HR Compliance Self-Audit

The Bottom Line: Triage Over Perfection

We review your audit results through a practical lens, focusing on what keeps your business safe and your people productive without draining your bank account or overfilling your to-do list.

• Real-World Risk vs. Unrealistic Paperwork: We identify where there is actual legal exposure and separate it from minor clerical "best practices" that don't move the needle for a business your size.

• Budget and Time-Conscious Triage: We determine what matters now versus what can wait. We focus on the high-impact fixes that give you the most protection for the least amount of effort.

• Practical Solutions: We focus on solutions that protect your profit and your people, avoiding "gold-plated" HR fixes that small businesses don't have the margins or the man-hours to support, when some duct tape will keep things running for now.

• The Roadmap: You get a clear, prioritized plan designed to be acted on, not filed away. We focus on the few things that actually matter so you can get back to your real work.

The goal isn’t perfection; it’s informed decision-making.

I would love to help you work through the resulting plan if you need the extra hands or ongoing guidance, but there is absolutely no obligation to do so. You get the roadmap, the "duct tape" fixes, and a strategy that respects your time & budget—then you decide how to move forward.

For $89, you start your Results Review with a complete, prioritized picture of where your business stands — before we ever get on a call.

An hour with a Maine employment attorney could run $300 to $500. And the first few hours is spent getting them up to speed on your business. Your Results Review starts with your situation already mapped, your gaps already prioritized, and the conversation focused entirely on what to do about them.

The HR Self-Audit & Review includes:

• Access to a confidential, web-based HR Self-Audit: A comprehensive, Maine-specific assessment covering both legal compliance and core HR practices. Works on any device, no software required.

• Time to complete the audit on your own time, in your own space: Most businesses complete the audit in 45 to 60 minutes, often in more than one sitting. Your progress saves automatically. There is no timer.

• A 60-minute, one-on-one Zoom Results Review: A guided conversation with a Maine fractional HR professional who has already reviewed your specific results — not a generic overview, a conversation about your business.

• Clear prioritization and practical next steps: We focus on what deserves attention now, what can reasonably wait, and where small changes reduce disproportionate risk.

• A written follow-up report: A summary of what we discussed, key observations, and recommended next steps — yours to keep and act on whether or not you take another step.

This is designed as a low-risk, high-clarity starting point. There is no obligation to continue beyond the review. You are free to act on the roadmap independently or decide later whether additional support would be useful.

The HR Self-Audit is intentionally comprehensive and uses dual scoring to clearly separate legal requirements from best practices.

It covers:

• 24 sections of Maine and federal employment law and HR operations

• 248 targeted review points

• Two distinct tracks:

  • Compliance — what the law requires

  • HR Maturity — practices that reduce turnover, burnout, and risk

Questions are weighted by risk level — 3 points for High Risk Exposure items, 2 points for compliance gaps, and 1 point for administrative items — so your score reflects where the real exposure is, not just how many boxes you checked.

Areas reviewed include:

• Employer basics, recordkeeping, and retention requirements

• Electronic monitoring and surveillance (LD 61)

• Hiring, applications, onboarding, and I-9 compliance

• Wage, hour, and scheduling — including tip credit, overtime, and comp time

• Rest breaks and meal periods

• Leave administration — Maine PFML, Maine unpaid FMLA, federal FMLA, EPL, safe leave, and military leave

• Sexual harassment policy, training, and investigation obligations

• Employment discrimination — age, race, national origin, disability, and religion

• Disability accommodations and the interactive process

• Pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation protections

• Performance management, documentation, and review accuracy

• Unemployment risk and separation defense

• Terminations, final pay, and offboarding obligations

• Substance use, cannabis, and Maine drug testing law

• Remote work and multi-state employment

• Employee records and data privacy

• Anti-discrimination enforcement — MHRC and EEOC 2026 priorities

• Workers' compensation and workplace safety

• Benefits, COBRA, and Maine MERIT retirement

Supplemental sections for specific business types:

• Seasonal Employer Supplement — EPL exemption status, PFML for seasonal staff, end-of-season offboarding

• Restaurant & Hospitality Supplement — tip credit compliance, tip pooling, alcohol service, H-2B obligations

The audit adapts to your business. Based on your employee count, industry, and whether you operate seasonally or across multiple locations, certain sections are highlighted or adjusted to reflect what actually applies to you.

1. Schedule your appointment.

Choose a time that works for you using the online scheduling calendar. Your review must be scheduled at least 72 hours out so there's time for you to complete the audit, and for me to thoroughly review it before we meet.

2. Confirm your spot with payment.

The $89 fee reserves your time and unlocks access to the secure, web-based Compliance Self-Audit.

3. Complete the audit at your own pace. It's ok if you need extra time.

You'll complete the confidential audit on your own time, in your own space. Your progress saves automatically as you go — if you close the browser and return later on the same device and browser, your answers will be right where you left them. Most clients finish in one or two sittings.

There are no right or wrong answers. If you know it, select Yes or No. If you're not sure, select Unsure. If it doesn't apply, select N/A. Uncertainty is useful — it's often where the most important conversations start.

Plan to submit at least 24 hours before your appointment so there's time to review your results and prepare for the conversation. If you need more time, no problem — the scheduling link in your confirmation email makes it easy to reschedule.

4. Meet for your confidential review

• We'll meet by Zoom for a 60-minute guided review of your results.

• You're welcome to include anyone who should be part of the conversation — ownership, managers, payroll, or operations staff.

• Together we'll walk through your findings, identify what deserves attention first, and outline practical next steps you can act on right away.

Please approach the audit honestly and without overthinking it. There's no judgment here.

• If you know the answer, select Yes or No

• If you're not sure, select Unsure

• If it doesn't apply to your operation, select N/A

This isn't a test. You're not going to pass or fail.

The audit is meant to:

• Give you information you can reference later

• Guide our conversation

• Surface questions or topics you may not have considered before

Uncertainty is useful. It helps us focus the review where it will be most helpful.

This isn’t a live read-through of your answers.

Before our Zoom meeting, I will:

• Review your completed audit in detail

• Identify patterns, gaps, and areas to focus on

• Prepare for a focused, efficient conversation

After the meeting, you’ll receive a written follow-up report that includes:

• A summary of what we discussed

• Key observations from the audit

• My recommendations for next steps, if any

• Priorities organized by importance or urgency

That report is yours to keep and use, whether or not you ever decide to take another step.

Your review is conducted with a Maine fractional HR professional with nearly four decades of experience.

Seneca HR provides fractional HR support exclusively to Maine small businesses and restaurants — available when you need it, without the cost of a full-time hire. The Self-Audit & Review is designed as a practical entry point for businesses that want to understand where they stand.

I've spent my career living and working in Maine, leading organizations, managing people, and supporting owners and managers through real-world HR and management challenges. I work exclusively with Maine employers and spend considerable time staying current on:

• Changes in Maine and federal employment law

• New agency guidance and enforcement trends

• Best practices that actually work for small businesses

That time investment means you don't have to do it yourself.

Everything about this process is confidential.

Your audit responses and review materials are used only for your internal assessment and discussion. Nothing is shared, reused, or aggregated in any way.

This is a working conversation designed to support you, not evaluate you.

Most Maine small business owners are doing more right than they realize. Most are also carrying a handful of gaps they don't know about — because no one told them, and nothing has gone wrong yet.

The audit changes that. For $89 and about an hour of your time, you'll know exactly where you stand and what to do about it.