Move Your Company Forward With a Strong Employee Development Strategy

Move Your Company Forward With a Strong Employee Development Strategy

Is your employee training program strong or half-hearted? If the latter is true, that could be as bad as having no program at all, if not worse. A well-developed training program for your employees is integral to your company’s success. If you’re not focusing on training, you may want to rethink your priorities.

When you view employee training as essential, it becomes easier to devote the time and resources necessary to make the effort worthwhile. When employees see that you want to make them more valuable to the company, and that they’re worth investing in, they generally become more engaged, motivated and committed to organizational success.

They’re also more likely to anticipate eventual promotions and financial rewards for their newly acquired skills and the ability to assume greater responsibility. The alternative to a robust training strategy is almost always bringing in new talent from the outside to meet the need for more skilled labor — a costly proposition.

Review Goals

Building a training strategy begins with a review of your organization’s intermediate and long-term goals. You might be starting with financial targets, but achieving them will require accomplishing some other underlying objectives. Examples could include improving customer satisfaction, lengthening product life, increasing labor productivity, expanding your product line, winning more patents, diversifying your customer base and so on.

With those goals clearly articulated, you’ll need to focus on the “human capital” implications by answering questions such as:

• • What kinds of employees will we need — right away, and over longer periods of time — to achieve those goals?

 

• • What skills gaps do we have today that are impeding our progress?

 

• • Which employees and departments should be our top training priority? Where are the gaps the greatest?

 

• What are the best methods of building the expertise and skills we need?

Present and future required capabilities will probably run the gamut, from very narrow technical proficiencies to harder-to-measure qualities like creativity, problem-solving and leadership. It’s important to distinguish between current and future needs, and to establish a timetable for satisfying them.

In addition, you’ll need to identify particular employees who show the greatest potential for development in the areas of need. Sit down with these highly valued employees and ask them about their own ambitions and development needs as they perceive them. You might address their points with a formal training program, a mentorship program or a combination of the two.

Query Employees

Ideally, these discussion topics would be incorporated into routine performance review conversations. Even so, having a fresh and more detailed review of development needs — particularly for high-potential employees — can be productive. Basic questions include:

• • Do you feel fully equipped to do the job we expect you to do?

 

• • If not, what training do you need?

 

• • Where would you like to see yourself with this company in three years? Five years? Ten?

 

• • What skills do you believe you’ll need to achieve those career goals?

 

• How much of your time after hours are you willing to devote to such training?

One approach is to work with the employee to create an individual development plan. Just be sure to manage expectations to avoid any implication that completing the plan is a guarantee of a particular job or status in the future. Similarly, incorporate performance metrics so that employee and supervisor are on the same page about what needs to be achieved.

Identify Gaps

To ensure that your training strategy is implemented comprehensively and systematically, create a “training matrix.” This is a spreadsheet listing all employees covered by the program on a vertical axis, and development steps and training modules on the horizontal axis. Target completion dates should be included for each training unit. As the matrix is routinely updated, you’ll have a snapshot view of progress.

The training matrix may reveal that internal resources are inadequate to meet the needs you have identified. Some employees you had high hopes for might prove disappointing, or leave. But it’s better to know that early on.

Employees who get used to the idea that they’ll need to update and build their skills as a routine job requirement might be the most flexible and have the greatest growth potential. For this reason, it makes sense to incorporate some form of training into your employee onboarding program. Even the most promising new employees are bound to lack some knowledge or skills that will make them 100% productive right off the bat.

Finally, just as you should talk to employees to get their perspective on their training needs, don’t neglect to get their feedback on the training programs in which they participate. People have different learning styles, and you can generally find training modules and methods that accommodate these variations.

There’s always room for improvement, and employees will appreciate the respect that’s indicated when you ask for their opinions.

(Source: Thompson Reuters)

How to Reduce Your Workforce Without Committing Age Discrimination

How to Reduce Your Workforce Without Committing Age Discrimination

As employers generally know, employees age 40 and over represent one of the “protected classes,” given special priority in employment discrimination cases. You are no doubt aware of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, not to mention state and local laws that are sometimes even tougher than federal.

You also need to be mindful of these two laws:

• The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA), and

• The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

If your company is being scrutinized for possible age discrimination, a key area of focus — apart from whether the discrimination was intentional — is if it had a “disparate impact.” Disparate impact is when an action, such as a layoff of multiple employees, adversely affects one protected class more than others.

