As the March 15 corporate tax filing deadline approaches, the California Chamber of Commerce is reminding small businesses to take advantage of the small business health care tax credit. The tax credit is part of the federal 2010 Affordable Care Act.
The credit is worth up to 35 percent of a small business's premium costs (25 percent for tax-exempt employers). In 2014, this rate increases to 50 percent (35 percent for tax-exempt employers).
California small businesses can review the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines to determine eligibility for the tax credit on the new business-oriented website,www.healthlawguideforbusiness.org. The website offers a “tax credit calculator” that helps employers estimate savings available under the law.
Qualifying for the Credit
To qualify, an employer must have fewer than the equivalent of 25 full-time workers (for example, an employer with fewer than 50 half-time workers may be eligible). A qualifying employer also must pay average annual wages below $50,000.
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Tags: tax credit, health insurance, Small business, small business heath care tax credit, small employers, Employers, health care reform
A California Court of Appeal sided with an employer in a recent lawsuit over unpaid overtime wages. Clarifying the definition of a commissioned inside salesperson, the court found that the employer properly classified the employees as exempt, and therefore owed the employees no overtime compensation. Muldrew v. Surrex Solutions Corp., 202 Cal.App.4th 1232 (2012)
Tags: commission, inside sales, salesperson, outside sales, HR Allen Consulting Services, Commissions
Sacramento’ HR Allen Consulting Services looks to update and educate California employers and HR professionals on HR and employment law trends and topics
Tags: Podcast, HR Podcast, blogtalkradio, HR Allen Consulting Services, HR Informant, HR Allen
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) just issued two guides (one for employers and one for disabled veterans) addressing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and employment protections for veterans with service-connected disabilities.
The guides reflect legal changes made to ADA laws when the ADA was amended in 2008. These legal changes, according to the EEOC, made it “easier for veterans with a wide range of impairments – including those that are often not well understood – such as traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTD), to get needed reasonable accommodations that will enable them to work successfully.”
The Guide for Employers explains how the ADA applies to recruiting, hiring and accommodating disabled veterans. The guide also explains the difference between protection for veterans provided by the ADA versus those protections provided by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
For example, the Guide for Employers explains that:
Tags: ADA laws, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), disabilities act, disabled veterans, EEOC regulations, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), VA, VA assistance, VA disability, veterans administration, veterans disability benefits, veterans disability claims
Ever get the feeling your workers would rather be doing anything other than working? Do you have unusually high turnover? If the answer to either question is yes, it could be that you’re hiring the wrong people. But it could also very well beyou. In a small-business environment, there aren’t many (if any) other people to blame when there’s a management problem.
Tags: Productivity, HR, performance review, employees, HR Allen Consulting Services, management
Two state entities are holding a series of public meetings across the state to gather comments about current workers’ compensation issues from employers and other stakeholders.
The open forum discussions are planned by the state Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC). DIR and DWC also seek suggestions for improvements.
DIR Director Christine Baker and DWC Administrative Director Rosa Moran will be among the speakers at the meetings.
Topics of discussion will include:
Tags: DIR, workers' comp, DWC, workers' compensation, HR Allen Consulting Services
The online era arms small-business owners with myriad tools and information for finding and hiring employees. It can be tempting to scope out a potential employee’s social profiles, too. Yet using social media to dig up dirt on an applicant can lead to hiring mistakes and even legal trouble.
Tags: Recruiting, LinkedIn, HR Allen Consulting Services, Hiring, facebook
The state Labor Commissioner announced the creation of a Criminal Investigation Unit (CIU) to target employers who perpetrate “wage theft.”
Generally, “wage theft” is a phrase used to refer to infractions of the California Labor Code involving the payment of wages to workers. Wage theft might refer to employers who fail to pay for all hours worked, fail to pay nonexempt employees overtime, fail to pay minimum wage or fail to properly classify workers as employees and report them to the various state and federal agencies.
According to Labor Commissioner Julie Su, the new criminal unit “will be tasked with leveling the playing field for California employers by raising the stakes for those who underpay, underbid and under-report in violation of the law.”
Tags: employee rights, CA min wage, California labor board, California labor laws overtime, California overtime pay, employees rights, Equal pay for equal work, exempt employee, fair labor, nonexempt employee, overtime pay laws, Salary requirements, wage theft prevention, California Labor Code, HR Allen Consulting Services, unfair labor practices, wage and hour
HR Allen is asking employers and HR Professionals to tell us how will their company will address March Madness this year.
Tags: Productivity, march madness, workplace, officepools, office pool, HR Allen Consulting Services
Today, a federal district court for the District of Columbia issued a decision in a lawsuit brought by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) challenging the new NLRA posting requirement. The court upheld the posting requirement, but struck down some of the enforcement provisions relating to the new rule.
As previously reported, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided to require most private-sector employers to post a new notice entitled "Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act." NAM challenged the posting requirement on multiple legal grounds, including arguments that the posting requirement exceeded the NLRB’s authority under the NLRA and that the requirement violated employers’ First Amendment free speech rights.
In the first decision on this issue, the federal court issued a split decision upholding part of the new rule, while overturning other provisions. The court ruled that:
Tags: NLRA poster, new NLRA poster, private sector employers, NLRB posting requirement, employees, HR Allen Consulting Services, Employers