HRMG Blog – Sage Abra Payroll, HR, & Timekeeping News

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the financial stimulus law signed by President Barack Obama on Feb. 17, 2009, includes significant changes to the COBRA continuation coverage rules. (Read more at the Department of Labor).

Here are the main points to the ARRA that you need to be aware of:

1. Workers who became jobless as early from Sept. 1, 2008 to December 31, 2009 are eligible to receive benefits under the law.
2. If a worker rejected COBRA coverage after Sept. 1, 2008, they can reconsider now.
3. Taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income exceeding $145,000, or $290,000 for those filing joint returns, do not qualify for the subsidy.
4. COBRA continuation coverage premiums will get a 65% federal government subsidy.
5. Employers will pay the 65% upfront, and then deduct these costs from Social Security and Medicare taxes. (IRS Tax Refund FAQ).
6. The subsidies will be paid for a maximum of nine months.
7. Subsidies begin March 1, 2009.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Plan administrators of group health care plans subject to COBRA need to act quickly to:

• Implement administrative procedures necessary to provide the subsidy.
• Provide notices required by the ARRA to COBRA qualified beneficiaries who are eligible for the subsidy.
• Implement the extended COBRA coverage periods.
• In addition, group health plan documents will need to be amended to incorporate these changes.
• Employers (or insurers, if applicable) will be required to file three types of reports relating to the subsidy.

1. Attest that each employee receiving the subsidy was involuntarily terminated.

2. File an accounting to report the payroll tax credit taken for the reporting period and the estimated credits to be taken during the following reporting period.

3. File a report of all covered employees, the amount of subsidy treated as a payroll tax credit for each employee and a designation as to whether the subsidy is for coverage of one individual or two or more individuals.

1 Comment - Click here to join the Discussion!

The stimulus package that President Obama recently signed into law has some direct and lasting effects on Human Resources. SHRM did a terrific job of outlining the major points of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and we wanted to share those HR-related items with you.

Extending Unemployment and Health Coverage

• A nine-month extension of a program that offers an additional seven weeks of unemployment benefits. Benefits would be increased by $25 per week.
• A seven-week extension of jobless benefits, which provides unemployed workers up to 33 weeks of benefits, was extended to December 31. The proposal would exempt the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits from federal income taxes.
• The plan will appropriate $20 billion to offer health insurance coverage to the unemployed under COBRA. The coverage features a 65 percent subsidy of the health insurance premiums for up to nine months for laid-off workers who qualify for the program.

Health Care Technology

• $19 billion to improve the nation’s health care information technology systems to reduce errors and streamline administrative processes.

Trade Protection for Jobs

• Extend Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits for workers who lose their jobs because of increased imports or because employers move those jobs offshore.

E-Verify

• The House and Senate negotiators removed all provisions that refer to the government’s electronic employment verification system-known as E-Verify.
• Require that businesses that receive funding under the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) hire laid-off U.S. workers or show good cause before recruiting and hiring workers from overseas under the H-1B visa program for highly skilled workers.

Executive Compensation

• Place limits on the compensation packages that businesses receiving TARP funds can offer to their executive teams.

For more information on the Act, visit SHRM or the Recovery Act website.

1 Comment - Click here to join the Discussion!

Federal Legislative Action Alert!

YOUR ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED! The time is now to share the HR perspective on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)!

In virtually all cases, this legislation would take away the privacy and secret ballot voting rights of American employees in choosing whether they want to be represented by a union in the workplace.

If enacted, the Employee Free Choice Act would:

• Eliminate employees’ right to vote in a Federal government-administered, private ballot election
• Require binding arbitration within 120 days after a union is certified through a signed card collection process if the employer and the union are unable to reach an agreement
• Restrict an employer’s ability to communicate to employees about the workplace issues involved in the union organizing drive
• Create new fines against employers for an expanded list of unfair labor practices

SHRM has been actively engaged in opposing the EFCA in Congress for years.  Please use HR Voice to send a letter to your House representative and both of your senators and urge them to OPPOSE the Employee Free Choice Act.