Sub-Groups

A U.S. Court of Appeals recently held that in looking for age-based employment discrimination, employers view actions in terms of the possible disparate impact on precise categories of protected classes. In other words, they shouldn’t just lump together all affected employees who are over age 40, but should instead look at the effect on those over 40, over 50, and over 60.

When the data was analyzed in that way, it was clear that most of the impact was felt among the older groups. In the spirit of “look before you leap,” here are important steps to take to minimize your exposure to an age discrimination lawsuit. The first is to determine the principles that you will be guided by in deciding who will be laid off.

Operational Rationale

The principles should be logical in the context of your operating requirements. For example, you may have originally hired an employee because he had particular skills your company needed. Now, years later, changes in your operations have made those skills irrelevant. Eliminating his position would certainly appear to be a reasonable, non-discriminatory criterion.

When you must lay off a group of employees who all possess the same level of skills, it’s generally acceptable to retain those with the most tenure or the best performance ratings. By doing so, even if the net result was a disproportionate negative impact on workers in the 40+ age category, you’ll be on a much stronger legal footing to beat back a discrimination claim.

The OWBPA law was enacted in 1990 to, among other things, address a perceived abuse by some employers. The perception was that older workers were pressured into accepting severance payments in exchange for forfeiting their right to subsequently sue the former employer for discrimination. The law doesn’t ban employers from offering such deals, but sets standards around the practice.

No Pressure Tactics

Specifically, the OWBPA requires that:

• Employees must be given 21 days do decide whether to accept such an offer when it is given to them individually, and 45 days if given to them as a group,

• Employees must be given seven days to back out of such an agreement,

• Something of value must be offered to employees in exchange for their acceptance of the agreement, and

• When the deal is offered to a group of employees, the agreement must spell out the criteria for establishing the group of employees given this offer, and include their ages.

The other federal law to give special attention to before downsizing is the WARN Act, which isn’t specifically aimed at addressing layoffs of older workers. It’s a more general law that governs notification requirements for companies with at least 100 full-time employees that are planning to conduct a large reduction in force (RIF).

The WARN Act requires covered employers to give employees a 60-day heads-up of a planned layoff. Employees to be laid off must be told whether the layoff is to be permanent or temporary. If temporary, they must be told the expected duration of the layoff and the process by which employees will be selected for rehire.

Exempted Employers

In some circumstances, layoff notification is not required. Examples include when fewer than 50 employees at a particular work location are to be affected, when employees were brought on board originally with the understanding that they were being hired for a project with a known end date, and if a site is closed down due to a labor strike.

Even if you aren’t covered by the WARN Act, if you’re planning a layoff (which includes older workers), you can reduce your chances of landing an age discrimination charge with some extra care. Give the employees advance warning of the layoff and explain to them why the force reduction must occur. Offering severance benefits and support in finding alternative employment — not necessarily in exchange for a waiver of your right to sue — can also defuse the situation.

Finally, once the soon-to-depart employees have been notified, it’s usually a good idea (depending partly on the size of the reduction) to inform the rest of the workforce about what’s happening. This shuts down the rumor mill, and indicates that there’s nothing about the action that needs to be hidden.

Given the high stakes involved, if you’re anticipating the need to carry out a reduction in your workforce for the first time, it can be helpful to get advice from an HR expert before you pull the trigger.

(Source: Thompson Reuters)

With ‘Repeal and Replace’ Gone for Now, Familiar Questions Remain

With ‘Repeal and Replace’ Gone for Now, Familiar Questions Remain

As the dust continues to settle on the failed repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the surrounding health care benefits landscape remains largely unchanged. Employers face a variety of familiar questions regarding compliance and are still wondering whether rumors of bipartisan cooperation on a solution will ever come to pass.

Contemplating Compromise

Health care reform discussions in Washington immediately following the March 24 demise of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) haven’t been very specific. “I think it’s time for our people to come together … and potentially get a few moderate Democrats on board,” said Reince Priebus, President Trump’s Chief of Staff, March 26 on Fox News Sunday. He added: “This president is not going to be a partisan president.”

A March 26 review of the political landscape by the New York Times stated that Priebus’ comments “gave some in Congress hope that a bipartisan approach could be found, possibly to alleviate some of the health law’s burdens on small business, repeal some of its more unpopular taxes [possibly the “Cadillac tax” — see below], [and] give employers more leeway on which employees they have to offer insurance to.”

