People Processes

CPI for all items rises 0.2% in April The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis after falling 0.1 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm (reported) May 10. Over the last 12 months, the all items index rose 2.5 percent before seasonal adjustment. The indexes for gasoline and shelter were the largest factors in the seasonally adjusted increase in the all items index, although the food index increased as well. The gasoline index increased 3.0 percent, more than offsetting declines in other energy component indexes and led to a 1.4-percent rise in the energy index. The food index rose 0.3 percent, with the food at home index rising 0.3 percent and the index for food away from home increasing 0.2 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in April. The shelter index rose 0.3 percent, with other indexes mixed. The indexes for household furnishings and

FORM I-9—Increased federal enforcement requires proactive measures The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is stepping up enforcement efforts of unauthorized workers by tripling its number of officers and quintupling the number of enforcement actions in 2018. As a result, employers need to be proactive and ensure that they are hiring authorized workers and that their Form I-9 practices are in compliance, says a new XpertHR https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flink.rm0004.net%2Fgo%2FSnzhdqY-HDXE8EQsxIIUxw2%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cheidi.henson%40wolterskluwer.com%7Cba81c70d73d648d4b2e208d5bcb6ef8d%7C8ac76c91e7f141ffa89c3553b2da2c17%7C1%7C0%7C636622416251610934&sdata=XqMGE0oppPi%2BOmGVEBH8rv5ljQEwFdW1MLCNbJd10iY%3D&reserved=0 (report). Otherwise, employers may be ICE’s next target. Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), if an employer knowingly hires or continues to employ an unauthorized worker, it can be exposed to civil and criminal penalties. The

You are an applicable large employer if you averaged at least 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, during the prior calendar year. ALEs are subject to information reporting and the employer shared responsibility provisions. Steps to determine your status as an ALE 1.Determine how many full-time employees you had each month of the prior calendar year. Under the ACA, a full-time employee for any calendar month is one who has, on average, at least 30 hours of service per week, or at least 130 hours per calendar month. There are exceptions for seasonal workers and employees with medical coverage under TRICARE or the Department of Veterans Affairs. 2.Determine how many full-time equivalent employees you had each month of the prior calendar year. Todo this, combine the number of hours of service of all non-full-time employees for the month –and divide that total by 120. Make sure you do not include more than 120 hours of service per employee. The same exceptions above for seasonal work

Majority of working parents claim they are able to ‘have it all’ — SURVEY RESULTS According to the majority of workers with children at home (78 percent) who participated in a CareerBuilder survey, it is possible to be successful at work and at home. The national survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from April 4 to May 1, 2018, and included a representative sample of 1,012 full-time workers in the private sector across industries and company sizes. “Work-life balance is certainly a struggle for all professionals, but we see workers moving past the idea that they have to give something up and that the sacrifice of either a career or parenting must be made,” said Jennifer Grasz, vice president of corporate communications for CareerBuilder. “Promoting a balance should be important to employers, too. When employees feel a greater sense of control and ownership over their own lives, they tend to have better relationships with coworkers, be more productive and

Benchmark: Employer Costs for Employee Compensation https://i1.wp.com/peopleprocesses.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/BLS-table.png?ssl=1 () Employee compensation packages usually contain at least two components: base salary or hourly wage; and group benefits. Base salary depends on competitive considerations such as the available talent pool, the role of bonuses, and the company’s stated philosophy to pay at a specified percentile of the market salary. Group benefits may be in the form of protective benefits — health care or prepaid legal services — or in the form of profit-sharing or gainsharing. Regardless of the particular benefits that comprise a compensation package, a big concern for most employers is paying for it. Although some employees are required to contribute to the cost of various benefits, the bulk of the compensation package is often provided by the employer. BLS survey. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes a quarterly Employer Costs for Employee Compensatio

Legal analysis of alternative dispute resolution What are the issues that arise when considering whether or not to offer alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to employees in the hope that they will use ADR in lieu of litigation? An employer wants to be sure this process will be: fair and objective; cost effective; capable of protecting the employer’s interests; reliable; binding on all parties; and a mechanism to provide closure. Arbitration Many employers are requiring, as a condition of employment, that applicants and employees give up their rights to pursue employment discrimination claims in court and agree to resolve disputes through binding arbitration. The agreements to arbitrate may be contained in an employment contract, employee handbook, or employment application. The use of such agreements can be found in various sectors of the workforce, including the securities industry, retail, restaurant and hotel chains, health care, broadcasting, and security services. Enfo

New NLRB memo talks permissible vs. impermissible handbook rules in light of Boeing In the aftermath of its December 2017 The Boeing Company decision, the National Labor Relations Board has issued new guidance on handbook rules. The June 7 General Counsel memorandum provides general guidance for Regions about the placement of various types of rules into the three categories set out in Boeing, as well as the Section 7 interests, business justifications, and other considerations that Regions should take into account in arguing to the Board that specific Category 2 rules are unlawful. Rules categories. The memo provides instruction as to each of the three categories of rules set forth in Boeing: Category 1: Rules that are generally lawful to maintain Category 2: Rules warranting individualized scrutiny Category 3: Rules that are unlawful to maintain Category 1: The types of rules in this category are generally lawful, either because the rule, when reasonably interpreted, does not prohibit or inte

