Brian J. McLaughlin

Jim Ries interviews Marcia O’Connor, CEO and Founder of The O’Connor Group, an 18-year-old outsourced fractional HR and recruiting firm with an executive search arm and a new HR strategy division focused on PE due diligence. The company has a “white glove” approach which is tailored to client service and deep listening. Marcia shares the key industries they serve which are professional services, life sciences/healthcare, manufacturing, and high tech. Marcia is proud of building the business without loans from her basement into a 60-person W-2 team with awards including Best Places to Work and Inc. 5000. She’s excited about growth initiatives, especially in executive search and PE, including geographic expansion west.

Attorneys Sarah Sawyer and Russell Berger of Offit Kurman discuss best practices for tracking hourly employees’ time to ensure accurate pay, overtime compliance, and proper recordkeeping. They explain that mistakes can create significant legal exposure under federal and state wage laws, including doubled damages under federal law and treble or greater damages. Key tips include using a reliable timekeeping system with clear rules, allowing employees to correct inaccurate entries, properly handling paid short breaks versus unpaid uninterrupted meal breaks, and training managers. They also recommend periodic audits and watching for “too clean” time records that may signal problems.