Payroll & Business Experts Blog

Legislation to extend a two percentage point cut on the employee side of the payroll tax through the end of 2012 was signed by President Obama on February 22nd.  The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which was approved by the House and Senate on February 17th, also extends Federal unemployment insurance benefits and prevents a scheduled cut in payments to Medicare providers from occurring for the rest of 2012.

The administration estimates that for a worker earning $50,000 a year, the payroll tax holiday means an extra $80 a month in take-home pay.  For employees with a higher annual income, the bonus could total $2,200 a year. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4,547 people died in 2010 from workplace injuries and another 3.1 million workers suffered on-the-job injuries and illnesses.  As a follow up to our recent blog posting… What’s Your Company’s Medical Emergency Plan?, we’ll provide business owners and HR professionals with seven tips for creating workplace emergency action plans.  The need for advance planning for medical emergencies in the workplace is critical. 

Large employers and those employers that work with hazardous substances or machinery are required by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to have formalized plans in place to deal with a variety of workplace injuries and illnesses.  Many states also have state-mandated occupational safety and health laws.  Learn about the state occupational safety and health plans that impact your business. 

Planning Ahead is Critical for a Safe & Healthy Workplace
Interpreting and complying with OSHA First Aid Standards is critical both to your business operations and to the health and safety of your most valuable asset—your employees.  Even in smaller organizations, proper emergency planning and employee training can make the difference and save lives.  Regardless of a company’s size, employers have an affirmative duty to provide a safe and healthy work environment for all employees.  Creating emergency action plans that spell out how employees should respond to emergencies, including evacuations and medical duties for designated employees are recommended. 

Download OSHA Publication 3088: How to Plan for Workplace Emergencies and Evacuations

No one likes to think that a medical emergency will happen at their workplace.  But the fact is emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere and to anyone.  Suppose there is a situation at your company where an employee is complaining of chest pains or shortness of breath or abdominal pain.  What should you do first?  Do you contact their manager or supervisor?  Do you notify HR?  Do you call 911?  Do you try and get ahold of the employee’s emergency contact?

An employer is responsible for the health and safety of all employees in the workplace.  The best way to prepare for a medical emergency is to plan ahead of time for how employees and the company should respond.  For most people, it’s difficult to think clearly and logically during a crisis.  So it’s important to be able to think about different, potential workplace emergencies before they actually happen and plan your course of action.

Who to Call First in a Medical Workplace Emergency
It’s hard to anticipate every possible medical emergency that could happen in your workplace and how those different situations would play out.  Here are a few recommendations from certified HR experts on some general medical emergency procedures and guidelines:

• In a medical emergency, the immediate response should be to call 911, then the physician/clinic on call and the emergency first aid personnel. 
• If when emergency personnel arrive, the employee decides they don’t want treatment, the employer should have the employee sign a waiver or affidavit that expressly states that the employer should be held harmless for that decision.
• Employees should not be driving other employees to the emergency room, unless it is more of a simple first aid situation.  If the medical issue is really unknown, it places both of the employees at risk and the employer should not allow that to happen. 

How Should Health & Safety Policies Be Communicated in the Workplace?
An employee handbook is one of the most essential communication tools between a company and its employees.  Employee handbooks are critical not only for communicating health and safety policies, but also for letting employees know what is expected of them and what they can expect from the company.  An HR policy manual or employee handbook includes information on general work policies, employee classification, orientation & training, workplace harassment, compensation & benefits, attendance, personal conduct, termination of employment and internet/email policies... plus much more.

Most customized employee handbooks do address health and safety policies, even if it is as simple as:  “ABC Company is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for all employees.  We have established safety procedures and have designated a safety committee [or point of contact].  Our response to medical emergencies is to immediately contact emergency medical professionals to assess the situation.  Our procedures for medical emergencies as well as safety evacuations can be found [state the place where this is posted – online portal, break room, etc.] or you can talk with your manager or a member of the safety committee for more information.”

The risks of not having workers’ comp insurance can be immense.  Whether an employer runs a small office or has a medium sized business, hires one employee or oversees many, they should be aware of the fact that if any employee is injured during work, they can face huge liabilities.  A small firm can even go out of business.

Laws on workers’ comp vary from state to state.  In some states a company may not have to carry workers’ comp insurance if there are less than three employees, while some states may require the insurance even if there is only one employee.  In some states, having workers’ comp insurance is mandatory and the employer or company can face legal action or severe penalties for not carrying workers’ comp insurance.

Many provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that become effective beginning in 2014 are designed to expand access to affordable health coverage.  A new series of questions and answers have been released by the Department of Labor which address the requirements for employers relating to automatic enrollment, the 90-day limitation on waiting periods and employer shared responsibility under the Affordable Care Act. 

The questions and answers provide information and identify various approaches the Federal agencies (Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury) are considering proposing in future regulations or other guidance.  Guidance that employers may rely upon with respect to the issues addressed in the FAQs will be provided with sufficient lead time for employers to comply.

Over the last two years, the government has focused its efforts on immigration compliance.  This includes targeting businesses for I-9 audits, monitoring H-1B workers, resuming Social Security No-Match letters and launching new online resources for verifying a person’s eligibility to work in the United States.  It’s important to keep your business in compliance to avoid monetary penalties and possible criminal charges.

We found an excellent article… 12 Steps to Immigration Compliance in 2012… by Shanon Stevenson, who is a partner in the Atlanta office of the law firm Fisher & Phillips and a member of the firm's Global Immigration Practice Group.  We’ve pulled six of the 12 steps from her article and included links to resources we’ve written about on our Payroll & Business Experts blog.

1. Conduct an annual I-9 audit
The I-9 audit should be conducted by someone other than the person responsible for completing I-9s because the individual completing I-9s often repeats the same error.

Correctable errors on the I-9 should be fixed, the change should be initialed and dated, and the words “Per Self Audit” should be placed beside the correction.

As the perfect follow up to our blog article from last Friday… The Importance of Employee Attitude Surveys, CareerBuilder posted yesterday an article on the same topic… Employee Feedback: Are You Really Listening?.  CareerBuilder discusses five benefits of listening to employee feedback.  One of which is saving money on programs your employees don't really take advantage of.  Here are some excerpts from their blog article…

While administering employee feedback surveys can feel like you’re putting both your company and your performance as a leader and manager in front of the firing squad, it also happens to be one of the most efficient and effective ways to understand the internal workings of your organization.  Consider the following benefits to employee surveys…

Employees are the cornerstone of your business.  Employee attitude surveys give your workforce the opportunity to provide confidential feedback on their opinions of your company.  These surveys are an important way for businesses to measure job satisfaction, employee motivation, opinions and attitudes.  The goal is to enhance employee morale and productivity as well as provide organizations with a picture of where improvements can be made. 

To build integrity and trust among your employees, the results of your survey should be effectively communicated and acted upon by your company.  There is nothing worse than taking the time to survey your employees and then never getting around to implementing any of the feedback you receive.