Standard mileage rates updated to reflect elimination of miscellaneous itemized deductions In Notice 2018-42, the IRS has updated Notice 2018-3, to reflect changes to the tax law made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA; P.L. 115-97). Changes impacting Notice 2018-3 include: the suspension of the deduction for un-reimbursed employee expenses; the suspension of the deduction for move related expenses; and the increase of depreciation limits for passenger vehicles. Un-reimbursed employee expenses. Notice 2018-3 stated that taxpayers, including those deducting unreimbursed employee travel expenses, could use the standard mileage rate of 54.5 cents per mile. The TCJA suspends all miscellaneous itemized deductions that are subject to the 2 percent of adjusted gross income floor until January 1, 2026. This includes unreimbursed employee travel expenses. Therefore, Notice 2018-3 cannot be used to claim a deduction for such expenses. There are certain taxpayers who may continue to deduct itemized unreim

Law amended — TENNESSEE — Unemployment Insurance,(Jun. 1, 2018) Electronic filing requirement. Except as otherwise provided in the Law, beginning January 1, 2019, and each quarter afterwards, every employer, and every person or organization who reports wages for employees on behalf of one or more subject employers, must file their wage and premium reports electronically, in a format prescribed by the commissioner. If the electronic filing requirement, however, creates a hardship for the employer, person, or organization subject to it, the employer, person, or organization may submit an affidavit to the commissioner containing a statement made under the penalty of perjury that the employer, person, or organization would suffer an undue hardship by filing the wage and premium reports electronically, and the commissioner may allow the employer, person, or organization to file the wage and premium reports in a paper format. Any employer, person, or organization that does not have prior approval to file in a pape

Private equity firm to pay over $550,000 in back wages and penalties over misclassifying employees as interns — MASSACHUSETTS — Employee misclassification A Boston private equity firm will pay more than half a million dollars in penalties and wages to 174 current and former employees in a settlement with the AG’s Office over the employer’s improper classification of employees as interns and its failure to pay those employees minimum wage and to keep proper employment records, according to Attorney General Maura Healey in a recent announcement. Search Fund Accelerator (SFA), its President Timothy Bovard and Treasurer Jeremy Silverman were issued two citations totaling $550,187 in restitution and penalties for violating the state’s wage and hour laws. “This private equity firm should have paid its employees, but instead treated them like unpaid interns,” said AG Healey. “I commend the employees at SFA for speaking up for themselves and their co-workers. We encourage all others who believe they are part of an

Law firm’s pay equity guidance points to trends — PRACTICE TIP Acknowledging Equal Pay Day on April 10, Seyfarth Shaw’s Pay Equity Group released a pair of reference guides on pay equity that are aimed at enhancing employers’ compliance efforts: the http://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/publications/Trends_PayEquityLitigation_April2018.pdf (2018 Trends and Developments in Pay Equity Litigation Report) and the http://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/publications/PayEquity_50State.pdf (2nd Annual 50-State Pay Equity Desktop Reference).  From https://bit.ly/2Lc38po (XPERT HR (full report):) The law firm practice group also http://www.seyfarth.com/publications/MA041118-LE (pointed) to several emerging trends: Amped-up pay laws: While California, New York, and Massachusetts led the way in adopting stricter state pay equity laws, other states, including Maryland and Oregon, soon followed suit. The trend continues into 2018 with New Jersey and Washington passing similarly onerous laws in recent weeks. Laws banning employers

Employers found to be accelerating adoption of benefits technology — SURVEY RESULTS Since 2012, investors have steered more than $14 billion into human capital management (HCM) software and platforms. A new study by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America® (Guardian) confirms that human resources technology is top of mind for many employers seeking greater efficiencies and workforce engagement. The study reveals most employers have increased their spending on benefits-related technology in the past five years, with approximately 50 percent expecting further increases in the next three years. The latest set of findings come from https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2139271-1&h=2539129855&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardiananytime.com%2F&a=Guardian+Workplace+Benefits+StudySM (The Fifth Annual Guardian Workplace Benefits StudySM, Game-Changer: The Digitalization of Employee Benefits Delivery). Workplace demographic shifts, particularly millennials, whose share of the workforce continues to ex

How should intermittent FMLA leave be calculated when an employee moves from full- to part-time status? Issue: Six months ago, one of your full-time employees (working 40 hours per week) was granted intermittent leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). He has taken three weeks (or 120 hours) of leave. Last month, he transferred to a part-time position, working 20 hours per week, and he continues to need FMLA leave. How should you calculate the intermittent leave? Should it be based on his former full-time hours or his current part-time hours? Answer: Under the FMLA regulations, if an employer has made a permanent or long-term change in the employee’s schedule (for reasons other than the FMLA and prior to the notice of need of FMLA leave), the hours worked under the new schedule are to be used for making this calculation. In this situation, the employee has nine weeks of FMLA leave remaining in his FMLA year. Going forward, you should use his part-time schedule to calculate any intermittent FMLA