Background

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) establishes two primary ways that employees are able to form or join a union:

1. Private ballot election administered by the National Labor Relations Board (the Board). An election is initiated after a union has collected and submitted to the Board at least thirty percent of workers’ signed authorization cards. The Board certifies the union as the bargaining representative if a majority of employees voted in favor of the union, or,
2. Collection of signed authorization cards (known as the “card check” process, which is similar to signing a petition in favor of a union) from a majority of employees in a bargaining unit. A union submits the cards to the Board, and the Board subsequently recognizes that union as the sole bargaining agent on behalf of the relevant employees.

Employers usually select the first process and initiate an election for their employees because it is a superior format that best ensures employee privacy. The “card check” process, conversely, forces employees to make their union views known in public. Thus, card checks are most likely to expose employees to inappropriate coercion.

Legislation

The Employee Free Choice Act, sponsored by Representative George Miller (D-CA) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), would amend the NLRA to allow unions to use the “card check” process each time they try to organize workers. The proposed measure would effectively eliminate the private ballot election during union organizing campaigns by requiring the Board to certify any union that secures a simple majority of signatures through the card check process.

Furthermore, once a union is certified through card checks, the EFCA would lead to binding arbitration on a two-year contract after only 120 days. The bill would direct the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to refer management-labor disputes on first contracts to an arbitration board after 90 days of collective bargaining and 30 days of mediation.

SHRM’s Position

SHRM believes in the fundamental right of every employee to make his or her own choice on union representation. For this reason, SHRM aggressively opposes the Employee Free Choice Act because it would take away the right of employees to a federally supervised, private ballot in union elections.

Furthermore, SHRM opposes these specific aspects of the bill:

• Circumvention of Private Ballot Election—The bill would force employees to make their important decision on whether or not to support a union in public—potentially in front of their co-workers, union organizers and others who have a stake in the organizing process. SHRM strongly believes the secret ballot election process is the best way to ascertain a worker’s true view on union representation. By eliminating the private ballot, SHRM believes the bill would actually take away an employee’s private and “free choice,” expose employees to coercion and promote a threatening work environment for employees.
• Binding Arbitration on First Contracts—The bill would end bargaining negotiations after only 120 days—90 days of negotiations and 30 days of mediation—and force a two-year contract on both the employer and employees. SHRM believes that mandatory binding arbitration provides motivation for either a union or employer to engage in bad faith bargaining until the end of the negotiating period. Finally, the EFCA would lead to an arbitrator to impose unwanted employment conditions on both employees and management.
• One-sided penalties—The bill would establish additional penalties, including back pay plus liquidated damages, on employers that discriminate against employees during organizing drives. The bill creates no new penalties for labor organizations that engage in coercive conduct during organizing campaigns.

Action Needed

Write or call your elected officials in Washington today! Your congressional representatives need the benefit of your expertise and your viewpoint on the Employee Free Choice Act before the private rights of employees are changed.

To write your elected official using HRVoice, follow these steps:

• Log onto HR Voice by clicking HERE and enter your member number and last name.
• Under the heading “Take Immediate Action on these Hot Issues,” click on: “OPPOSE the Employee Free Choice Act”
• Feel free to personalize your letters by including specific information about the organization you work for, your experiences in the workplace, and why this legislation would negatively impact your organization. Just place your cursor on the text of the letter where you would like to edit.

Comment on this Post

A Network to Help HR and Payroll Professionals Gain Efficiency in Difficult Times.

HRMG is proud to be a part of the Alliance for Workforce Management, a partnership of several Sage Abra partners located throughout North America.  At the outset, the Alliance for Workforce Management will includes:

* Dresser & Associates, Inc. in Scarborough, Maine
* HRMG Solutions, Inc.,  in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
* CAPlus, Inc., Toronto, Ontario Canada
* Rising Sun Consulting, Atlanta, Georgia
* One Solutions, Inc., Miami, Florida
* HR Pay ‘n’ Time, Seminole, Florida
* People Sense – Chicago, Illinois

The premise behind the alliance is that HR and Payroll professionals can utilize technology more effectively to help reduce costs and maximize efficiencies, practices which will be especially critical in the troublesome economic times ahead. In addition, HR professionals need to become more strategic in their thinking with respect to technology and the overall objectives of their respective organization, and the members of the Alliance look forward to collaborating to assist the growth of this kind of thinking.

