IRONWOOD provides comprehensive risk management solutions and resources for employers. Our expert consulting team is ready to partner with you to provide insight into all areas of business operations. IRONWOOD can help you navigate the complex framework of regulatory compliance, assist in the hiring of new employees, create custom policies and manuals for your team, and a wide range of other services aimed at helping business owners breathe a little easier. Take a look at the list of services we've provided and contact an IRONWOOD consultant today if you need help going from complacent to compliant.

CALL: 888-743-5238 - E-MAIL: info@ironwoodbc.com - WEB: www.ironwoodbc.com

2/1: Post OSHA Form 300A

2/14: Valentine's Day

2/15: 2022 Form W-4 expires (exemption claims)

2/17: Random Acts of Kindness Day

2/20: President's Day

2/21: Mardi Gras

2/22: Ash Wednesday

2/28: File ACA Forms 1094-C & 1095-C

2/28: File ACA Forms 1094-B & 1095-B

3/1: Submit Medicare Part D disclosure to CMS



3/2: Submit Electronic Reports to OSHA

INTRODUCING THE

BRAND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

IRONWOOD is pleased to announce the addition of our new brand development department! Our branding team is committed to helping our clients establish, enhance, and maintain their brand identity. We understand the importance of creating a unique and consistent brand image.

Our comprehensive brand development process will help you define your brand's unique value proposition, identify your target audience, and create a compelling brand message that sets you apart from the competition. We will work with you to develop a strategic brand plan that aligns with your business goals and objectives.

Whether you are launching a new product, navigating the rebranding process, or simply looking to take your marketing to the next level, our brand development team will provide you with the tools and guidance you need to succeed. We understand that every brand is unique, and our team will work with you to create a customized approach that fits your specific needs and goals.

Some of the services offered by our brand development department include:

• Brand strategy development
• Brand positioning and messaging
• Brand guidelines and branding kit creation
• Rebranding services
• Content creation
• Social media management
• Marketing and advertising campaigns
• Recruitment marketing
• SEO-targeted job postings
• Mission, vision, goals creation
• Onboarding and orientation development
• Competitor analysis
• And many more

Benefits of utilizing our branding development services include:

• Increased visibility and recognition for your brand
• Better differentiation from your competition
• Increased customer loyalty and trust
• Improved brand image and reputation
• Better alignment of your brand with your business goals and objectives

Contact our branding team if you have any questions or want to learn more about our news services at onbrand@ironwoodbc.com.

THE RISE OF RECRUITMENT MARKETING

What is recruitment marketing? Recruitment marketing takes recruiting from job-centric to candidate-centric. In today’s job market - most of the top candidates for roles are passive. Based on a study performed by LinkedIn - only 36% of candidates are actively looking for a new role. Some of the best candidates for your organization are not surfing job boards or even attempting to enter the lengthy application process. 

Candidates have recruiters coming to them. Recruiters are tapping into marketing and sales techniques to engage potential candidates first - rather than waiting for applicants to apply. Recruiters have learned they must be proactive when sourcing high-potential candidates and foster a continued relationship with these individuals. 

Recruitment marketing is the strategies, techniques, and processes that a talent acquisition organization uses to attract and engage candidates and convert them into applicants. Employer branding has been crucial when trying to attract top talent. 

Why is recruitment marketing growing in popularity? The number one reason we’ve seen a rise in this mindset is due to candidates becoming more sophisticated in how they research potential employers. Candidates are not just considering compensation and benefits - but also place high importance on culture and social proof. Recruitment marketing differs from traditional recruiting by focusing heavily on what happens before the application. Increasing awareness of a company as a positive potential employer is key. Candidates are viewed more as customers and require similar marketing tactics to gain interest.

Recruitment marketing requires knowledge of branding techniques like:

• Creating candidate personas
• Designing Employer Value Propositions (EVP)
• Developing and utilizing the mission, vision, and values
• Well-crafted content, personalized experience, and a unified message
• Protecting the company's reputation
• Brand ambassadors skilled in engagement and promotion
• Strategic alignment

Successful recruitment marketing requires components of HR, marketing, talent acquisition, and branding. It is a combination of skills like branding strategy, sourcing tactics, content creation, market research, data analysis, customer service, and knowledge of modern marketing tools. With the workplace landscape continuing to evolve at such a rapid pace, understanding the importance of recruitment marketing will soon be crucial to a company's success. Contact IRONWOOD at onbrand@ironwoodbc.com for assistance with all your talent sourcing needs.

