DRC Consulting Services

Welcome To DRC Consulting

Need to provide HR services to your employees, but don't know if you need - or can afford - an in-house solution?

Let DRC Consulting Services, LLC. assist you with the management of the "Human Risk" associated with your business.

“Human” Risk Management

Whether you are looking for a partner to help you design an employment practice or policy, create an employee handbook, manage compliance issues, or to function as your human resources department, DRC Consulting Services can fulfill your need.

Your H.R. Consultant:

Daniel R. Cole, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Click to call Dan at 443-910-8425

Dan has been working in the human resource field for over 28 years, and has worked with employers having between 3 and 1200+ employees.

During that time he has earned both the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification and the Society for Human Resource Management – Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) certification.


These certifications are highly regarded in the HR field, and require a combination of education, experience, and competency to achieve.

To maintain these certifications on an on-going basis, an HR professional must continually earn credits through participation in workshops, seminars, webinars, e-learning events and various other forms of continuing education to ensure the professional is current with the latest HR issues.

Prior to starting DRC Consulting Services, Dan was the HR Director for Klein’s ShopRite from 1989 through 2012, where he created the HR department from ground zero, seeing the company through multiple expansions and new store openings.

Dan is a member of several professional organizations to include the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

He was born in Baltimore, MD, but has been a resident of Harford County for most of his life. He currently lives in Forest Hill with his wife and family. In his free time, Dan enjoys soccer, baseball, reading and genealogy.

Contact Dan





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    About Us

    Based in Forest Hill, Maryland, DRC Consulting Services, LLC was formed in August 2012 to service the needs of small to medium sized businesses in the area. Since then, DRC Consulting Services has also served clients in Delaware, Pennsylvania, northern Virginia and the District of Columbia.

    Whether you are looking for a partner to help you design an employment practice or policy, create an employee handbook, manage compliance issues, or to function as your human resources department, DRC Consulting Services can fulfill your need. Being a small business ourselves, we understand the need for flexibility, availability and the need to wear many hats.

    We do not believe in a one-size fits all approach.

    At DRC Consulting Services, we customize our services to meet your specific needs.

    We are in the “Human” risk management business, let us help you manage the risk associated with your most important asset – your employees.

    The bottom line: we provide high quality, low-cost, innovative human resources consulting services to organizations like yours.

    Call us for advice, compliance assistance, custom program design, or any employee issue you may have, so you can focus your attention on running your business.

    Services

    I-9 Form Audits:

    We can help you properly prepare your I-9 records for inspection from a governmental agency. We will train your staff in proper I-9 form completion, retention and destruction procedures. DRC Consulting Services can show you how to avoid the most commonly made I-9 mistakes.

    Employee Handbooks:

    A complete and up-to-date Employee Handbook is an important tool for any business. Don’t have an Employee Handbook? Let us work with you to design one specific to your organization’s needs. Does your current Handbook need to be reviewed or updated? We can help you with that as well.

    Job Descriptions:

    Are your current job descriptions up to ADA requirement? Do you have written job descriptions for all of your current positions? Is yes, when were they last reviewed to accurately reflect the current requirements of the job?

    Human Resource Audits:

    Let us conduct a comprehensive audit of your current HR policies, procedures, practices, documentation, and compliance and compare them with current “Best Practices”. We’ll make recommendations based on your needs and rank them based on your greatest liability. At your discretion, we can make the changes to improve your systems.

    Personnel File / Medical File:

    What forms are to be kept in which file, and for how long must you keep them? Let us help you set up personnel and medical files to meet requirements and a document retention process.

    Policy and Procedures:

    Are you considering a drug screening program, starting to conduct background investigations, social media policy or any other new policy or procedure? We can tailor a program to suit your needs and meet the requirements of state, federal and local laws.

    Difficult Employees:

    Are you having a problem with a difficult employee? We can help you develop a strategy to develop, retrain and motivate the difficult employee to make them productive again. Some employees are not salvageable, and may need to be terminated. Let us help you terminate employees legally and with the least amount of liability to the company.

