by Kellie Shumaker, PHR

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received a record 99,947 charges of employment discrimination in 2011. An astounding $455.6 million in relief was obtained through litigation of these claims last year.

Amazingly, the commission states it resolved more charges than it took in through 2011, with 112,499 resolutions (7,500 more resolutions than FY 2010.)This leaves 78,136 pending charges, a 10 percent decrease in its inventory. Two thousand eleven is the first year the agency has seen a reduction since 2002.

Data also shows the mediation program reached record levels, both in the number of resolutions with 9,831and benefits with $170,053,021.

The EEOC filed 300 lawsuits last year, twenty-three of the lawsuits filed involved systemic allegations involving large numbers of people and an additional 67 had multiple victims (less than 20.)

Once again, charges alleging retaliation under all the statutes the EEOC enforces were the most numerous at 37,334 charges received, or 37.4 percent of all charges, closely followed by charges involving claims of race discrimination at 35,395 charges or 35.4 percent.

Kreider Farms Loses One Third of Workforce As a Result of I-9 Audit

In the last few years, the United States government has significantly increased the number of auditors it employs to ensure organizations are hiring legally documented individuals. The work-site audits examine the I-9 employment-eligibility forms that an employer has on file. Those forms must be completed by every U.S. employee.

As of November, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had conducted 2,496 I-9 audits in 2011, a dramatic increase from 2008, when only 503 audits were completed. With increases like this, every employer needs to ensure they are completing the I-9 forms correctly, getting regular I-9 audits and hiring legally documented workers. Only fulfilling one of these steps can cost companies tremendously.

Last week, one third of the employees at Kreider Farms were determined by an ICE audit to be illegally working in this country, some for many years. A Human Resource Representative from the organization said that Kreider Farms is not facing any fines or charges, despite the large number of workers found to have invalid documents. She stated she takes care to follow “the letter of the law” with employee documentation, and she said the audit found her records were very complete — the problem was with the documents she’d been given. Employers are not expected to be experts on government documents, so Kreider Farms was not at fault. That being said, the company is still paying the price. How can a company successfully go on doing business with only 2/3 of their workforce?

During recent audit of Abercrombie & Fitch, there wasn’t a single unauthorized worker. However, ICE fined the employer $1 million for what essentially were paperwork I-9 violations. Even employers who are hiring legally documented workers, can pay the price for simple paperwork mistakes or lack of training to complete the I-9 form properly.

In addition to the number of ICE Enforcement Auditors and audits, another change in our government has been the increased cooperation among ICE and other government enforcement agencies. ICE recently established a joint agency task force to gather information from multiple government sources and to target joint enforcement efforts.

Fusion centers have been established to facilitate cooperation among government agencies, commented Mary Pivec, an attorney with Keller and Heckman in Washington, D.C. Wage and hour investigators, ICE auditors and tax auditors all are in one place to share resources, leverage information and pursue top-to-bottom audits. An employer not following one guideline tends to have violations that crisscross the workforce enforcement realm, so the government thinks it makes good sense to maximize resources and have agents from different departments investigate together. What starts out as a wage and hour audit may become an ICE audit, as investigators have been cross-trained to recognize what might be violations of laws other than the ones they enforce, Pivec stated.

Kellie Shumaker, PHR
http://www.alternative-hr.com/
Kellie@Alternative-HR.com
717-855-5589

Act 32

Effective January 1^st, 2012 employers in the state of Pennsylvania will be required to withhold local earned income taxes from all employees based on the employee’s location of residency. Employees will be required to complete a Residency Certification Form for the employer any time they are newly hired or have a change of name and/ or address. Employers must register their business with the tax collection district, retain the Residency Certification Form for each employee, send the local tax to the tax collector’s office on a monthly or quarterly basis, and complete and submit the Annual Withholding Reconciliation Form within 30 days of the end of each calendar year.

Forms and the list of tax collection districts are available on the web at http://www.newpa.com/.

Long Term Care Insurance Program Not Workable

On October 14^th, the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) announced the section of the health care reform act which provided long term care insurance through the workplace would not be implemented. Also known as the CLASS act (Community Living Assistance Services and Supports,) the act was determined to be unfeasible due to financial challenges. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stated the act will however; advance the cause of finding affordable long term care insurance for the 15 million people who are expected to need these services by the year 2020.