THE RISKS OF WORKPLACE ROMANCE

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, a common theme on the minds of many HR professionals is how exactly to navigate workplace relationships. Workplace romances have long been a topic of debate and concern in the professional world. According to a survey performed by the Society of Human Resource Management: 27% of U.S. workers are currently in a workplace romance or have been before. While some argue that office relationships can lead to increased productivity and job satisfaction, others believe that they can create a host of problems for both the individuals involved and the company as a whole.

One of the major issues with workplace romances is the potential for conflicts of interest. When individuals are romantically involved, it can be difficult for them to remain objective and unbiased in their work, leading to poor decision-making and potential ethical violations. Additionally, when a relationship ends, it can create a tense and uncomfortable work environment for all parties involved.

Another concern is the potential for sexual harassment and discrimination. In cases where one individual holds power over the other, such as a supervisor and a subordinate, there is a risk of abuse of that power. This can lead to a hostile work environment for not only the individuals involved but also for their colleagues. Even if both parties are consenting and willing participants in the relationship, it's important to keep in mind that power dynamics in the workplace can often make it difficult to maintain a healthy and equitable relationship.

Additionally, office romances can also lead to favoritism, where one individual is given preferential treatment over others. This can create resentment among coworkers and lead to a lack of trust in management.

Companies can establish policies and guidelines to address these concerns. Some companies may have a strict no-dating policy, while others may offer resources and support for individuals who are in a workplace relationship.

It's important for managers and employees to be aware of the potential problems that can arise from office romances and to take steps to mitigate them. While it may be difficult to prevent workplace romances altogether, taking the necessary precautions can help to ensure that they don't negatively impact the company or its employees.

Now might be the time to review your current policies regarding workplace relationships. Consider whether you may need to implement or update policies regarding relationships at work. This might include addressing dating/romantic relationships, fraternization policies, and even nepotism policies. Such policies should be uniformly applied to all employees and clearly address whether and what types of relationships are permitted, whether any relationships are prohibited and the reason for that position, whether relationships must or should be reported to human resources, and the consequences for failure to report. It's important that policies are clearly communicated. If you want to implement a policy that prohibits relationships between employees and supervisors - does that include ALL individuals in a supervisory role or just direct reports?

While there can be some risks associated with workplace relationships - there can absolutely be fairytale endings! Relationships in the workplace can be successfully managed with open communication, professionalism, and clearly established policies. The key is to be proactive in managing it - as opposed to pretending it doesn't or shouldn't exist. Mandatory disclosures, sometimes referred to as "love contracts", to key leaders have proven to be very successful for many companies! Banning workplace relationships entirely is likely unrealistic and could be counterproductive - resulting in the loss of talented team members. Communication is key!

If you need help drafting a workplace relationship policy or have concerns regarding how to protect your organization when workplace romances go from BE MINE to BEWARE - contact IRONWOOD's HR at hr@ironwoodbc.com. We would LOVE to help answer any questions you may have!

DEDICATED TO DEVELOPMENT

The IRONWOOD team hosts a monthly book club that aids in the personal and professional development of our employees. Each attendee takes turns leading a different book and we get together twice a month to discuss what we've learned and how we can apply those lessons to our daily lives. In honor of Valentine's Day, we wanted to share the books we LOVED over the last year. If you're looking for a great read for yourself or your team, take a look at the list below!

KPI SPREADSHEET

IRONWOOD's Compliance Team is rolling out its new KPI Spreadsheet to help you stay organized with your monthly, quarterly, and yearly KPIs in-house. This will also help your Compliance Administrator update all required fields within the compliance sites we manage for you.

This will help us collect the information more accurately with the quarterly stats as well as the OSHA logs at the end of the year. We will send the KPI spreadsheet to you to update and send back to us monthly. This will help you to stay compliant with beginning-of-the-month deadlines.

REMINDER: Please continue to send in your 2022 quarterly numbers to the compliance team so we can complete your 2022 OSHA logs. If not completed, it will start affecting your compliance site grades beginning March 1st.

If you have questions about accurately reporting your KPIs, please reach out to compliance@ironwoodbc.com for help. We are here to answer any questions you might have! Our goal is to work with you each quarter to ensure that your performance is accurately maintained. Let's continue to partner together to help eliminate interruptions and elevate scores for hiring clients.

The IRONWOOD team is participating in a year-long wellness challenge to promote a healthy lifestyle at work and at home. Each month centers around a different wellness theme and we challenge each other to reach our monthly goals. In the end, we all win. We wanted to invite all of our clients to participate along with us on our challenge to Win for Wellness! If you are looking to implement your own health and wellness initiative at your company - please feel free to share our plan with your own team! For a PDF copy of the below infographic: click here.

PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM COLD STRESS

Workers exposed to extreme cold or working in cold environments may be at risk of cold stress. Extremely cold or wet weather is a dangerous situation that can cause occupational illness and injuries such as hypothermia, frostbite, trench foot, and chilblains.