    Workers’ Compensation:

    Need help organizing your records for your annual Workers’ Compensation audit? Having problems resolving a claim? Do you need a process in place for filing claims? What is your NCCI rating, and why you should know.

    Unemployment Claims:

    Are you paying too much in unemployment insurance? What is your rate? Do you lose more unemployment claims that you win? Let us help you set-up a process to keep your chargeable unemployment claims to a minimum, therefore reducing your rate.

    And More…:

    DRC consulting Services can work with you to resolve other HR related issues as well. Do you need to provide your staff training in Sexual Harassment prevention? Does your management staff understand their responsibilities with regard to the FMLA?

    FORMS

    Here are links to forms you will need. Click to download the form in a new window.

    FAQs

    Q. - What is an HR Audit?

    A. – An HR Audit is a comprehensive review of your current HR policies, procedures, documentation, compliance, and practices to identify areas that need improvement. HR rules and regulations are constantly changing, making it a challenge to stay compliant.

    Q. – Why do I need an Employee Handbook?

    A. – The most important reason is that it introduces new employees to your organizations culture, and how they will fit in. Handbooks also communicate to your employees what is expected of them and what they can expect from management. It ensures the key company policies are consistently communicated to your staff, and gives them guidance on what to do if certain situations arise. Handbooks also show your employees that your company strives to be compliant with federal, state and local laws.


    Q. – What is HR Certification, and why is it important to me?

    A. – An HR professional who has obtained HR certification makes them a recognized expert and leader in the HR field. It demonstrates their dedication, credibility and a mastery of the principles of human resources. To obtain certification, and HR professional must meet strict experience, competency, and educational requirements, before being eligible to take the certification exam. Certified professionals must also complete continuing education requirements to maintain their certification in good standing.

    Q. – My I-9 Forms are in order – aren’t they?

    A. – Recent changes in Immigration Policy in the US suggest that they should be. President’s Trump has signed several executive orders that affect immigration in the USA, thereby increasing the likelihood of workplace raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to crack down on illegal immigration. Employers whose I-9 records are not in compliance may face fines from $216 to $2,156 per form!

    Q. – Why do I need an HR function?

    A. – Fairly common employment related mistakes result in hard costs to employers through lost productivity, effectiveness, sales and revenue, efficiency, and decreased profitability. Small organizations tend to be unaware of many employment law requirements since no one is specifically responsible for assuring legal compliance. You may be subject to as many as (20) different employment laws, how many are you aware of? Basing employee related decisions and taking disciplinary actions based on misinformation and assumptions can lead to lawsuits, financial losses, unrealized gains, and even business failures.

    Testimonials

    Being a small business person, I wish that I could add specialties at any time, kind of like having that staff position filled with that specialist. Problem with HR? Walk down the hall to HR. Legal? Walk down past HR and then a left. We all know it doesn’t work like that. And while a lawyer is usually available by phone, I don’t have access to an HR person like that. Hiring Dan was a great win for us. I hired him based on a recommendation from our payroll provider (It’s Payday- another great payroll guy). Let’s be clear- Dan did not always tell me what I wanted to hear, which is okay, especially since our employee manual needed significant updating because of outdated (and unenforceable policies) and sliding across a line of statutory requirements with more than 20 employees. Dan sat down and provided an audit of types on all of our active employees, reviewed our policy manual and made significant recommendations that I am convinced could keep us out of trouble, which is good for me. Once policies were reviewed, Dan also stepped in and did a review with all of our employees to make sure everyone understood changes to existing policies and expanded on new ones that were available.

    For small business people, Dan is a wonderful source of information that we can use to best manage our costs, figure out solutions and have a proven strategy to overcome road blocks and challenges. Thank you Dan for your work with us, and I know Linda and I look forward to working with you in the future.

