This year marks my 32nd year working at Availability. My father started this company in 1964, so you could say I grew up in the industry, and the roller coaster world of a family business. Some of our current clients are the same companies my dad did business with, and I still run across client contacts who remember my dad because he helped them get their job.

The industry has gone through many changes since I started here in 1981 – offering both challenges and rewards. My staff and I have to stay on our toes to keep up with the rapidly changing rules and regulations of state and federal laws.  I’ll continue to do my best to keep you updated on all the issues that affect your business such as the SMART Act.

Effective January 2013 the State of Illinois enacted the Save Medicaid and Resources Together (SMART) Act. This ACT requires employers with 250 or more employees to file MONTHLY electronic wage reports, and permits the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) to extend this requirement to employers with fewer than 250 workers in the future.

Monthly reporting will be phased in, but even though you may employer fewer than 250 people right now by July 2014 EVERY employer with more than 25 employees will be required to file this monthly report.

The monthly wage reports are intended to stop individuals from illegally collecting unemployment insurance benefits while working and help prevent fraud in the Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act programs because up-to-date wage information will more quickly identify those who make too much money to qualify.

According to IDES Director Jay Rowell, these monthly reports will stop fraud before it starts. Rowell says, “this approach will help every employer because it will lower payroll taxes which will create the flexibility to invest in hiring and that will grow our economy”.

That may be so, but one thing is certain – it creates another responsibility for employers.

I think it is advisable to take action now to be prepared for the required registration.

You can get important information on this issue from the IDES
at http://www.ides.illinois.gov/page.aspx?item=3950

1. Be ready to disclose SBC’s

This requirement is effective for open enrollment periods beginning on or after 09/23/2012 (or plan years beginning on or after that date). Basically, insurers must provide a four-page summary of benefits and coverage (SBC) to group health plans within 7 days after a plan applies for coverage with the insurer. Group health plans must then provide the SBC to plan participants as part of any written application material distributed for enrollment. Individuals also have the right to request an SBC at any time and must receive it within 7 days of the request. You can find a sample SBC at www.dol.gov/ebsa.

2. Be prepared for W-2 reporting of health coverage

Employers with more than 250 employees must report the cost of applicable employer sponsored group health plan coverage, including both employer and employee portions, on the form W2. Employers with fewer than 250 employees are currently exempt from this requirement.

3. Determine which employees qualify as “full-time” under PPACA

This is significant for several reasons under the Act. Only employers who employ 50 or more full-time equivalent (FTE) employees are subject to the “shared responsibility” penalties that take effect in 2014; penalties are only triggered if an employer has a FTE who is certified to receive a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction due to the employer’s failure to provide affordable coverage that meets minimum value requirements; and, the 90-day max waiting period for coverage that takes effect in 2014 only applies to FTE’s.

Bascially, under PPACA a full-time employee is one who is employed on average of 30 hours per week. Only employers with 50 or more FTE’s are subject to shared responsibility penalties that take effect in 2014.

Employers with seasonal and/or variable hour employees must determine if they should be classified as FTE’s, and on August 31, 2012 the IRS issued Notice 2012-58 to clarify how these situations should be handled http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-12-58.pdf.

4. Determine if your coverage is affordable and of minimum value

Well, if you’re like me health insurance hasn’t been “affordable” for several years, and I don’t see the Act making it any more affordable. Under the Act, “shared responsibility” penalties apply to employers with more than 50 employees that either don’t offer health coverage, or offer coverage that isn’t affordable or doesn’t provide minimum value under the Act.

Affordable: Coverage that costs an employee over 9.5% of their gross household income is not considered affordable under the Act. But, at this point the question of how an employer is to determine an employee’s gross household income, which would presumably include income from other members of the household, hasn’t been answered.

The Treasury Department has said it is examining whether the penalty should also apply if the premium for family coverage exceeds 9.5% of employee income.

Minimum Value: In order to pass the minimum value test it must offer minimum essential coverage and must pay at least 60% of covered expenses.

Comprehensive guidance on these key issues have yet to be issued.

We will see continually changing and evolving rules and regulations concerning the Act and hopefully more guidance for employer compliance. It would be nice if deciphering the rules becomes easier and compliance less cumbersome.

I will discuss other issues associated with this Act in future emails; such 2013 FSA changes, variable hour employees, on-going employees, new employees, look back and stability periods and safe harbor provisions. Should be fun!

If you have any questions please give me a call and I will do my best to answer them.

Greetings!

This month I have a couple topics for you – the impact of the upcoming election on business and, on the lighter side, “The case of the Potty-Mouthed Parrot”.

Have you considered what the impact of the upcoming election will have on your business/employer?

The outcome of the upcoming election will result in more regulations, taxes and costs to employers…or maybe not.

