HR Reference Notes
These notes explain the figures and rules behind the TrueStep HR calculators and kits: how each number is estimated and what the federal rules require, with the sources laid out so you can check them. They give general information for planning. Every compliance note carries a Last verified date; the full review calendar and update log shows when each topic was last checked and what changed.
Cost and workforce metrics
What turnover actually costs
What it costs to replace someone across the full cycle, and how far the figure swings by role.
Read the note ›How cost per hire is calculated
The standard cost-per-hire formula, what belongs in it, and the published benchmarks.
Read the note ›The cost of absenteeism
How unplanned absence adds up beyond the missed day, and the rates the research supports.
Read the note ›The fully loaded cost of an employee
Why an employee costs well above base pay once taxes and benefits are counted.
Read the note ›What contingent labor costs
Agency markup decoded, the labor burden built line by line, and the four-way conversion math, every figure sourced and dated.
Read the note ›HR staffing ratios and span of control
How many HR staff per 100 employees is normal, and how many direct reports a manager can carry, with the sourced benchmarks.
Read the note ›Pay, classification, and transparency
Compa ratio and range penetration
How compa ratio and range penetration read a salary against its pay band.
Read the note ›The FLSA exempt salary threshold
The federal salary threshold for exempt status and the duties that go with it.
Read the note ›State pay transparency posting laws
Which states require pay ranges in job postings, and what each rule asks for.
Read the note ›Compliance, records, and separations
FMLA eligibility, the four tests
The four tests an employee must meet before FMLA leave applies.
Read the note ›PWFA and PUMP accommodation
The pregnancy and nursing rules: 15+ employers accommodate known limitations, and the PUMP Act gives break time and private space for up to a year.
Read the note ›I-9 substantive errors and the 2026 shift
How ICE’s March 2026 fact sheet moved 10+ common I-9 errors to substantive, with $288 to $2,861 per-form fines and no cure period.
Read the note ›Federal records retention minimums
How long federal law requires you to keep common employment records.
Read the note ›Required federal labor law postings
The federal workplace notices most employers are required to display.
Read the note ›The four-fifths rule and adverse impact
How the four-fifths rule screens a selection process for adverse impact.
Read the note ›OWBPA release rules for age 40 and over
What a valid age-related release requires for workers age 40 and over.
Read the note ›The WARN Act 60 day notice
When the federal WARN Act requires 60 days of notice before a layoff or closing.
Read the note ›WARN Act thresholds and state laws
The counting math that decides whether a layoff triggers WARN: the federal thresholds, the 90-day aggregation rule, and the dated mini-WARN table.
Read the note ›Defensible RIF selection
The sequence for a reduction you can defend: criteria in advance, the impact test, and the over-40 rules.
Read the note ›At-will employment and Section 7
What at-will employment does and does not allow, including the Section 7 limits.
Read the note ›No-fault attendance and legal guardrails
When a no-fault attendance point system is legal, and the FMLA and ADA carve-outs that keep it out of EEOC trouble.
Read the note ›Training ROI and certification currency
How training ROI is measured with the Kirkpatrick and Phillips levels, and why a lapsed safety certification is a compliance risk.
Read the note ›Hiring and performance
Manager capability and calibration
Why most managers never get trained, how rater errors distort reviews, and how calibration brings ratings back in line.
Read the note ›Emotional intelligence at work
What the evidence supports, the three streams of EI, and where it overlaps with personality.
Read the note ›Psychological safety
The belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk, why it drives performance, and the misreadings to avoid.
Read the note ›Difficult conversations and the SBI framework
Why hard conversations get softened until they do not land, and the Situation-Behavior-Impact structure that keeps one on track.
Read the note ›Workplace conflict
What conflict actually costs, the five handling styles and the two dials behind them, and why self-ratings run ahead of skill.
Read the note ›Onboarding and the 30-60-90 ramp
How long new hires take to reach full productivity, and how a 30-60-90 plan structures the first three months.
Read the note ›Retention and stay interviews
How much voluntary turnover is preventable, and how a stay interview surfaces the reasons before someone leaves.
Read the note ›Candidate ghosting
Where ghosting happens in the hiring funnel, what drives it on both sides, and what measurably reduces it.
Read the note ›Employee referral program ROI
Why referrals convert better than job boards, the retention and bias caveats, and how to measure a referral program.
Read the note ›Global
Ontario job posting rules 2026
Ontario’s 2026 rules: a pay range within $50,000, AI disclosure, vacancy status, and the 45-day applicant notice.
Read the note ›Mexico 40-hour workweek 2026
Mexico’s cut from a 48-hour week to 40, two hours a year from 2027 to 2030, with no reduction in pay or benefits.
Read the note ›The EU pay transparency directive
What the EU pay transparency directive will require from employers.
Read the note ›The EU AI Act in employment
How the EU AI Act treats AI used in hiring and employment decisions.
Read the note ›By industry
What turnover costs in a manufacturing plant
The plant-floor benchmark: what an exit really costs once overtime backfill, ramp, and a broken schedule are counted, and how far it swings by role.
Read the note ›What turnover costs in the trades
The field benchmark: why a thin replacement pool and licensed seats make each loss cost more, and what it runs by role across construction and the trades.
Read the note ›What staff turnover costs a dental practice
The chairside benchmark: the cost of an empty chair and a scattered schedule, and what it runs to replace a hygienist, an assistant, or a front-office seat.
Read the note ›What caregiver turnover costs a home care agency
The home care benchmark: what one caregiver departure runs, why most of the loss lands in the first 90 days, and what a full year of it drains from a roster.
Read the note ›The clinic manager
The seat where healthcare staffing gets won or lost: what turnover costs, why promoting the best clinician underperforms, and what the manager actually moves.
Read the note ›The warehouse supervisor
The seat where the churn gets won or lost: what turnover looks like in logistics, why promoting the fastest picker underperforms, and what the supervisor actually moves.
Read the note ›The construction foreman
The seat where a contractor keeps or loses its crew: what construction churn really looks like, why promoting the best hand underperforms, and what the foreman actually moves.
Read the note ›The dental practice manager
Usually the only manager in the building: what dental turnover really costs a practice, why promoting the best assistant or front desk lead underperforms, and what the manager actually moves.
Read the note ›