Hypothermia: A condition in which the body uses up its stored energy and can no longer produce heat. It often occurs after prolonged exposure to cold temperatures.

Early symptoms:

• Shivering
• Fatigue
• Confusion
• Disorientation
• Loss of coordination

Late symptoms

• No shivering
• Blue skin
• Dilated pupils
• Slowed pulse and breathing
• Loss of consciousness

Frostbite: An injury to the body that is caused by freezing, which most often affects the nose, ears, cheeks, chin, fingers, or toes.

Symptoms:

• Reduced blood flow
• Numbness
• Aching
• Tingling or stinging
• Bluish or pale

Trench Foot: An injury of the feet resulting from prolonged exposure to wet and cold conditions can occur at temperatures as high as 60 °F if the feet are constantly wet.

Symptoms:

• Reddening of the skin
• Leg cramps
• Swelling
• Blisters/Ulcers
• Bleeding under skin
• Gangrene

Chilblains: Ulcers are formed by damaged small blood vessels in the skin, caused by the repeated exposure of skin to temperatures just above freezing to as high as 60 °F.

Symptoms:

• Redness
• Itching
• Blistering
• Inflammation
• Possible ulceration

Protect Yourself

• Monitor your physical condition and that of your coworkers.
• Wear appropriate clothing.
• Wear several layers of loose clothing for insulation.
• Tight clothing reduces blood circulation to the extremities.
• Be aware that some clothing may restrict movement resulting in a hazardous situation.
• Protect the ears, face, hands, and feet in extremely cold or wet weather.
• Boots should be waterproof and insulated.
• Wear a hat to reduce the loss of body heat from your head.
• Move into warm locations during breaks; limit time outside.
• Carry extra socks, gloves, hats, jackets, blankets, a change of clothes, and a thermos of hot liquid.
• Include chemical hot packs in your first aid kit.
• Avoid touching cold metal surfaces with bare skin.



DRIVER SAFETY TOPICS

Dedication to driver safety is paramount to the success of your fleet. Fleet managers should be conducting routine safety meetings with their drivers to ensure they have the most up-to-date rules and regulations, give them helpful reminders, and educate them on the best practices to avoid motor vehicle crashes. Need some inspiration on driving safety topics to share with your drivers? We wanted to provide a list of topic ideas to discuss with your drivers and promote safety at your company and on the roads. This is not an exhaustive list. If you'd like more discussion ideas for your team, contact our DOT team for more topics: dot@ironwoodbc.com.

Distracted Driving

The NHTSA published a list of the top 10 driving distractions:

• Excess drowsiness or falling asleep

• Operating a cell phone or other hand-held device

• Talking on a cell phone or to another passenger

• Reading or looking at a map

• Eating or drinking

• Applying cosmetics

• Reaching for a CD or adjusting the radio

• Reaching for an object that is sliding off the seat

• Looking at surroundings (rubbernecking)

• An insect inside the vehicle

FMCSA Hours of Service Visor Card:

Give this link to your drivers or print out copies for them to have on hand.

https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/HOS_VisorCard.pdf

Fatigue Warning Signs

• Unable to stop yawning.

• Trouble keeping your eyes open and focused, especially at stop lights.

• Driving becomes sloppy and you weave between lanes, tailgate, or miss traffic signals.

• Finding yourself hitting the grooves or rumble strips on the side of the road.

• Finding yourself opening a window or turning up the radio to say alert.

• Driving aggressively to get to your next destination faster.

Take The Pledge

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's campaign reminds drivers of the deadly dangers and the legal consequences – including fines – of texting behind the wheel. Commit to helping end distracted driving. Sign the pledge here: https://www.nhtsa.gov/campaign/distracted-driving

The data compiled from FMCSA's Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse revealed an increase in positive drug tests for truckers by 18% in 2022. According to the data provided by FMCSA, 41,000 drivers tested positive for marijuana use in 2022 (an increase of 32% from the previous year) and 100,000 drivers have tested positive for the substance since the Clearinghouse opened on January 6, 2020. Legalization efforts across the country coupled with possible misinformation and confusion about the legality are likely contributing factors to the uptick in positive tests for marijuana. The industry is also seeing fewer and fewer drivers enrolling in the return-to-work process resulting in an even greater driver shortage across the country. If your company needs help recruiting CDL drivers, reach out to ibc@ironwoodbc.com to learn more about our CDL driver recruiting process.

****DISCLAIMER****

This newsletter, email and any files transmitted are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed and are not intended or offered as legal advice. Please seek legal counsel before acting or failing to act based on the content of this communication.