That prospect might cheer the National Federation of Independent Business, which characterized the collapse of the AHCA as “extremely disappointing.” In a March 24 statement, the organization declared: “Small businesses have struggled for seven years under [the ACA’s] taxes and mandates, and now that struggle will continue for the foreseeable future.”

Considering the Alternatives

Meanwhile, much of the focus in Washington has been the impact of the ACA and its replacement (or revision) on people not covered by employer plans. A high priority of those seeking to achieve a bipartisan compromise is the availability of tax-subsidized health insurance bought by individuals through Health Insurance Marketplaces.

But a pending lawsuit initiated by ACA foes in the House of Representatives is challenging the constitutionality of the tax subsidies paid to those people. If that challenge succeeds, a fundamental component of the ACA will be eliminated. In addition, large insurance carriers have recently been pulling out of markets determined to be unprofitable, leaving some communities with no ACA-compliant plans. Carriers will soon be making decisions about their 2018 plans.

Ideas with bipartisan potential for stemming the exodus of carriers in some markets include increasing the limit on premiums that insurers can charge older people in proportion to what they charge younger people. Another is tightening up the “grace periods” currently granted to people who attempt to buy individual coverage after the end of the enrollment period. These periods have enabled some people to seek coverage only after learning of a medical condition that will require costly treatment.

Yet another possibility is beefing up adjustments made for insurance carriers laden with “high risk pool” customers. Under the ACA’s existing “risk adjustment” program, federal payments to insurance carriers can be reallocated to help those with a higher proportion of unhealthy policyholders. It’s unclear whether this idea would have bipartisan support.

There are, of course, some ideas that probably won’t have support from both sides of the aisle. For example, the penalties for individuals who don’t buy insurance could be increased so that buying coverage is more attractive than paying the penalties. This could convince younger people to participate in greater numbers, which would help lower costs as more healthy people join the risk pool for insurers.

Impact on Employers

Any reform measures that would preserve opportunities for individuals to buy an affordable individual or family health policy in the absence of employer coverage could, in theory, influence the thinking of applicable large employers contemplating incurring ACA-mandated penalties in lieu of offering health benefits. Knowing that employees would have access to some affordable alternatives could, for some employers, tip the scales toward dropping coverage.

Yet the fact that few employers have dropped coverage previously — when in some locales more health plans were available on Health Insurance Marketplaces — suggests that the new political dynamics in Washington won’t have a big impact on their thinking.

Bracing for the Cadillac Tax

Rather than looking at dropping health care coverage, many employers today are focused on the implications of the Cadillac tax. This provision of the ACA is still looming ominously on the horizon for many employers. It imposes a 40% surcharge on the value of health benefits exceeding certain thresholds beginning in 2020. (The projected thresholds will be around $10,800 for single coverage and $29,050 for family coverage, according to the Tax Policy Center.)

Higher cutoffs would apply to plans expected to incur higher costs because of demographic factors such as employee age and gender. Also, higher thresholds would apply to plans in which most employees have hazardous jobs (for example, construction and law enforcement).

The Cadillac tax originally would have taken effect next year, but it was pushed back to 2020 by Congress in 2015. The provision has been widely criticized by employer lobbying groups such as the ERISA Industry Committee and the American Benefits Council, who helped push through the law’s postponement.

Not only has President Trump spoken out against the Cadillac tax, but the Democratic Party’s platform opposed it during the presidential election. The provision has also been opposed by labor unions, whose members have generally enjoyed higher value health benefit coverage since before the ACA’s enactment in 2010.

On the eve of the Cadillac tax’s original effective date, a study by risk management advisors Willis Towers Watson projected that 48% of employers could have been subject to the tax if it had kicked in next year. That percentage would have jumped to 82% by 2023, per the study. (The tax would be calculated and paid by the entity that administers the health plan, whether a health insurer or a third-party administrator on behalf of a self-insured plan.)

Riding the Rollercoaster

It’s been a bumpy ride for every employer riding the health care reform rollercoaster. Despite all the twists and turns, remain focused on your rationale for offering health care coverage in the first place, and do what you can to maximize its strategic benefits for your organization. Above all, keep in close touch with your benefits advisors to stay informed about the latest proposals and changes. 