For instance, you may think that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) pertains only to unionized workforces, but that’s not true.The regulations in the Act govern ALL businesses, union and non-union, and the governing board (NLRB) is aggressively shaking things up everywhere! Read how with this article from HR Matters: NLRA Enforcement: Impact of the Upcoming Election. (click to access article)

I’m not advocating who to vote for, just be an informed voter.

Finally, Can a parrot be liable for sexual harassment? It makes for interesting reading so check it out below.

As always, we are looking out for your best interest and wish you continued success,
Lee Hamel, President

The Potty-Mouthed Parrot

Ok, true story. A patient in an expensive long-term care facility kept a parrot that repeatedly shouted sexually explicit comments to the attending female nurse. The nurse was not at all amused or happy about it. She complained to her supervisor about the “hostile work environment” but the supervisor just laughed about it. The nurse sued for sexual harassment…and won.

So, can the parrot be liable for sexual harassment? No, but the employer can be held liable for creating a hostile work environment if it permits sexually explicit comments to be made to an offended employee. Evidently, even if the comments are made by a bird.

October Contest Winner

St. Louis Rams Vs New York Jets

Congratulations to APRIL BUTLER! April is the winner of our October word search contest and received two tickets to the Rams/Jets November 18th game.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

I learned the hard way, many moons ago, that I couldn’t be everything to everyone, and I couldn’t fill every position that came my way.   It’s the same in most industries – no one can be all things to all people.

Nowadays, with staffing providers all looking similar and claiming to do basically the same thing, it can be more difficult to express what makes us unique or why we are the better choice.   If it quacks like a duck it must be a duck right?   So how is Availability, Inc. different from the rest of the ducks in the pond?

First of all, as a family owned and operated business, we are just as choosy about whom we work with as our potential customers are; our initial contact is more exploratory – we’re not trying to sell anything – just trying to gauge if there is the potential to develop a partnership.

We want to find out our prospective customers’ needs and expectations to see if we can provide the service expected at a price they are willing to pay.   We want to find out if there is an opportunity for us to provide a valuable service or if it will be a potential train wreck.

We believe a true partnership is formed only when there is a win/win/win scenario- the client, ourselves and our employee/candidate.

Having operated our family business in the St. Louis Metro area since 1964 we have a vested interest in, and a commitment to, our community; we have always lived here, worked here and supported local businesses and charities.

So,  I believe Availability, Inc. is different from other staffing providers because we don’t make empty promises and we don’t claim “we can do that” to every inquiry or request for help, instead, if “we can’t do that”, we may provide the name of a staffing service that might be able to provide the service they need.

We aren’t a commodity – we won’t offer or promise low-ball bill rates just to get the business; we seek quality partnerships with our clients where we provide a service they value.

Our clients get a designated Availability rep that is available to assist them 24/7. And Availability’s owners are available on-site to provide leadership, guidance and support to staff, clients and employees on a daily basis.

I think the reason we are successful, and have been for more than 45 years, is because our ethics haven’t changed – we are honest, respectful and committed to providing the service our clients and employees expect.

Fortunately for us, we have a great team who is conscientious and capable – and along with the ability to conduct business remotely we thought – “Why not?” If we wait until the perfect time to leave we never would go.

So, we took off for California to visit our son and daughter-in-law.

As many of you may know, Eli worked for us until last September when he accepted a position as a Talent Sourcer for a software company in Palo Alto California — Silicon Valley.

While making our plans, Eli asked us to arrive early evening so we could have dinner with him and tour the company he works for.  The company encompasses 6 buildings in downtown Palo Alto and I believe they are approaching 1000 employees.

Dinner was prepared to order by an onsite Chef and included any beverage we could imagine. The selections had everything from basic meat and potatoes to vegan fare.

After dinner, we took the grand tour and all the while I kept thinking ‘how much is all of this costing this company’? And, ‘this looks like a daycare for young geeks’!

Each building had toys (think nerf guns, foosball, ping pong), lounges, video games and food and beverage facilities – all compliments of the company. Employees are provided 3 meals a day and they encourage them to bring their family in to eat with them, and we did see many people bringing their spouses and children in for dinner.

Each floor in every building has a break room full of food and beverages, including a wide variety of alcoholic beverage. If you want something that is not there, all you have to do is write down your suggestion and the next day — there it is.

There are no regular work schedules; as long as the work gets done they can come and go as they please.

There is no dress code – almost anything goes as long as they are decent.

The company provides many amenities on-site including haircuts, massages, and for those who have a vehicle – mobile oil change facilities set up in the parking lots. These services are not totally free – though the employee does not pay for them at the time of service, the cost (minimal) is added to their annual W2.

Another thing that caught my attention was the creative names for their internal departments – when I asked about their HR department Eli said they don’t have HR, they have People Ops, accounting is Financial Ops and dining services is Kitchen Ops, etc.

Eli’s isn’t a ‘Recruiter’ he’s a ‘Talent Sourcer’; and honestly what he does involves more than standard recruiting.

As our tour was wrapping up I slipped and said out loud what I had been thinking, “Why the heck does the company do all this? It has to cost a fortune! It’s almost like a geek daycare center.”