NLRB Poster Requirement Change

The National Labor Relations Board revised the posting requirement for the Employee Rights Notice posting. On January 31, 2012, most private sector employers will be required to post the notice informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. The 11×17 inch poster is available on the web at https://www.nlrb.gov/poster.

Alternative HR offers low cost, flat monthly rates for unlimited phone and
email Human Resource assistance, starting at just $49 a month! A sampling of
our available packages can be viewed on our website at
http://www.alternative-hr.com/.

All accidents and incidents, no matter how minor, should be investigated. Also included should be near-miss incidents in which no damage or harm resulted. Completing an accident investigation will be beneficial in determining safety hazards, safety training that will need to be addressed to reduce the risk of more injuries, and to eliminate false claims or insurance fraud. Several steps should be followed, so companies may want to create a checklist to follow until they are familiar with the process. (This is one process we hope you do not do frequently enough to memorize!)

Step 1: Assess the severity of the injury. Is the injury life threatening or can the employee be transported by a supervisor? Would first aid suffice?

Step 2: Obtain medical treatment if necessary. If no medical attention or only first-aid is required, the employer should proceed to step three. Please note that PA has requirements regarding the use of panel physicians. Call Alternative HR if you do not have a Panel List!

Step 3: Interview injured employee and witness(es.) Questions to ask during your investigation might include:

• What was the employee doing at the time of the accident?
• Was the employee qualified to perform this operation?
• Were company procedures being followed?
• Is the job or process new?
• Were proper tools or equipment being used?
• Had the employee received training on this operation prior to the accident?
• Where did the accident take place?
• What was the physical condition of the area when the accident occurred? (For example, was the temperature of the area hot or cold; if outside, was it wet or muddy, was debris in the way, was the area clear, etc.)
• What immediate or temporary action could have prevented the accident or minimized its effect?
• What long-term or permanent action could have prevented the accident or minimized its effect?

Step 4: Observe accident scene and analyze the facts. Observe the accident scene and take photographs of the area, including objects, wet floors, equipment, etc., that may have contributed to the accident. Document any actions that you have taken to secure an unsafe worksite.

Step 5: File a workers’ compensation claim. Provide all information required by your insurance carrier, and fax statements and any other relevant supporting documentation including doctor’s notes, therapy and medical treatment statements, and return-to-work statement. Recordable work-related claims must be recorded on the OSHA 300 log. For details on how to complete an OSHA 300 log, consult Alternative HR!

Step 6: Follow up. Follow up with the employee after the accident investigation has concluded to see how the employee is doing.

Step 7: Corrective action. Corrective action should be indentified in terms of how to prevent a recurrence. If an employee violated safety rule, the employer will need to follow disciplinary policy.

Thorough investigations will not only help you identify causes of accidents, it will also help identify fraudulent claims and accident trends. Please give Alternative HR a call today if your company is in need of accident or basic safety training. We can customize a plan to meet your needs!

Pennsylvania Act 32 legislation requires county wide collection of local earned income tax (EIT).  Starting January 1, 2012 there will be ONE local earned income tax collector for each Pennsylvania county (Philadelphia is exempt under the Sterling Act and Allegheny County will have four EIT collectors) and imposes certain new responsibilities upon employers.  In summary, EVERY employer is REQUIRED to properly withhold EIT.  Initially, employers must obtain accurate residency certificates from all employees.  There are numerous other implementation issues.  With the January 1, 2012 deadline looming, employers should be taking steps now to ensure they are ready for the new EIT requirements.  In addition to obtaining residency certificates, in house payroll personnel should be directed to prepare and to consult outside accountants, payroll service providers, software vendors and other applicable parties as necessary.   Detailed information is available at Department of Community and Economic Development website.

Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) is cracking down on employers who do not completely or correctly fill out the I-9 form when hiring employees. The goal is to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the United States.  With a focus on enforcement, ICE conducted 600% more audits on employers, collected over $7 million in fines and sent 196 people to jail in 2010.