Workers value sense of community in the workplace About half (47 percent) of part- or full-time employees value a community atmosphere in the place where they work, according to a new https://clutch.co/hr/resources/future-of-work-how-workspaces-meet-worker-needs (survey) by Clutch, a B2B research, ratings and reviews company. The number increases to 55 percent for millennial workers aged 18-34. These findings suggest that workspaces, including traditional offices, coworking spaces, coffee shops, and other public work areas, benefit from finding ways to bring their young employees together. While Generation X and baby boomers also value community, they don’t prioritize it at the same level as their younger coworkers. This is likely because millennials are the first generation to grow up with the internet, says Laurel Cummings, a makerspace researcher and member of Building Momentum, a science and engineering consulting company. Cummings says that the internet is a connective tool that allows people to

EBSA issues array of guidance on mental health parity EBSA has released an array of guidance on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), including proposed Frequently Asked Questions, an enforcement fact sheet, a self-compliance tool, and a revised draft disclosure template. In addition, the DOL has released a report to Congress that outlines its current implementation and enforcement actions in furtherance of the MHPAEA. Background. In general, MHPAEA requires that the financial requirements (such as coinsurance and copays) and treatment limitations (such as visit limits) imposed on mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits cannot be more restrictive than the predominant financial requirements and treatment limitations that apply to substantially all medical/surgical benefits in a classification. With regard to any nonquantitative treatment limitation (NQTL), the MHPAEA final regulations provide that a group health plan or health insurance issuer may not impose an NQTL wi

NY Assembly again passes Gender Non-discrimination Act — NEW YORK The New York State Assembly has again passed the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced on May 7. The legislation would prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression in considerations of employment, education and in consumer credit and housing. The bill would also add offenses motivated by gender identity or expression to the hate crimes statute (A.3358, Gottfried). “The Assembly Majority believes that everyone has the right to live free of harassment and discrimination,” said Speaker Heastie. “This legislation extends clear legal protections to individuals who have been left vulnerable for far too long.” “Transgender people—whose gender identity, appearance, behavior or expression differs from their genetic sex at birth—face discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations and other areas of life, and they are particularly vulnerable to hate crimes,” said

Six tips to head off hiring headaches Issue>>: You work for an advertising agency and are having trouble filling several creative positions at your organization. While many resumes look promising, candidates are not living up to expectations when interviewed. How can you attract and hire employees who will bring maximum value to your creative team? <<Answer: Figuring out how to hire an employee with just the right mix of skills and knowledge can feel like a daunting task. Robert Half shared the following tips to attract and hire employees who bring maximum value to your creative agency or in-house department. 1. Juice up the job description. Generating interest from highly qualified job candidates is often one of the most difficult aspects of the hiring process for a business. When a position opens up, take the time to write a job description that’s both detailed and compelling. While you don’t want your job posting to be excessively long or so specific that it deters qualified candidates fr

How can organizations help prepare employees for a timely retirement? Issue: Your workers are anxious about saving enough money for retirement, according to results from your organization’s latest employee opinion survey. What strategies can you employ to support your employees’ retirement planning? Answer: Employers have a variety of strategies available to support their employees’ retirement planning,  For today’s multi-generational workforce, Sibson recommends the following: 1. Targeted education. Opening the channels of communication and customizing the messages are pivotal factors in helping employees improve their retirement readiness. “One-size-fits-all” is a misnomer; with a few rare instances, it should be “one-size-fits-few,”. Communications should be easy to understand and delivered on a regular basis, beginning well before retirement age. Organizations can isolate and target numerous attributes for an employee’s personal communications, including: Demographics (age

May 7 Compliance Update Health savings accounts. The limit on deductible health savings account (HSA) contributions for 2018 is now back to $6,900 for individuals with family coverage under a high deductible health plan (HDHP). In March, this amount was reduced by $50 (to $6,850) due to a change in the inflation adjustment calculations enacted under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. However, after receiving complaints that the reduction would impose administrative and financial burdens on stakeholders, the IRS determined that it is in the best interest of sound and efficient tax administration to revert back to the original amount of $6,900. According to the latest guidance, an individual who receives a distribution from an HSA of an excess contribution (with earnings) based on the $6,850 deduction limit may repay the distribution to the HSA and treat the distribution as the result of a mistake of fact due to reasonable cause. Alternatively, an individual who does not repay the distribution to the HSA may t

Noncompetition Agreements and Trade Secrets Introduction Whenever an employer hires a new employee, the employer provides that person with access to the organization’s most valuable assets: its people, its customers, and its way of doing business. Given that the average American will change jobs seven times over a work life, chances are high that some of that information will eventually find its way to a competitor. More frequently than ever, companies are trying to protect themselves and their assets from the damage that can result when employees depart to work for a competing business or set up a competing enterprise. An employer should require employees to sign employment agreements wherein they agree to maintain the secrecy for all of the organization’s trade secrets. In addition, an employer may consider a covenant not to compete that has geographic, scope, and duration limitations. Such terms should be included in an initial employment agreement entered into at the start of the employment relationship.