As companies cut costs, they become more vulnerable to losing their precious assets — their best and brightest employees. Companies need to begin looking at ways to restructure benefits to better reflect the demographics of their workforce. The Alliance for Workforce Management is designed to make better use of technology for human capital management, as well as allowing consultants dedicated to assisting the Abra community to find the necessary resources to customize benefit plans.  This gained efficiency will control benefit costs while allowing companies to continue to attract and retain their best employees.

Though HR professionals face an unprecedented set of challenges, the Alliance for Workforce Management will give them the support they need to face the road head on, as well as create a new way of thinking to support their respective organizations more strategically.

Comment on this Post

The 2009 cost-of-living adjustments for pension and retirement plans are as follows:

401(k) and 403(b). The limitation on the exclusion for elective deferrals under IRC §402(g)(3) will increase from $15,500 to $16,500. This limitation affects elective deferrals to various plans, including 401(k) plans, and 403(b) annuities.

Deferred compensation plans. The limit on deferrals to IRC §457 deferred compensation plans of state and local governments and tax-exempt organizations will increase from $15,500 to $16,500.

SIMPLE salary deferrals. The maximum amount of compensation that an employee/participant may elect to defer to a SIMPLE plan will increase from $10,500 to $11,500.

Catch-up contributions. The dollar limitation for catch-up contributions to an applicable deferred plan for individuals age 50 or over will increase from $5,000 to $5,500. The amount for catch-up contributions under SIMPLE plans will remain at $2,500 in 2009.

Comment on this Post

An estimated 14 million employees are playing Fantasy Football. Many are part of office pools, and most spend time at work managing their team. Although there are many cons to this activity for the workplace, there are also some hidden benefits to Fantasy Football.

Fantasy Football is a diversion to doing work, say many analysts. Global outplacement agency Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. suggests that employers look to lose $10.5 billion in productivity during the regular football season. Time lost to internet activity and “water cooler talk” are big detriments to this hobby. Nielson Online suggests that employees spend an average of 1 hour and 19 minutes per week online at work playing Fantasy Football. Also, many companies prohibit the use of company PC’s for personal matters, so using work computers might also be a direct violation of company policy.

There are some positives, however. Having employees participate in Fantasy Football can be a morale boost. The hobby opens lines of communication and allows employees to strengthen bonds with other employees. It can also improve working relationships and make the workplace more enjoyable. Fantasy Football can even assist with employee retention, say some analysts.

There are legal matters to look at as well. Many companies (such as those in the financial industry) are legally bound not to have betting as it interferes with their ethics policies. Employers also need to look at betting laws, as fantasy football, when it involves real money, is illegal in many states.

As HR and Payroll professionals, you should make sure your employees understand your policies and how they affect games like Fantasy Football. If you have internet policies, reiterate them prior to and during the football season. But most of all, maintain a fair and balanced management of this and other extra-curricular activities. Depending on your organization and team culture, Fantasy Football could be a great positive for your workforce.

Comment on this Post

Beginning September 11th, Pennsylvania’s new Clean Indoor Air Act goes into effect. This act will ban smoking in public places as well as workplaces. With exception to the City of Philadelphia, this ban is statewide.

“Workplace” is defined as an indoor area serving as a place of employment, occupation, business, trade, craft, professional, or volunteer activity. Place of employment is defined as the area that an employee uses for work or any other purpose. This includes restrooms, stairways, garages, cafeterias, to name a few.