What can you do to keep your company in compliance with the I-9 requirements? Here are just a few tips…

Ensure the employee completes section one in it’s entirety, including a check mark on the box indicating why they are eligible to work in the United States.

The employer completes section 2 & 3 using one item from List A or one item from List B and List C.

The employer cannot ask for specific forms from the lists.

The employee responsible for checking identification and completing the employer section must write out in full who issued the ID, what type it is, as well as the document number/ expiration.

Employees have to provide identification within 3 days of hire.

Employers must keep the I-9 on file for minimum of 3 years or 1 year from termination, which ever date is LATER. After this date the I-9 should be shredded.

Audit I-9 files regularly, looking for accuracy, expired immigration documents, and completeness.

ICE is auditing companies in all industries, of all sizes, and judging from the growth in audits, is not expected to slow down anytime soon. With fines ranging from $110-$1000 for noncompliance per incorrect or incomplete question on the document, can you afford to pay the price of best intentions?

Contact Alternative HR today to have an audit of your I-9′s completed or to receive I-9 training and recordkeeping guidance!

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently proposed some changes to union election campaigns.

Highlights of the proposal include:

Shortening the timeframe.  Shortening the time between filing and the election creates a disadvantage for employers, because unions can prepare their entire campaign before going public with it.  Unless employers have adequate time to prepare, employees will not have the necessary information to make an informed decision regarding unionization.  The NLRB has also not shown why the current timeframe (median of 38 days) needs to be shortened.

Changes to the Statement of Position.  The proposal requires employers to disclose their entire case theory in this document. It also precludes employers from presenting evidence on any issue that the employer fails to include in the Statement of Position.  This preclusion raises due process issues for employers which would increase litigation.

Mandated Disclosure of Employee Information.  The NLRB proposes employers be required to turn over private employee information, including employee telephone numbers and e-mail addresses.  This is an invasion of privacy and an invitation to distract employees during the workday.

Deferral of Representational Disputes.  The proposed rule, under certain circumstances, defers litigation of representational disputes, such as the eligibility of voters, until after the election is held.  Comments to the NLRB are due August 22, 2011 and can be made via the Regulation.gov website.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has also issued a proposal that would expand the public disclosure rules to require that employers report virtually all services regarding labor relations and union organizing. According to the DOL website, an agreement would be reportable in any case where the consultant engages in persuader activities that go beyond the plain meaning of “advice.”

Reportable persuader activities would include those in which a consultant engages in any actions, conduct or communications on behalf of an employer that would directly or indirectly persuade workers concerning their rights to organize and bargain collectively, regardless of whether or not the consultant has direct contact with workers.

An agreement also would be reportable in any case in which a consultant engages in specific persuader actions, conduct or communications regardless of whether advice is given, such as when a consultant plans or orchestrates a campaign or program to avoid or counter a union organizing or collective bargaining effort.

Taken together, the DOL and NLRB rules will severely inhibit employer free speech and have the effect of preventing employees from hearing both sides of the unionization debate.  The comment period for the DOL rule was recently extended until September 21, 2011.

Kellie Shumaker
Alternative HR, LLC
717-855-5589

Networking event hosts often use good, if not great food and drink (alcoholic, that is) to attract a crowd. Not a bad strategy if you are the host… However, if your survival as a company or individual depends on sales, here’s my advice:  Don’t eat, drink or “sell” at networking events. What, you say? Sounds pretty radical, I know…

Let me assure you that I love food, enjoy an occasional adult beverage, and I make my living at sales. So what’s the problem? Serious business people attend networking events to meet people they don’t already know. In a nutshell, you only get 5-10 seconds to make a good first impression: Eating, drinking adult beverages, and selling are first-impression busters. For that reason, I recommend that you:

Don’t eat: Why not? Food always gets messy. Tables are rare at these events, so you have to hold your plate at all times. Utensils, if there are any, are usually plastic and are prone to break. Try shaking hands with someone while juggling plate, fork, drink… It’s impossible. Eating with your fingers is fun, but not when you have to shake hands with a bunch of strangers! Every time I break my own rule and try to eat, invariably someone asks a question leaving me to either chew quickly (awkward) before answering, or worse yet, be tempted to talk between bites. (Oh, so attractive…)

Don’t drink alcoholic beverages: Why not? The physiological reality of alcohol consumption is that it lowers one’s inhibitions. This causes people to say and do things they wouldn’t normally say or do, even among friends. For this reason alone I advise that you stick with any other type of beverage. If you feel “left out” you can always ask the bartender to give you soda water with lime and pretend. 

