Senior HR Consultant — Multi-State + California Handbook and Policy Audit & Rebuild

We’re a growing, multi-location tax & accounting firm headquartered in Basalt, Colorado. We need an experienced HR consultant to audit our inherited employee handbook, tell us what we don’t know we’re missing, and rebuild it for the states we actually operate in today — with California in the mix. The backstory: our current handbook came to us through our first acquisition. It was originally drafted by an Oregon labor attorney when the firm was Oregon-based. Since then we’ve moved our center of gravity to Colorado, expanded across multiple states, and added a tax practice that carries heavier federal compliance exposure. The handbook still carries Oregon-specific language and has essentially no California content. This is a gap analysis and modernization job — not a proofread. Our current footprint: • Colorado — 2 employees (operational center of gravity) with another starting July 6 • California — 1 new hire starting July 6 • Michigan — 1 new hire starting July 6 • Pennsylvania — 1 employee • North Carolina — 1 employee departing imminently (likely coming off the list) • One additional hire is being recruited; their state is not yet known, so the handbook needs to flex as the footprint moves. The work is scoped in two waves: Wave 1 — hard deadline Thursday, July 2 (evening). A prioritized gap-analysis memo (what’s out of date, what’s missing, what’s a live risk vs. a wording fix, and what needs licensed counsel) plus a clean “day-one packet” of the core policies our new California and Michigan hires must receive and acknowledge on July 6. Wave 2 — follow-on. The deeper state-by-state rewrite, state addenda, full Oregon cleanup, brand-voice integration, and alignment with our data-security obligations. Two things make this firm-specific: • Privacy & data security. As a tax firm we have FTC Safeguards Rule and IRS data-security obligations and an existing draft WISP/incident-response plan. We need the handbook validated against those obligations (confidentiality, acceptable use, remote-work security) and we need you to independently flag where it’s silent on what a tax/accounting firm should address. • Brand alignment. The handbook should reflect our mission, vision, and values. These exist in rough form and we’ll share them in a short intake call — expect to sharpen our voice with us, not inherit polished source material. Honesty about the consultant-vs-attorney line. We are not asking you to “certify” legal compliance, and we don’t want anyone who claims they can. We want a strong consultant who can do a real gap analysis, write compliant policy language, and clearly flag anything that needs a licensed employment attorney in a given state. We are separately retaining California counsel for the load-bearing calls; you’d draft your best version and coordinate with them on the items that carry real risk. You’re a strong fit if you have: • Hands-on experience building or rebuilding multi-state employee handbooks, including California (this is a hard requirement, not a bonus). • Working fluency in the consultant-vs-attorney line — you know what you can responsibly deliver and what you escalate. • Bonus: experience with professional-services or accounting/financial firms and their data-security obligations (GLBA / FTC Safeguards / IRS WISP). • Availability to deliver a Wave-1 product by Thursday, July 2, with an intake call in the next day or two. To apply, please answer in your proposal (generic proposals will be passed over): Q1. Describe a multi-state handbook you rebuilt that included California. What specific California provisions did you have to add or change? Q2. How do you decide what you’ll draft yourself versus what you flag for licensed counsel? Give a real example. Q3. Have you worked with firms that have data-security obligations (GLBA / FTC Safeguards / IRS WISP)? What did you do? Q4. Given an Oregon-coded inherited handbook and CA + MI hires starting in days, what would you prioritize in the first five days? Q5. Confirm you can deliver a Wave-1 product by Thursday, July 2, and that you’re available for an intake call in the next 48 hours.