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

Can’t come to grips with using social media to attract talent? Take a look at how one world class company does it.

This is a terrific presentation by Starbucks on “Using Social Media to Attract and Engage Passive Candidates”. It offers great statistics, real examples, and tips on how to get involved in this revolution of collaboration. The great news is that no matter how big or small your organization is, social media levels the recruiting playing field.

Are you currently using Social Media to attract talent? How is it working?

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Social Networking is an ever increasing subject for Human Resources professionals. I am speaking to various local SHRM organizations throughout the year on this very topic, and hope to educate, enlighten, and enrich organization’s capabilities in this arena. HR departments, now more than ever, need to embrace this major shift in the way we do business in order to increase value to employees, provide increased knowledge to those that need it in the organization, and become more efficient at their jobs.

As I continue my research on social media in the workplace (this thing evolves daily!), I am continually amazed at the speed of growth of social networking sites. There were 250 million Facebook users in September 2009, today there are over 400 million. And what these users say about companies and their brand determines who will win and lose in this experience economy. Whether people like it or not, the future is here – social media is as big a business revolution as the industrial age.

You might tell already I’m a social media activist. I enjoy visiting organizations of all sizes and discussing this topic, and as I question them on their current social media strategy, I sometimes hear a pang of disbelief to the pro’s of social media in the workplace. “Is social networking really necessary in the workplace?” “Won’t social media hurt an organization more than it will help?” “How can I deter the plague of social sites from our company?” Yes, there are potential negative side effects to social media, but when harnessed properly, social media is a very powerful and useful tool.  In reality, whether you like it or not, your company’s customers and employees are already using social networking. What are they saying about your brand?

Throughout the next few months, I’m going to leave tools, tips, and advice on social networking in HR. Hopefully as you read my commentary on the subject, you can take at least one idea and begin implementing it immediately.

In the meantime, test your initial knowledge on social networking sites. Can you name the nine social sites from their icons at the top of this entry?

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

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We have all heard about the Recovery Act that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, and part of this act represented a Federal Income Tax decrease for most Americans. I wanted to share a true story that occurred yesterday that represents the real effect this is having on people.

As some of you are aware, I’m a business consultant that helps companies build better strategies in their HR and Payroll departments. A lot of times this means discussing big picture ideas with CEO’s and CFO’s, and sometimes it means having a dialogue with an employee in an organization. Such was the case yesterday.

I visited a client of mine yesterday, and the VP of Finance informed me that there was an employee who was upset with her paycheck, and was specifically concerned with the amount of Federal Income Tax being withheld. I was asked to look into the issue to determine the correct course of action. I sat down and reviewed the employee’s paychecks from 2008, first quarter of ’09, and the most recent check that was given to her. This employee makes about $700 biweekly ($350/week) as a part-time janitor. She has some pre-tax deductions, taking their taxable Federal wage to about $640. I sat down and began doing the tax table math on this person’s check to see if it was indeed out of the ordinary.

What I found, much to the employee’s surprise, was a dramatic change in the person’s net pay (for the better). Applying the federal tables of 2008 to $640 of biweekly wages with a filing status of married, no exemptions represents a $33.23 federal tax withholding. Applying the new Recovery Act tables, the withholding is now $3.42. ‘Surely this is too low!’ the employee claimed, ‘I’m going to owe a lot at tax time next year!’. Not so. Indeed, this person is keeping approximately $30 per pay, or $775 this year. They were extremely happy that I shared this calculation with them.

There is relief happening, and even though it’s not a large, lump sum check (like the one we received last year), it is significant. For someone that takes home approximately $550-600 per pay, an extra $30 goes a long way. This is happening all over the country, as most Americans are experiencing larger net paychecks. Even my net pay was increased by $40 per month. And although that difference isn’t enough to make anyone a millionaire, it’s enough to help pay bills, buy groceries, or even go out to dinner for an evening. With rising costs in almost every good and service around, that money will go a long way.

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Pennsylvania launches Recovery site.

In an effort to be more transparent states all across the union are creating individual recovery sites that show how the stimulus plan money is being utilized.  There are still states that do not have sites available but Pennsylvania is on the web.  You can view the states that currently have recovery sites online by visiting recovery.gov.

To see how PA is using money from the ARRA click the image below.

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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.

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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.

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