(Source: Thompson Reuters)

Attracting Attention

Attracting Attention

It is hard to argue that Mickey Mouse is the king of Orlando. It can even be argued that Mickey Mouse is the most powerful figure in all of the world. Donald Trump might be a billionaire and president of the United States, but he doesn’t own the rights to both Star Wars and Marvel. In Orlando, it is hard to go anywhere without seeing something Disney. From billboards to gift shops, Mickey Mouse will be there, staring at you with those big cartoon eyes and large round ears. It’s not surprising really when you own some of the biggest entertainment brands in the world and have a legendary castle in your park, you tend to attract people’s attention. How do you even begin to compete with Disney? Simply put you don’t, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to get some of those customers.

There are a lot of people that venture to Orlando each year, mainly thanks to Disney. There are other attractions as well, like Universal Studios. People don’t just venture to a city for one single attraction though. They want to see what all the city has to offer, and that is your chance to shine.

Not just from tourists, though, there is plenty of local business to attract too, giving you more than one market to worry about. The local market is a great way to create a firm foundation for yourself. Build your business into something people want to regularly visit. It will give you solid ground to stand on, and build upwards. A home with the right foundation will last for years, while one with no foundation can come tumbling down.

Once you have that local business coming in, you can put some attention on getting the attention of the tourist. One of the easiest ways to do this is to grab a good location. The closer to the tourist areas you can get, the better the business. Disney and Universal are two big areas, along with downtown Orlando around Wall St. Another good location is anywhere you can find multiple hotels. Some people like to stay close to where they lay their heads down. Being close to the hotels gives them easy access to food and easy business for you. It also helps build on that solid ground we talked about. Hotels always have business in Orlando, more so during certain seasons and events. As long as they are getting business, you will be getting some as well.

What happens after you get that perfect spot to grow your business? You need to start focusing on getting people’s attention, which is easier when you have less to focus on inside the company. Making sure you have the employees to handle the inner workings of the company, and take advantage of outsourcing responsibilities such as Payroll and Human Resource management will give a big boost to your own productivity. Using an Orlando and Sanford Payroll Company like Vision H.R. helps get your payroll department organized and on track without any extra work on your end. We don’t give you the steps to success, we just clear them off so you have plenty of room to climb. So contact us today at (877) 641-0012 to get a free quote and get started today.

Sanford Payroll Company

Vision H.R. | The Human Resource Experts

Outsource or In House?

Outsource or In House?

It’s good to be king, isn’t it? Running your own company, making all the big choices, and reaping the rewards of them, it’s all a dream come true. Well, at least it would be if not for the fact the rewards come with responsibilities as well. You may be the big boss of the company, but that doesn’t make you are the most important or most powerful part of it. Unless you are running a one man show, your employees are the most important part of the company. In a way, they are even more important than the customers. Well it’s true that customers are where the money to run the company comes from, it is the employees who make the product or service available to the customers.

It’s also the right amount of employees that keep a company going smoothly. If you hire too few employees, you may not have enough productivity to keep up with customer demand. Hire too many employees, and you may have too much productivity and not enough sales to keep up with wages. You also have to balance the amount you pay your employees so you don’t lose money while also paying them their worth. It is a lot to balance when you are running a company. When you want to feel accomplished though, you have to go through some trials.

Luckily you don’t have to figure all of these numbers out yourself. That could take too much time away from performing the other responsibilities of being a business owner. Better yet, you don’t even have the handle the source of these numbers yourself. Instead, you can hire someone in house to help you, or outsource the responsibilities to a payroll company like Vision H.R. Which is the better method of handling responsibilities such as payroll and human resource management? Let’s break the two down and take a closer look at them.

In House: The great part about having someone in-house is that they are right there when you need them. If you have a question about the payroll, you can just take a quick walk and there they are. At least, they are right there except when they are not. What we mean by that is since an in-house person is an employee, they are owed days off, lunch breaks, holidays, sick days, etc and so on. Any questions you had for them will just have to wait. On top of that, payroll is not always a constant job. For a smaller company it could be something handled mainly at the end of the week, and periodically in the middle of the week. So you need to find someone who can do dual roles, which will take their full focus off of things like payroll and human resource management, or just have them come in for less days.

There is also the rarity of the proper training for payroll and human resource management. If you put out an ad for either, you will have a smaller bucket to choose from than a general labor position. You can always train someone to fulfill the roles, but that is more time and money being spent. Not to mention that learning usually involves trial and error. While trial and error is fine with a hobby, it can cost you when it’s done with payroll.

