HR Compliance Calendar Template
Two documents and three sheets that compute the date each headcount-triggered obligation actually attaches, not the date your raw count crosses it.
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Threshold Tracker
One number, three outcomes: what "50 employees" actually triggers
Corvid Analytics, fictional 110-person remote-first HR-data analytics company, crossed 50 employees on 3 Sep 2024.
| Obligation | Counting method | Attaches |
|---|---|---|
| FMLA employer coverage | 20-calendar-week test | 21 Jan 2025 |
| ACA Applicable Large Employer | Prior-year FTE average | 1 Jan 2026 |
| FMLA employee eligibility | 50 within 75 miles of one worksite | Never attaches |
Corvid is a covered FMLA employer company-wide, required to post the notice, while zero of its 110 employees clear the 75-mile radius test that would let anyone actually take the leave.
Most compliance calendars ask one question: does your current headcount clear a threshold. That question has an obvious answer, and it is usually the wrong one, because almost none of these obligations attach on the day the raw headcount crosses the number in their name. Title VII coverage, the ACA's employer mandate and the WARN Act's own definition each run on a different counting method, and two obligations that share the identical threshold number can attach on two different dates months apart.
Corvid Analytics, a fictional 110-person remote-first HR-data analytics company, crossed 50 employees on 3 September 2024. That single number produced three different outcomes. Its FMLA employer coverage attached 21 January 2025, once a 20-calendar-week test completed. Its Applicable Large Employer status under the ACA attached 485 days later, on 1 January 2026, once its 2025 monthly average reached 55. Its FMLA employee eligibility never attached at all, because that test runs per worksite within 75 miles, and Corvid's largest single site, its Denver office, holds only 24 people.
The same gap shows up at both ends. Corvid's headcount crossed 15 on 12 June 2023, and Title VII and ADA coverage attached 140 days later, once the 20th qualifying week completed on 30 October 2023; an audit found the gap 77 days after that. At 100 employees, EEO-1 Component 1 tests one pay period inside an employer-selected fourth quarter, not the crossing date, while the WARN Act's own definition excludes part-time staff and stays dormant until a layoff is actually planned.
What is in the pack
Threshold Tracker
One row per obligation rather than per threshold number, each with its counting method, the date the raw headcount crossed it, and the date it actually attached. The same discipline a termination decision's documentation check applies to a completely different gap.
Filing Calendar by Jurisdiction
Recurring obligations once the tracker marks them attached, grouped by federal and by each work state, including the new-hire reporting deadline the same onboarding paperwork already starts collecting.
Posting Requirements
What must be physically displayed against what electronic posting satisfies on its own for employees who do not regularly visit a workplace, two different answers a single poster list tends to blur. State-specific notices are tracked per state rather than assumed from wherever the underlying policy text happens to be current.
Obligation Notes
One entry per obligation in plain language: what it requires, the counting method behind its attach date, and the specific nuance that makes it easy to get wrong, such as two obligations sharing a threshold and using different tests. A required certification's own due date, tracked separately by an expiry tracker built for training and certification records, runs on the same logic: computed from history, not assumed from a shared calendar date.
Owner Assignment
Who tracks, who files or posts, and who to escalate to, assigned by function rather than by name so the sheet does not go stale the day a role changes hands. The same handoff discipline a leave request's interactive process documents for a single case rather than a whole calendar.
How it works
- 1
Send your headcount history by location and date
As far back as you have it, plus anyone on part-time hours. A single current snapshot cannot answer a 20-week test, a prior-year average, or a 75-mile radius test.
- 2
Get each obligation's attach date computed on its own method
Not the date your raw headcount crossed the threshold. Two obligations sharing a threshold number can land on two different dates, and the tracker states both rather than picking one.
- 3
The Filing Calendar and Posting Requirements follow from what attached
A recurring deadline or a posting duty only appears once the tracker has actually marked its underlying obligation attached, not from a static list of dates that applies to every company the same way.
- 4
Recompute whenever the roster changes
A new hire in a new state, a shift in hours near a part-time line, or a headcount drop can move an attach date. The tracker is meant to be rerun, not filed away.
Frequently asked questions
Is this template free?
Yes. Both documents and all three sheets download as real files with no signup. Edit with AI is a separate, optional path that creates a free account and installs the same pack as a private workspace.
Why doesn't crossing a threshold mean the obligation applies immediately?
Because almost none of these rules test the current headcount directly. Most test something computed from history: 20 calendar weeks at or above the count, a full prior calendar year's average, or a fixed quarterly snapshot. Corvid crossed 50 employees on 3 September 2024, and its ACA employer-mandate status did not attach until 1 January 2026, 485 days later.
How can a company be a covered FMLA employer with zero eligible employees?
FMLA runs two separate tests. Employer coverage uses a company-wide 20-calendar-week headcount test; employee eligibility requires 50 or more of the same employer's people within 75 miles of that specific employee's own worksite. A distributed company can clear the first everywhere and the second nowhere, which is Corvid's exact situation.
Does posting a notice on our intranet satisfy a physical posting requirement?
It depends on the specific notice. The EEOC's own guidance on its required workplace poster says electronic posting normally supplements a physical posting, but for employees who do not regularly visit a physical workplace, it can be the only posting required. The Posting Requirements sheet answers this per notice rather than assuming one rule covers all of them.
What happens when two obligations share the same threshold number?
They get two separate rows. At 20 employees, ADEA coverage uses the same 20-calendar-week test as Title VII, and it attached for Corvid on 26 August 2024. COBRA instead tests the percentage of business days at 20 or more across the prior calendar year, and it did not attach until 1 January 2025, a 128-day gap between the two.
What format are the downloaded files, and can they be recomputed later?
Two Word documents and three CSV sheets in one zip. The documents open in Word, Pages and Google Docs, the sheets in Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets. Edit with AI installs the same pack as a private Space, and the tracker recomputes cleanly against an updated headcount export.
Find out when your obligations actually attach
Send your headcount history by location and date. What comes back is a threshold tracker with the specific date each obligation attaches under its own counting method, not the date your raw count crossed the number in its name.
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