• Don’t sell: Why not? No one likes to be “sold,” especially at a social event, even if “networking” does appear somewhere in the title. Networking is about meeting new people, expanding your circle of influence, connecting with and relating to others. If you are trying to sell ‘on the floor’, you violate the spirit of the gathering and will surely alienate vs. attract those you need to meet.

 So if you can’t eat, drink or sell, what are some constructive activities to engage in at networking events?

• Go with a purpose: Always create a goal for attending a networking event. If you dislike the whole networking scene, but ‘need to do it’, having a specific goal lets you to give yourself permission to leave once you’ve reached it! If you tend to be ‘too social’, having a goal can keep you on track with your real purpose for being there. Realistic goals include:

                -        Meet people from five companies you don’t do business with yet.
                -        Have four 5-minute conversations with four people you never met before.
                -        Find two people who are interested in meeting with you at an agreed upon time/date to
                          learn more about  each other’s products/services.
                -        Reconnect with two of your clients, and be sure to tell them how much you appreciate their business.
                -        Get your friends to introduce you to 2 specific people you have decided that you want to meet. 

• Have specific questions prepared: Create a list of 2-3 questions that help you get conversations started, which are also relevant to qualifying people as potential clients. Examples include:

                -        Business Consultants: What has been the biggest change you’ve had to make in your business
                          the past couple years?
                -        Marketing/Web Designers: What kinds of things have you done to make your website more
                          effective at driving leads to your sales team?
                -        Professional services: I’m doing some informal research and was wondering, what quality
                          is most important to you in the (Architect, Lawyer, Accountant, Financial Planner)
                          you would choose to work with?
                -        General: How is it you ended up in your current line of work?
                -        General: What do you enjoy most about your job? 

• Employ the 3-Foot Rule: What is it? The rule is you must introduce yourself and ask someone their name, company and position at that company if they are within 3 feet of you. Use your prepared questions to help ‘break the ice’.  Be proactive and approach people who are standing alone. They will be grateful that you took the initiative.  If your friends are in range, ask them to introduce you to someone they know, but you don’t. That way you engage your friend to help you advance toward meeting your networking goals.

If we run into each other at future networking events, you should be able to catch me following my own advice. Though I must admit, the infamous sticky buns at Allenberry usually get the better of me… 

Happy networking!

Deborah L. Brown owns Sales4You^®; a Central PA based business development coaching firm that specializes in helping people have fun breaking through to higher profits.  She can be reached with comments or questions at deb@salesfouryou.com.

Hiring 101

Do you know the federal or state requirements for hiring employees?
Do you know whether or not this is the right time to hire an employee?

If you answered no to either of the above questions, then this is the workshop for you. Topics include federal and state hiring requirements, wage and hour/ employment related laws, I-9 compliance, recruiting best practices, determining the cost of hiring an employee and much more.

Special Guest Presenter: Kellie Shumaker, Alternative HR

Kellie Shumaker, a certified professional in Human Resources (PHR) has over a decade of valuable Human Resource experience with organizations of many sizes, including two successful start-ups. As a Regional Manager of a staffing company, she developed relationships with many HR departments and employees at all levels of each organization. Through this experience, Kellie was able to learn from the success of some, and the mistakes of others.

Location: J. D. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship, York, PA

April 29, 2011

9am- Noon

$20 per business

To register: Contact Shippensburg University Small Business Development Center

Phone: (717) 477-1935 | E-mail: sbdc@ship.edu | Register on-line

In Partnership:

By Kellie Shumaker

As a business owner, you probably already realize the cost of unemployment benefits ultimately lies with you. Costs are determined by a company’s experience rating, which is determined by the amount of benefits the state pays your former employees.  A few interesting unemployment statistics were announced recently that all business owners should be concerned about.