Outsourcing: When you outsource either your payroll department, human resource department, or both, you don’t get someone just down the hall to talk to like with in-house. You do, however, get someone you can contact at any time with questions about payroll and human resource management. You also don’t have the issue of time off, or when to have them work. When you outsource payroll and H.R. you get a team working for you instead of an individual. This way, even if half the team is on vacation, your payroll is still being covered by the other half. As long as you don’t try and get payroll advice in the middle of a hurricane, someone should be there to help you out during business hours. Even if you don’t contact them for help, you will still get regular reports on your payroll. Having a company like Vision H.R. handle these responsibilities also comes with the bonus of options. They can connect you to insurance providers to create employee bonuses.

The rarity issue is also removed since you are not hiring anyone for the job. The company you are hiring has already handled that part. You just have to reap the benefits of having them handle the payroll for your company. You also don’t have to worry about that employee’s performance, or replacing them if they leave. You can’t just payroll go empty because the person quit, or you might find a lot more people starting to quit as well.

Do It Yourself: There is the third option of course, of doing it yourself. Technically this would count as in-house, but without hiring someone to do it for you. For a new company doing your own payroll may be the easiest answer. You don’t have to worry about that many employees and their paychecks. Benefits and things of that nature usually don’t start until later anyways. The problem with doing it yourself, however, is not right now, it’s tomorrow. As your company grows, you will have more responsibilities and possibly more employees. When tax time comes, you will have to handle all parts of that, including the employee’s taxes and your own taxes. You will need a way to stay current with changes in payroll and taxes as well. Can you handle growing your company and keeping it’s employee’s paid on time?

The success of any company is looking at what tomorrow might bring. Ty Beanie Babies was an unstoppable force in the 90s, but as soon as their beanie babies lost their trend status it went downhill fast. People who invested thousands into them ended up with barely any of that worth left. Is that going to happen to your company? If you don’t stay on top of the ever-shifting market it just might. So don’t spread your attention too wide by taking on too many responsibilities. Let someone else handle departments like payroll and human resource management. Apple explores new features and upgrades for their iPhones and iPads constantly. They have been one of the top mobile suppliers since the iPhone came out in 2007 and don’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. They couldn’t do that if they were too busy focusing on internal departments instead of inventing the next big product.

Which is Best for You?: We have explained why doing it yourself is not a great idea, but what about in-house vs outsourcing? Both have their strong points, but which is really the best choice in the long run? Like we said with doing it yourself, your company is going to grow. Is the person running your payroll now going to be capable of keeping up with it all, or will you have to hire more people? What if you branch out with new store locations? There are a lot of questions to consider. This is why outsourcing is such a popular trend in the business world. You can grow your company without worrying about payroll being taken care of. If your company grows significantly, the outsource company can handle it. They can also handle multiple store locations instead of having different employees at each location perform the duties required. They adapt to your needs as the company grows and can be seen as a part of the team instead of an outside company.

So if you are ready to try outsourcing your payroll and human resource management, contact Vision H.R. today and get a free quote!

Ormand Beach Payroll Company

Vision H.R. | The Human Resource Experts

Orlando: A City of Opportunity

Orlando: A City of Opportunity

Orlando is a city of opportunity, and you have to take advantage of that opportunity if you want to survive in it. Even just driving in Orlando you have to seize the moment if you want to get ahead in the traffic. The business world is no exception. Orlando is a large area, and it is filled with businesses. Some of them are your basic places you can find anywhere while others are unique locations you won’t find anywhere else. Place these in a city that has both Disney and Universal Studios in it and you have an area where a business can really prosper. The issue you might face though is there are so many different places trying to cash in on the tourism. You have to find a way to stick out if you want to bring in the money. Otherwise, you could just blend into all the other businesses or even be left behind. So you really need to be on top of things.

To keep your business relevant and on top of the tourism craze, you really need to focus on what you are doing. The key to a strong focus is to minimize distractions. If you don’t have to worry about something, don’t worry about it. If you can let someone else worry about something, let them worry about it. Departments like payroll and human resource management can be easily outsourced to an Orlando payroll company. Let them worry about the outsourcing aspect of your company so you can worry about how to connect people with your business.

It can take a little extra effort to do that in Orlando because so many people come from out of town. Word of mouth is a great way to get business locally, but it won’t do much when the potential customer just arrived in Orlando yesterday. You have to get creative, and you can’t do that if you are chained to a desk trying to make sure every part of your company is working properly. Even if you have a marketing department working for you, you still have to be on top of what they are doing, approving their ideas and supplying them with a budget. When you outsource your payroll department to an Orlando Payroll Company, you get to take that responsibility off your plate, while still getting to keep track of the numbers. You can see how much you are spending on payroll, and factor it into the overall budget so you can see how much money you can put into marketing and promotion.