    ~ Jay Van Deusen, GM Rainbow International of Northeastern Maryland

    I had been in business for years without a proper handbook. My insurance agent told me to contact Dan, the owner of DRC Consulting. Dan turned out to be just what we needed. His experience and expertise in the field, made putting together a proper handbook for our difficult application, much easier than expected. He made suggestions and helped us to provide the perfect handbook and documents for our employees to sign. It has saved us many times and eliminates any "grey" areas by having our new hires read and sign our new book of procedures. I have called Dan on numerous occasions with HR questions and he has always been willing to help me. I am truly grateful for Dan's guidance. I have learned so much about how a business should run regarding employees.

    ~Jennifer Ehrlich, President, Commercial Cleaning Inc.

    I thought I had a strong HR process until I went through a complementary audit with Dan. Little did I know I was leaving myself and my company at risk for some things I was not doing. Dan was able to completely revamp my onboarding process to keep me compliant with state and federal laws. He also helped improve the documentation and records I kept for employees to better insulate myself from a lawsuit. I would highly recommend Dan’s services. His years of experience and knowledge was obvious throughout this entire process.

    ~Kyle Tomlinson, State Farm Agent, Bel Air MD

    My company has been using DRC Consulting Services (Dan Cole) for 4 years.

    My company size is such that we do not need a full-time Human Resources position but do require an experienced and professional person part-time. Dan fills that need perfectly for us. He helps us in hiring, terminations, payroll and insurance needs. He has the knowledge and experience to quickly boil down complicated issues that allow my management team and me to make timely and well-informed decisions. Without hesitation, I recommend DRC Consulting to any business with needs similar to mine.

    ~Bob Ward, President, Bob Ward New Homes (Harford County MD)

    The Maryland Horse Breeders Association worked with DRC Consulting to review and update our policy manual. Dan has been very responsive to any questions that may arise about this complicated component of business today.

    ~Cricket Goodall – Executive Director, MHBA (Baltimore County MD)

    Expert on State of Maryland unemployment hearing review and representation for the employer . Expert on internal investigation relating to misconduct in the workforce. Highly experienced with creation of employer's employment manual and employment policy.

    ~Michael J. Klein Vice President and Partner Klein's ShopRite of MD LinkedIn Recommendation

    “Dan Cole was so helpful with my business that it was like having my own HR Department on staff. He was able to review all my employee documents, and make sure that I was up to date with all Federal and State regulations. He is very accessible, and answers question quickly and thoroughly. Dan was able to put my worries at ease and allow me to concentrate on my business”.

    ~Steve Strauss, President, Sign Central, Inc. (Anne Arundel County, MD)

    We started using DRC Consulting Services because we do not have a formal HR department, and we needed help putting our new company policies together. Dan Cole took the time to meet with us at our office to go over current policies and procedures, and talk about what we wanted to change. Dan also reviewed our new hire process, and helped us organize our paperwork to be compliant with State and Federal regulations. The result from working with DRC is that we now have a smooth running office, with up to date policies and procedures that ensure that our company, as well as our employees are protected. We found Dan to be very knowledgeable, and would highly recommend using DRC for your Human Resource needs.

    ~Kristan Barnard – Office/Marketing Manager, Lynch Construction, Inc. (Harford County MD)

    I opened a new veterinary practice in 2016 and wanted to make the hiring/staffing/personnel management process go as smoothly as possible. I also wanted my hospital to be eligible for accreditation by the American Animal Hospital Association right from the start. I needed help creating an employee handbook and establishing policies/procedure manuals as well. I reached out to DRC Consulting after an internet search and spoke with Dan. He had many years of experience in Human Resources and was willing to meet with me right away. He discussed with me what my needs were and helped me to prioritize. The cost of his services were very reasonable and he was very thorough. He provided me with the physical materials as well as a digital copy of all of the documentation. He has been available for ongoing support and is very responsive. I would highly recommend DRC Consulting to any small business in need of human resources support.

    ~ Trevor W. Ashley, DVM; Owner; Lake Shore Pet Hospital; Pasadena, MD

    Certifications