbursement
• State notices and postings
• State-specific policies

9. Discipline, Performance & Terminations

Audit:

• Performance reviews
• Corrective-action records
• Performance improvement plans
• Manager documentation
• Termination rationale
• Final pay processes
• PTO treatment
• Severance practices
• Comparable employee treatment

2026 Compliance Watch:

• Worker classification: reviewing employee vs. independent contractor arrangements in light of continuing federal regulatory activity
• Remote and multi-state employment: ensuring HR processes follow the employee's actual work location
• Wage-and-hour records: checking timekeeping accuracy and record-retention practices
• Workplace notices: confirming current federal and state postings
• AI in HR: identifying where automated tools are being used in recruiting, screening, monitoring, or employment decisions
• Documentation consistency: ensuring policies and actual management practices match

Common HR Audit Red Flags:

• Employees performing similar jobs under inconsistent classifications
• Contractors functioning like regular employees
• Off-the-clock or unrecorded remote work
• Incomplete personnel documentation
• Medical information stored with ordinary personnel records
• Managers handling accommodation or leave requests without HR involvement
• Outdated handbook provisions
• Missing workplace notices
• Inconsistent discipline
• Poorly documented terminations
• Different HR practices across states without legal review

Target of Audiences:

• HR Directors / Directors of Human Resources
• Human Resources Managers
• HR Compliance Directors & Managers
• HR Business Partners / Senior HR Business Partners
• Vice Presidents of Human Resources
• Chief Human Resources Officers / CHROs
• HR Operations Directors & Managers
• Employee Relations Directors & Managers
• People Operations Directors & Managers
• Employment Counsel / Labor & Employment Counsel