Now, Eli knows me pretty well so he let me vent and then calmly explained, “Dad”, he said “we are hiring the best and brightest minds in the world – we hire people who will literally change the world. To keep them we have to give them what they want and money isn’t everything to them, they want an experience at work. All of our competitors for the best talent offer the same thing.”

Now I’m back here in the good old Midwest and I’m thinking that maybe some of the things I learned in California can be useful for any company. Maybe you can only implement one or two of these perks or, as I think of them now, tools to attract and retain the best employees. Offer something unique in your company – it works in California it can work here!

We would be interested to know if your company offers something unique to attract and retain top talent, let us know by leaving a message below.

Another issue confronting all businesses today is the continuing uncertainty over Health Care Reform. We have heard from clients saying they are concerned about the impact this law will have on their business.   Our insurance agent Sheri Welch continues to follow the on-going drama and was kind enough to contribute an article for our newsletter (see below).   I am sure it will provide you with some valuable information.

As always, we wish you continued success,

Lee Hamel, President

What do you perceive to be the biggest employment law issue facing your business today?

Please post your answer below and watch your mailbox for your gift card!

I was talking with our accountant this week when he told me that they had just hired a new staff member in their office and how much time and energy went into finding the right person. In the middle of our discussion he told me that he didn’t know about Availability’s Permanent Placement (Direct Hire) Service. That made me think that this would be a good time to lay out the benefits of using a service like Availability for filling your permanent job openings.

When a company is hiring on their own it can be a costly and time consuming process to find the right person to fill a position. Often the process can overwhelm the resources of the office. The decision to manage this process internally or to partner with a firm such as Availability often comes down to one issue – cost.

When calculating the cost to hire it is important to include several factors:

Sourcing – The cost to source a candidate will likely include the cost of print or online job board advertising, job fairs, referral programs, etc.

Screening – These are costs in dollars and time that your internal staff expends to source and screen oftentimes hundreds of resumes.

Interviewing – The cost of your staff conducting phone interviews as well as the time they spend away from their core responsibilities preparing for and conducting face-to-face interviews with candidates who may or may not be a good fit.

Testing – the cost to assess a candidates skills, abilities, aptitude, attitude, etc.

Hiring – the cost of negotiations, background checks, reference checks and drug screens, etc.

In addition to the above there are other variable costs such as the time it takes to fill the position and the risk of hiring the “wrong” person and having to start the process all over again.

Utilizing a partner such as Availability allows you and your staff to focus your time and resources on the aspects of the business that make the business money - the core aspects – while Availability manages the search for your qualified candidates.

We present for your review only those candidates that are qualified for your position based on your specific requirements – including salary level.

Availability already has one of the best pricing plans in the industry and NOW through the month of March we are offering a 5% invoice discount on permanent placements.

There are no fees to you unless you hire one of our candidates – and all placements are backed by our satisfaction guarantee.  You have nothing to lose.

Place your direct hire needs in our hands – you will be glad you did.

Payroll & Tax Record Retention Guidelines

ERISA:  Employee Retirement Income Security Act
FLSA, EPA:  Fair Labor Standards Act, Equal Pay Act
FMLA:  Family & Medical Leave Act
ADEA:  Age Discrimination in Employment Act
IRCA:  Immigration Reform & Control Act
Title VII, ADA:  Civil Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act
Source:  Bradley University, Foster College for Business Administration

Availability, Inc. is a leader in professional office staffing in the Greater St. Louis Area. Our staff stays current on state and federal employment laws and issues through continuing education, employment law courses and membership in the American Staffing Association. Our clients rely on us to help them stay up-to-date on changing federal and state employment laws.  This list offers guidance on how long to retain records by law.  Other requirements may apply to your business – be sure to check all applicable federal, state and local laws, and consult with legal counsel and your accountant for tax and other regulations.

Reporting is required to begin with the first payroll of 2012.

According to the IRS, there are certain provisions providing transition relief for certain employers and with respect to certain types of employer-sponsored coverage. Those employers to which additional transition relief applies (which includes smaller employers that file fewer than 250 2011 Forms W2) will not be required to report the cost of health coverage on any required forms furnished to employees prior to 2014.

This reporting requirement is only applicable to group health insurance, the term “applicable employer-sponsored coverage” does not include any coverage under separate policy which provides benefits for treatment of the mouth or for the eye (dental and vision).

For more information on regarding the Affordable Care Act, you can consult these sites:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-11-28.pdf

http://www.irsvideos.gov/Webinars

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0..id+237894.00.html

Availability, Inc. is a leader in professional office staffing in the St. Louis region. Our staff stays current on state and federal employment laws and issues through continuing education, employment law courses and membership in the American Staffing Association. Our clients rely on us to help them stay up-to-date on changing federal and state employment laws. This information is not intended nor should it be used as a substitute for legal advice or opinion.