Implementing a smoke-free policy may not be at the top of your to-do list, but the fines for not implementing a policy and following through are costly. Owners, operators, or managers of premises may be penalized for failing to post proper signage in the amounts ranging from $250 to $1,000. Owners can also be fined $250-$1,000 for allowing smoking. Finally, persons (patrons or employees) may be penalized $250-1000 for smoking. What to do ASAP:

• Post “No Smoking” signs.
• Communicate and educate all employees that smoking is prohibited in the workplace.
• Address the violations and the fines imposed by law.
• Define how violations will be addressed.
• Address how to handle smoking during work breaks.
• Provide employees with a copy of the policy.

For additional pointers, the PA Department of Health has developed a great Compliance Toolkit for download here: Smoke-Free Compliance Toolkit. You can also visit www.PACTonline.org for signage or sample policies.

Comment on this Post

Web 2.0. You may have heard this buzzword a lot recently. It is a common term used to define the trend in the use of the web for information sharing and collaborating among web surfers. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Reader are the predominate Web 2. o applications, and the generation of “millenials” (20-somethings) and Gen-X’ers (30-somethings) are widely using these applications to keep connected.

The internet is now a platform, and companies must start using that platform for better business strategies. Jason Averbrook, CEO of Knowledge Infustion, recently pointed out these facts during a session at the International Association for Human Resources Information Management:

• One out of eight couples married in 2006 met online.
• MySpace is the 11th largest country in the world.
• There are 2.7 billion Google searches monthly.
• Daily sent text messages exceed the total population on Earth.

With software tools getting better and better, Web 2.0 technology will begin to seep into businesses. Concerns of proprietary information leaking and other security issues are the largest reason for companies not to embrace the technology, but an employee does not need Web 2.0 applications to violate a companies ethics policy. The medium is always there for an employee to break the rules, whether it’s via printing/mailing documents, emailing, or faxing. Web 2.0 is just another platform, and because this is a new way for employees to violate company policies it does not mean they will be more apt to.

What is your company doing to embrace these technologies? Do you currently allow your employees to access their Facebook or LinkedIn pages from work? Do you use a blog (like us at HRMG) to communicate to staff, clients, or others? There are no easy answers to Web 2.0, but the reality is that it is not going away, and HR will need to adapt to harness the power of this rising technology.

Comment on this Post

On January 28, 2008, President Bush signed the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It expands the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in two significant ways for families of injured military service members and those called to active duty.

First, effective immediately, the NDAA requires employers to provide up to 26-weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period to the spouse, son, daughter, parent or next-of-kin of a service member injured in the line of duty.

Second, the NDAA entitles the spouse, son, daughter or parent of a military service member on active duty, or on notice of an impending call to active duty, up to 12-weeks of unpaid leave in a 12 month period based on “any qualifying exigency”. However, this provision will not become effective until the Department of Labor (DOL) issues final regulation defining a “qualifying exigency”. The DOL’s website now “encourages” employers to provide such leave to eligible employees until it issues the final regulations.

In order to qualify for leave pursuant to the NDAA amendments, an employee still must comply with other provisions of the FMLA (be employed for at least a total of 12 months and worked at least 1250 hours in the previous 12-month period for an employer with 50 or more employees). Note, also, that if an employee requests FMLA leave to care for an injured service member and that employee has already taken FMLA leave in the past 12 months, the 26-week leave period will be reduced by the amount of leave previously taken.

Comment on this Post

SHRM.org reports that thirty-nine percent of employees working full time have called in sick in the past to score a day off during the summer, and 30 percent will or might do so this summer, according to a survey of 2,021 U.S. workers. The two biggest reasons employees take “sick days” in the summer, according to research firm Harris Interactive, are to take a “mental health day” or “to enjoy the weather on a nice day”.

Employer strategies that workers said would most likely prevent them from misusing sick days during the summer were:

• Provide half or full day Fridays off during the summer (utilizing a compressed workweek).
• Provide flexibility through telecommuting or flex-time.
• Provide Paid Time Off plans that give employees a bank of time to use at their discretion.

Comment on this Post