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SHARP HR LLC 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,

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

Quick gut check for October: if the Department of Labor showed up tomorrow, could you put your hands on a complete I-9 f...
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.

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

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, but plenty of offices still do something on the Friday before.Costumes at work:...
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?

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and it is a good prompt to look at how your business actually...
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?

HR myth: Ohio is an at will state, so I can fire anyone for any reason.Fact: at will is real, and it is a genuine advant...
09/28/2026

HR myth: Ohio is an at will state, so I can fire anyone for any reason.

Fact: at will is real, and it is a genuine advantage for employers. It also has limits worth knowing before you need them.

You still cannot terminate someone because of race, color, religion, s*x, military status, national origin, disability, age, or ancestry.

You cannot fire someone in retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim, reporting a violation, or serving on a jury. Ohio courts have recognized a public policy exception to at will since 1990.

At will protects you when you have a legitimate reason and you handled the situation consistently. It does not protect you from a bad reason, careless timing, or a paper trail that contradicts what you told the employee.

The distinction matters most on the one day you actually need it.

Not sure where you stand on a specific situation? Message me.

The most expensive HR mistakes I see are almost never dramatic.No signed offer letter, so the terms are whatever each si...
09/25/2026

The most expensive HR mistakes I see are almost never dramatic.

No signed offer letter, so the terms are whatever each side remembers them to be.

No I-9 on file.

No record of who approved the raise, or when.

A handbook pulled off the internet that cites laws from a state you do not operate in.

None of it feels urgent until the day it suddenly is.

My free New Hire Checklist covers the front end of this, built for Ohio small businesses: https://243430939.hs-sites-na2.com/en/new-hire-checklist

Start there. If you want someone to look at the rest of it, that is what I do.

If you do year end reviews, start writing them in October rather than December.Here is why. A review written in mid Dece...
09/23/2026

If you do year end reviews, start writing them in October rather than December.

Here is why. A review written in mid December mostly covers what happened in November. Everything from March is gone. Your steadiest performer gets judged on their worst recent month, or the reverse, and either way they can tell.

What helps:
- Give yourself two specific things each person did well this year, with an actual example attached to each.
- Decide compensation separately from the conversation about performance.

When you combine them, the only thing anyone hears is the number.
Reviews that people find worth having take preparation, not a better form.

Do you do formal reviews, or keep it more informal?

A client said something to me recently that I have not stopped thinking about.She said the hardest part was not the term...
09/21/2026

A client said something to me recently that I have not stopped thinking about.

She said the hardest part was not the termination itself. It was the three months she spent avoiding it.

That is the pattern I see most often. The situation is rarely as bad as the dread surrounding it. Once there is a plan and someone in your corner who has done this before, it turns into a Tuesday afternoon instead of a crisis.

If we have worked together and it helped, I would be grateful if you left a quick review or simply replied here. It genuinely helps other owners decide to ask for help sooner than they otherwise would.

And if you are somewhere in month three of avoiding something right now, you can message me.

One of my favorite things about working in Northeast Ohio is how short the distance is between a question and an answer....
09/18/2026

One of my favorite things about working in Northeast Ohio is how short the distance is between a question and an answer.

Someone needs a bookkeeper, an insurance broker, a printer, an attorney who actually returns calls. Ten years ago that was a week of searching. Now it is one text to somebody I trust.

That is not luck. That is what happens when you show up in the same room every week for a few years running.

Who is a Northeast Ohio business owner you would recommend without hesitating? Drop their name below and give them a little visibility.

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

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