Whenever I get stumped on an editorial question—“Do I need a comma here?” “Is [such-and-such word] hyphenated?”— I usually shout across the way to my coworkers or turn to Google. However, I’ve always thought it would be neat to have an editorial phone-a-friend like you’re allowed to have on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”
Perhaps you’ve felt that way before too, although I’d imagine in a much more intense situation. After all, my kind of queries (“Do you capitalize first lady?” You don’t, by the way.) can’t hold a candle to yours (“If we write our wellness communications in X way, could we get sued?” “Is X change to our retirement plan a breach of fiduciary responsibility?”).
So, if you’re an HR/benefits professional that’s ever wished for a phone-a-friend, now you have one.
HR Hotline, created by
According to ThinkHR, calls are answered by PHR- or SPHR-certified consultants and the average call takes about 35 minutes, which the site says is “a strong testament to the complexity of the situations we help employers solve, and also our commitment to provide in-depth, quality information and responses.”
In addition to the phone-a-friend capacity HR Hotline users may access a 24/7 web-based resource center that provides state-by-state compliance information, forms and checklists, as well as a biweekly newsletter that users can brand with their company name and logo.
HR Hotline’s consultants are prepared to offer guidance on topics like benefits, compliance, recruiting, wage & hour, employee handbooks, termination and sexual harassment.
Now, I’m not saying that HR Hotline is the only game in town, or even that they’re the best — just that, to me, what they offer sounds pretty neat and something that you might find useful, particularly for answering those PPACA questions.
But let me know what you think. Is HR Hotline or a similar service something you would use? Why/why not? Share your thoughts in the comments.