What if you do your marketing right and your company continues to grow? You need to be able to grow with it. It does no good to have more customers coming through the door if you can’t keep up with them. You will gain customers then see them disappear right afterward. By outsourcing your payroll and human resource responsibilities to another company you don’t have to worry about expanding them, they will expand with you. Some companies like Vision H.R. will even help you with hiring new employees, so you have that much more time to focus on other aspects of the business. After all, success is a team effort, and that doesn’t mean just one team. When multiple teams are able to work together, incredible things can happen.

So if you are ready to dominate the Orlando market, Vision H.R. is ready to take the charge with you. Contact us about outsourcing your payroll and human resource management. We will work with you, give you a free quote, and set up a system that works best for your company, with room to expand as you continue to grow. Because as a outsource company, we only truly succeed when our clients succeed, so team up with Vision H.R. today. We are ready to be your Orlando Payroll Company.

Orlando Payroll Company

Vision H.R. | The Human Resource Experts

Certainty in an Uncertain World

Certainty in an Uncertain World

A wise turtle once said that “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the “present”. That is a very true saying in many ways. The trends of tomorrow can be hard to predict. When a mother put on a Chewbacca mask, she never imagined she would become the queen of the Internet for a couple of weeks. When a girl said the groundbreaking “Cash me outside how bow dah” and became an internet sensation, no one saw it coming. Really a lot of people still don’t understand how it happened. Which really brings us back to the point we were wanting to make. There is no real certainty in what tomorrow will bring. So if you can find any ounce of certainty, you should enjoy it.

Of course, if “how bow dah” can reach legendary status, anything can happen. That small company you started with a unique premise could be going nowhere one day and have lines out the door the next. Sometimes all it takes is that one Facebook post to throw you into the fast lane. Even a negative publicity can do wonders for your profit margin. Youtube is filled with people giving film reviews, and even their bad reviews draw attention to these otherwise overlooked films. Not to say all publicity is good either. One dirty secret leaked, even if it’s a completely fabricated one, and your company could quickly be on a downward spiral.

So what does this have to do with a payroll outsourcing company? Mainly it is the idea of certainty in an uncertain world. The only way to be truly prepared is to be ready for anything. Rather that means a sudden surge in business or a sudden decline you have to be prepared for it. The key to being prepared is to be attentive. You have to watch and see where things are going in the world. You have to match your product to an audience, and that audience may not be developed yet. So you will have to develop your product or services as your target audience develops.

When trends are constantly shifting though you really have to stay focused and keep your eyes on the prize. You don’t want to fall behind because it takes that much more effort to get back into the flow. You might have to delegate some tasks to other people or to other companies even. Passing departments like Payroll Management and Human Resource Management onto an outsourced company will ease a lot of the stress off. A payroll company doesn’t have to worry about memes and trends in the mainstream media because their job isn’t related to that. Instead, they stay on top of payroll trends so your payroll department stays on top of everything.

In a way, it is a two-way road for certainty. Because an outsource company doesn’t have to worry about what trends to follow you know they will be focusing on your payroll. Because you are focusing on keeping your business growing they are certain you will continue needing their services. So while you are uncertain why Brad’s wife got fired from Cracker Barrel, you can be certain that your payroll is in good hands at all times when you outsource with Vision H.R.

Ormond Beach Payroll Services

Vision H.R. | The Human Resource Experts

Train Employees to Avoid Cybercrime

Employers: You Are Now Required to Use the New Form I-9

Employers: You Are Now Required to Use the New Form I-9

Employers must now use the new version of Form I-9, “Employment Eligibility Verification.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued the new version on November 14, 2016. Employers had until January 22, 2017, to begin using the new version of Form I-9. Through January 21, 2017, employers could still use the version of Form I-9 dated March 8, 2013. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Form I-9 requirements were established in November of 1986 when Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

The instructions have been separated from the November 14, 2016 form, in line with other USCIS forms, and include specific instructions for completing each field. Other changes to the form include: 

• The addition of prompts to ensure information is entered correctly, 
• The ability to enter multiple preparers and translators,
  
• A dedicated area for including additional information rather than having to add it in the margins, and 
• A supplemental page for the preparer/translator.

