Archives
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Employee Spotlight: Shaina Schwartz
Posted on 01.06.2021
Meet Shaina Schwartz! Shaina brings energy, good humor and a wide array of skills to serve the Achilles team as a driver of multiple internal operational functions, along with direct client services work. Shaina’s internal role includes contract management, onboarding new clients, workload allocation and support for our client retention efforts. Shaina also drives HR … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Spotlight
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Client Success Story: Erwin Distributing Co., Inc.
Posted on 01.06.2021
Erwin Distributing Co, Inc. owns and operates Wally’s Party Factory stores. At Wally’s, we offer an extensive selection of party supplies, balloons and costumes for all of life’s celebrations. When we first heard about Achilles Group, there were only two of us handling everything from operations to accounting to legal to HR. With everything on … Continue reading
Posted in Client Success Stories
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A Christmas Moment!
Posted on 12.18.2020
Last Christmas we shared an uplifting and heartwarming story as told by the famous radio broadcaster, Paul Harvey, The Man and the Birds, live on air over ABC Radio on Christmas Eve, 1965. This story shows why it makes perfect sense for God to come to earth, as a human, as one of us. Since then, … Continue reading
Posted in Holidays
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Client Success Story: Vista Host
Posted on 12.17.2020
At Vista Host, we manage over 25 hotels in 10 states. That’s a lot of employees in many different locations! We feel that Achilles Group accomplishes our “Human Resources Heavy Lifting.” We no longer worry about making the tough decisions that surface in HR (such as a termination), because we have the ethical and knowledgeable … Continue reading
Posted in Client Success Stories
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Employee Spotlight: David Jones
Posted on 12.01.2020
David is well-versed in all things staffing and recruiting and regularly provides clients with candidate screening and selection support. His HR career began during his service as a human resource specialist for the Army. David has a disciplined and analytical approach, and applies that focus in his work to research and address compliance challenges, and … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Spotlight
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Flu vs. COVID-19: The Differences & Similarities
Posted on 11.24.2020
Flu season is upon us once again. While in previous years it has been common to experience coughing, sneezing and sniffles during this season, this year brings added layers of stress and worry with COVID-19 concerns. How do you know if the symptoms you or an employee are experiencing can be attributed to the flu … Continue reading
Posted in COVID-19, Helpful Tips, Proactive Response, Respond & Rebuild
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Client Success Story: Crest Management
Posted on 11.17.2020
People Performance We were so busy growing our business that we didn’t take time to stop and figure out what we needed in regards to investing in and inspiring our people. We came to a point where we knew we needed to put some structure in place and the one thing that we didn’t have … Continue reading
Posted in Client Success Stories
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Employee Spotlight: Veronica Flores
Posted on 11.11.2020
Meet Veronica, our resident diversity and inclusion expert and this month’s Employee Spotlight! Veronica believes in an authentic approach to human resources that helps organizations create a thriving and holistic company culture. She enjoys performance development activities and creates and presents training content for multiple clients across several industries to include technology, manufacturing, restaurants, hospitality, … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Spotlight
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Client Success Story: GMI Group
Posted on 10.28.2020
GMI Group is an expert in precision machining, product distribution, and metallurgical testing for domestic and international oilfield and industrial supply companies. Achilles Group was recommended to us when our HR functions started to become bigger than our skill set and a major HR issue arose that nobody could have foreseen. We were looking for … Continue reading
Posted in Client Success Stories
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Client Success Story: First Presbyterian Houston
Posted on 10.13.2020
“When our HR Director left our company, they recommended that we outsource our HR needs since it was so hard to find one person to keep up with everything, and that’s when we contacted Achilles Group. While other HR firms wanted to come in and take over everything, Achilles Group had exactly the right approach, … Continue reading
Posted in Client Success Stories
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The Importance of Respect in the Workplace
Posted on 10.13.2020
The year 2020 has been unlike any other. COVID-19 concerns, coupled with current social, economic, and political climates have led to tense conversations and sometimes disrespectful workplace interactions. Political views and opinions on social justice have been especially divisive. We all deserve to be treated with kindness and respect, and could benefit from more respect … Continue reading
Posted in Helpful Tips, HR Risk Mitigation, People Performance, Proactive Response
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Employee Spotlight: Taylor Spaulding
Posted on 10.06.2020
Meet Taylor Spaulding, Achilles Group tech guru and October’s Employee Spotlight! Taylor works as a Business Analyst to fuel the performance and margin objectives of Achilles Group. He adds focus and technical savvy to help the team utilize various technologies and data sources, and to enhance our ability to deliver exceptional service to our clients. … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Spotlight
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Guidance on Payroll Tax Deferral Implementation
Posted on 09.28.2020
Employers and employees alike have questions regarding the payroll tax deferral recently enacted by President Trump. Below are the answers to the most common questions we’ve received. How is eligibility for deferral determined? Payroll tax deferral is available to employees who have wages and compensation of less than $4,000 in a given biweekly payroll period … Continue reading
Posted in COVID-19, Proactive Response, Respond & Rebuild
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FFCRA Paid Leave And The 2020-2021 School Year
Posted on 09.23.2020
The Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was signed into effect by President Donald Trump in March of 2020. Generally speaking, the Act requires employers with fewer than 500 employees provide two different options of emergency paid leave, expanding upon the existing Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to allow employees who need it to care … Continue reading
Posted in COVID-19, Proactive Response
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Client Success Story: Gajeske
Posted on 09.21.2020
At Gajeske, Inc., a Polyethylene and Pipe company, we had issues with making decisions regarding our employees. We engaged Achilles Group to help us with this, and other difficulties. They have helped us create a structure for our termination basis and other HR obstacles we needed to overcome. There were many moving pieces involved and … Continue reading
Posted in Client Success Stories
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Client Success Story: SeAH Steel
Posted on 09.21.2020
SeAH Steel has worked with Achilles Group since October 2016, and we are very fortunate to have them as partners. When we purchased two other companies, Achilles guided us through the unfamiliarity of that process by providing recommendations for our new organizational structure. Since then, they have developed detailed job descriptions for all employee positions … Continue reading
Posted in Client Success Stories
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PPP Loans Are No Longer Available. Here Are Some Alternatives to Consider.
Posted on 09.17.2020
The deadline to apply for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan was August 8, 2020. If you missed this deadline but still need financial assistance, there are other programs available including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA), as well as number of tax deferral programs created by … Continue reading
Posted in COVID-19, Helpful Tips, Proactive Response
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Employee Spotlight: Katy McClanahan
Posted on 09.14.2020
Meet Katy McClanahan, our resident human resources new guru and September’s Employee Spotlight! Katy has a servant’s heart, a robust understanding of HR fundamentals and leverages her exceptional research skills to keep our team and clients on the leading edge of compliance issues. She is invaluable in her ability to navigate State and Federal statutes and guidelines … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Spotlight
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Time Tracking & Non-Exempt Employees
Posted on 09.14.2020
Q: How do I verify hours worked from home for an hourly non-exempt employee? A: The amount of technology available concerning the tracking of time can be a little overwhelming. How you track work from home for hourly non-exempt employees will depend in large part on the capabilities of your current payroll system. Some payroll … Continue reading
Posted in COVID-19
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How to Handle “Doomsday” Employees
Posted on 09.11.2020
Q: I have a “Doomsday” employee causing stress and frustration; what should I say to them? A: As we have discussed before, fear is easy to come by right now. Everywhere we turn we’re hearing nothing but doom and gloom, so it’s not surprising some employees may be more sensitive to that. The best way … Continue reading
Posted in COVID-19