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SHARP HR LLC

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Sharp HR provides expert HR consulting for small businesses in Northeast Ohio, helping them navigate the complexities of employee relations and labor law.

We partner with businesses to build robust frameworks for legal compliance, process documentation,

11/11/2026

Today is Veterans Day, and it is a good prompt for a quiet handbook check.

A federal law called USERRA protects employees who leave for military service and gives them the right to return to their jobs afterward. It applies to employers of every size, including very small ones.

So here is my question for you: if an employee told you tomorrow that they were being deployed or called up for training, would you know what to do? Do you have anything in writing?

A short military leave section in your handbook takes about twenty minutes to write and could save you real trouble.

Thank you to every veteran and service member who works for or owns a small business here in Northeast Ohio.

11/09/2026

A peek at my desk this week.

November is when the calls change. In the summer it is hiring questions. In November it is year-end questions. Can we give a bonus? Do we need to change anyone's pay before January? What do we do about the employee who has been a problem since spring?

Most of what I do right now is help owners get ahead of a busy stretch instead of being run over by it.

If there is something on your plate you would like a second set of eyes on before December, you know where to find me.

11/06/2026

Heads up, Ohio employers: the state minimum wage goes up on January 1, 2027.

The new rate is $11.40 an hour for non-tipped employees and $5.70 an hour for tipped employees, up from $11.00 and $5.50 this year. It applies to employers who meet the state's annual gross receipts threshold, so check the Ohio Department of Commerce poster if you are not sure which side you fall on.

What to do between now and January:
- Look at anyone paid close to the minimum.
- Remember that raising the floor often means a conversation about the people just above it.
- Post the updated poster when it arrives.

Questions about how this affects your pay structure? Message me.

10/23/2026

HR myth: if your anti-harassment policy has not caused a problem yet, it does not need a second look.

Fact: the EEOC rescinded its 2024 harassment guidance back in January of this year. That does not change the underlying law, but it does remove the federal interpretive framework a lot of employers were leaning on when their policies were written.

What that means practically is your policy should now point to actual court rulings and Ohio law directly, rather than guidance that no longer applies.

This is not a five alarm fire. It is a reason to pull your handbook out sometime this month and make sure the language still holds up.

If it has been a while since anyone looked at yours, message me and I will tell you what I would check first.

10/16/2026

Open enrollment season question for the small business owners here.

Which benefit do your employees ask the most questions about? Not which one they use the most. Which one generates the most emails to you personally.

I will guess it is either the health plan deductible or how PTO carries over. Tell me if I am wrong.

I ask because the benefit that generates the most confusion is usually the one that needs a plainer explanation, not a better plan.

10/14/2026

Cold and flu season is starting, and if your sick time policy has not been looked at since it was written, October is a good month to fix that.

Ohio does not require private employers to offer paid sick leave. That surprises people. It means your policy is entirely up to you, which is freedom, but it also means vague language causes real problems.

A few things worth spelling out plainly:
- Whether unused sick time carries over into next year, and if there is a cap.
- Whether a doctor's note is required, and after how many days. Requiring one for a single sick day usually causes more friction than it prevents.
- Whether the policy applies the same way to everyone, including yourself.

A clear policy written in October saves you from making an exception on the spot in November, which is when the resentment starts.

10/12/2026

Quick gut check for October: if the Department of Labor showed up tomorrow, could you put your hands on a complete I-9 for every employee you hired this year?

Most owners I ask cannot answer yes without checking first. That is the paperwork that gets set aside during a busy hiring season and never circled back to.

Before Q4 gets any busier, grab my free New Hire Checklist and use it to spot check anyone you brought on since January. It covers I-9 timing, Ohio new hire reporting, workers' comp, required posters, and the first week basics that are easy to forget once the hire is settled in.

Get it here: https://243430939.hs-sites-na2.com/en/new-hire-checklist

Fifteen minutes now is a lot cheaper than an audit finding later.

10/09/2026

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and I want to make the case that this belongs on HR's desk, not just IT's.

Most small businesses I work with have a password policy nobody has read since it was written, and a remote work agreement that says nothing about where an employee is allowed to store client files.

Three things worth a look before the end of the month:
1. Who still has system access from a role they left months ago.
2. Whether your handbook says anything at all about personal devices used for work.
3. Whether new hires get any security guidance in their first week, or whether it is assumed they will figure it out.

None of this requires a big budget. It requires someone deciding it is worth twenty minutes.

If your handbook is silent on any of this, that is worth fixing before it becomes a bigger problem.

10/08/2026

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, but plenty of offices still do something on the Friday before.

Costumes at work: yes or no?

I have clients who love it and say it is the best morale boost of the fall. I have clients who tried it once and are still finding glitter in the carpet. Both are valid.

If you do allow it, the only real HR advice I have is to put the line in writing before October, not during the week of. Nothing scary, gory, or that could be mistaken for a different holiday or culture entirely. Everything else is fair game.

Where does your office land on this one?

10/02/2026

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and it is a good prompt to look at how your business actually handles accommodation requests, not just what your handbook says about them.

A few things I see trip up small employers:
1. Assuming an accommodation has to be expensive. Most of the requests I help clients work through cost nothing or close to it. A flexible start time. A quieter workspace. Written instructions instead of verbal ones.
2. Skipping the conversation. The law calls it an interactive process for a reason. You do not have to guess what someone needs. Ask.
3. Documenting nothing. If you approved or denied a request, write down why. Six months later you will be glad you did.

Most accommodation requests are more straightforward than owners expect once someone actually asks the question.

Have you had to navigate an accommodation request this year?

Address

4807 Rockside Road , Suite #400, PMB #700 Independence, OH 44131
Cleveland, OH
44114

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+12168493413

Website

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirandasharpnack/, https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/miranda-sharpnack, http://www.sharphrllc

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