USCIS says that the new version of Form I-9 is easier to complete on a computer. Enhancements include drop-down lists and calendars for filling in dates, on-screen instructions for each field, easy access to the full instructions, and an option to clear the form and start over. When the employer prints the completed form, a quick response (QR) code is automatically generated, which can be read by most QR readers.

The expiration date for the new version of Form I-9 is August 31, 2019.

(Source: Bisection)

Separation Agreements May Provide Peace of Mind

Having an employee sign a separation agreement upon ending the employment relationship amounts to a form of insurance that he or she will not later take legal action against your company, based on the termination. Whether a separation was friendly (for example, due only to a reorganization or downsizing), or unfriendly, an agreement could prove worthwhile.

Suppose your company downsized. After a few weeks of unemployment, even an ex-employee who seemed understanding during the termination process may conjure up reasons why a court may see the downsizing as unjust. There’s a raft of possible claims ex-employees could make if the goal is just to get you to settle instead of paying the costs to fight the case.

Employees aren’t obliged to sign such agreements, but can be motivated to do so by, for example, a lump-sum payout or agreement to pay the employer share of the person’s health care benefits for a fixed period of time.

Bases for Litigation

Here’s a partial list of claims for which an ex-employee might decide to sue your company, even if from your perspective, the claims lack merit:

• Discrimination. In addition to the familiar discrimination categories banned by the U.S. Civil Rights Act (age, sex, race, color, national origin, religion, pregnancy, disability and veteran status), several states have added categories such as marital status, arrest record and sexual orientation.
• Breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Proving this would be a steep uphill climb in most jurisdictions, but a former employee might get it to stick.
• Termination in violation of public policy. Although unusual, cases have been brought in which employees claim they were fired for doing things that created problems for the employer, but nevertheless were consistent with their states’ policies with regard to that issue. Examples might include preventing environmental damage and even cruelty to animals.
• Breach of contract. This is only applicable if the employee had an employment contract to begin with that didn’t clearly address all termination scenarios.

 

The most fundamental provision of a separation agreement requires the employee to release you from any future legal claims. Another key component is an antidisparagement clause, prohibiting the employee from bad-mouthing you publicly. This should be reciprocal, however, barring you from doing the same, to balance it out.

Agreement Provisions

The agreement should also require that:

• Confidentiality is maintained with respect to the agreement, except when the communication is with the employee’s spouse, accountant or attorney,
• Company-owned property in the possession of the employee is returned,
• The employer won’t attempt to block the departing employee from seeking unemployment compensation,
• The employee will be paid for any as yet unpaid, accrued compensation, such as bonuses or commissions, net of any employee debts to you such as having taken excessive vacation days, and
• The employee receives a description of the compensation you’re offering him or her (if any), as an inducement to sign the agreement.

 

Another provision to consider is one stating that the employee cannot be rehired. On one hand, you might prefer to keep your options open by not including such a provision — particularly if the individual was a good worker. On the other hand, this provision makes it crystal clear that the termination is final, and that there can be no hint that you have implied any promises to the contrary.

As noted earlier, employees are under no obligation to sign these agreements, nor is your company obligated to offer similar agreements to other employees.

What’s It Worth?

An employee might refuse to sign an agreement, even when a financial reward for doing so is on the table. In that case, you’ll just need to decide whether to raise your offer or drop it altogether. One way to encourage a swift resolution of the matter is to put a time limit on your offer, so the employee cannot allow the process to drag out.

However, if the employee is at least 40 years old, be aware that the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act requires your company to give him or her time to decide on a course of action. That is, you must allow at least 21 days to sign or not sign, and then another seven days to rescind a decision to accept the agreement.

An employee’s reluctance to sign a separation agreement could be an indication that he or she is mulling the possibility of pursuing a legal claim. Still, if you’re confident there’s no possible valid claim, you may not want to succumb to what could be a veiled threat.

Simplicity Is Best

It’s advisable to keep agreements as short as possible. For example, if you incorporate other provisions such as prohibiting the employee from going to work for a competitor, that could create issues because non-compete agreements are generally hard to enforce. In California, non-competes are banned altogether.

For the same reason, be sure to have a labor attorney review a prospective agreement for enforceability before presenting it to a departing employee. Keep in mind that, though you can find fill-in-the-blank separation agreements online, they might not be fully enforceable in your state. State requirements vary and are sometimes stricter than federal requirements.

(Source: Bisection)