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VirgilHR, the technology company removing risk from HR compliance, announced the release of a chat-based tool for employee onboarding that allows organisations to properly classify employees as exempt or non-exempt during onboarding.
Through a conversational interface, HR professionals from any industry can access fast, accurate and research-backed information that will provide confidence that they are complying with labour laws across the country when classifying employees for new and existing roles.
“Across the country, labour laws are changing just as fast as companies are hiring new employees,” said Jocelyn King, Founder and CEO of VirgilHR. “Our chat-based tool provides an easy-to-use interface that helps HR leaders move through onboarding quickly, while accessing real-time information straight from legal experts. This provides a way for companies to make proactive changes that move with the pace of legislation, and offer clear information to employees about their status.”
Classification is a routine-yet-crucial step of the onboarding process, but it can carry significant risk. Under wage and hour laws, employers must make a designation to determine how employees are paid: Exempt vs. non-exempt. While this may seem like a simple choice, classification is riddled with complexity. Federal law is governed by the dense Fair Labor Standards Act, while state laws vary by jurisdiction and change constantly.
Misclassification could be costly, particularly in blue-collar industries such as construction, manufacturing and hospitality. Wage theft is a top reason that employers are sued, snaring even large companies such as Amazon, DoorDash and Swift Transportation in litigation that resulted in nine-figure settlements.
Through VirgilHR’s smart chatbot, HR leaders can now access a three-step process to ensure compliance, while making the choice simple. Using the software platform’s smart chatbot, HR professionals submit a role, then answer a series of diagnostic questions that can quickly understand how federal and applicable state labour laws match up to the role and ultimately recommends whether it should be classified as exempt vs. non-exempt. This reduces risk for employers while ensuring that workers are maximising available benefits.
To ensure that employers receive the latest, accurate legal information, VirgilHR worked with employment and labour attorneys to programme the responses and drew on the experiences of HR professionals to create a workflow that fits seamlessly into the onboarding process.
The tool will be part of VirgilHR’s comprehensive platform, which offers a “real-time legal guide by your side” to directors and managers. Available at no cost to current users, the tool is the first in a series of releases from the platform that will simplify the onboarding process while ensuring compliance.
VirgilHR sits at the forefront of the chat-powered revolution in technology. Along with expanded conversational features, the company is excited to continue to incorporate AI into its offerings, providing even more powerful capabilities that ensure fast, accurate compliance.