They include:

Spending on unemployment compensation rose from $31 billion in 2008 to approximately $160 billion in 2010

On average, state unemployment taxes increased by 34% as a percent of total wages from 2009 to 2010, and are expected to continue to increase

These increases in unemployment costs will eventually increase state and federal UI taxes, as the interest on the federal loans to states become due later this year.  The impact to business owners will be an increase in hiring and administrative costs. 

To keep your unemployment costs under control business owners should:

Review and verify tax rate notices & employee classifications

Ensure reported wages are correct

Complete UI claims forms correctly and on time

Be sure incorrect determinations are appealed

Attend Hearings

Notify the UI agency of rehires and offers of employment that are refused

Review hiring procedures & performance appraisals

Train Supervisors and Managers to ensure proper documentation of employment actions, such as disciplinary and termination procedures

Don’t forget! Pennsylvania’s Construction Workplace Misclassification Act goes into effect February 10, 2011. This law defines the difference between an independent contractor and employee, with criminal and civil penalties for misclassification.

Speaking of misclassification… the Senate recently held a hearing on the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act (H.R. 5107, S. 3254.) This bill requires employers to provide notice to employees and those classified as non-employees of their classification, that their rights to wage, hour, and other labor protections depend upon proper classification, and to direct them to the Department of Labor for further information about their rights.  It also requires companies to retain that analysis to give to Wage and Hour Division enforcement personnel who might request it. The legislation would impose civil penalties of up to $1,100, or up to $5,000 for repeated or willful violations, for each misclassification or violation of the record-keeping or notice provisions. If a misclassification accompanies violations under the FLSA’s maximum hours or minimum wage requirements, a worker could recover double his or her liquidated damages.

While misclassifying a single worker may lead to some liability for overtime payments and other benefits, employers should take a hard look at the bigger picture. The IRS has stepped up enforcement of rules regarding independent contractors. Early this year, the IRS started deploying auditors to conduct intensive audits in different industries and including both large and small companies. The federal government believes that misclassification is on the rise given that independent contractors receive fewer incentives to trim costs during these difficult economic times. We must also consider that an IRS audit could lead to an audit by the federal or state Department of Labor.

A very concerning aspect of the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act, which is the increased 1099 reporting, is actually already a law that was passed along with the new healthcare legislation and is effective January 2012. With legislation like this already passed into law, there is no need to wait for the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act. After all, even if the provision affecting 1099s laws is extended or overturned, the message from legislators and regulatory agencies is clear — there will be no more hiding of independent contractors for purposes of misclassifying workers. The act of having a hearing to discuss the bill also points toward continued energy and feasibility of the bill.

Enforcement Initiative

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is taking a more aggressive approach to ensure compliance with employment regulations applying to federal contractors. The agency has taken a number of steps to enhance its enforcement, such as eliminating the cap on compliance reviews and increasing the number of compliance evaluations and complaint investigations by 20 %. The OFCCP has hired over 200 additional compliance officers and other enforcement personnel to assist with enforcement. This initiative serves the Department’s “Plan/Prevent/Protect” strategy, as well as contributing to the effort to prevent misclassification which can deny workers of employment law protections.

The agency is not only placing focus on women and minorities but also on veterans and individuals with disabilities. When auditing, the agency asks questions about outreach efforts. At a minimum, the OFCCP expects federal contractors to be able to identify contact people at organizations that they have reached out to in recruiting workers. Contractors are also expected to monitor the referrals and hires from these sources.

The OFCCP is better funded with a requested $113 million 2011 budget ( a $10 million increase over 2010.) With this increase in budget, OFCCP is in the process of significantly increasing its workforce and plans to increase the number of compliance evaluations by 20 percent. Beginning October 2010 there will be a marked increase in enforcement efforts by the OFCCP against non-construction federal contractors.  The bottom line is beware! The focus is on systemic discrimination and the consequences for non-compliance places a bull’s eye on your company and can be serious: fines, negative publicity, potential civil lawsuits, and even debarment for severe cases.

Kellie Shumaker, PHR
Alternative HR, LLC
717-855-5589