Tip of the Month: Sometimes What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

It is that time of year when the words IRS start to become a concern for most of us. Whether it is your own personal tax return or tax issues for the corporation at which you work, the iron fist of the Internal Revenue Service is ready to "make you pay" one way or the other. 

A big topic of discussion around this time of year is the classification of independent contractors. 

According to the folks at SI Review over 25% of their recent survey respondents had no idea at all if all their workers were properly classified. Another 62% were confident that at least some of their workers were probably misclassified. Only 13% were confident that they nailed it and had everyone in compliance with the law. 

So why worry? Well, a whopping 40% of buyers reported that their independent contractor pools have been audited by an outside agency....usually you guessed, the IRS. And, these audits took place within the past six months. This translates in to high risk! 

Consider this as well. If the IRS doesn't get you, the individual just might. How you say? Most often it starts when the "independent" goes to file for unemployment benefits or a worker's compensation claim and is denied. Or a claim is made for overtime pay or other benefits paid to your full time staff. Can anyone say Microsoft? 

What do we suggest you do if you think this may be an issue? The first thing to do is visit the IRS.gov website and take a look at the qualifications needed for an individual to be properly classified as an independent contractor. 

If you think you have a problem, contact Ryan Staffing and we can help you establish the individual as a payroll employee of Ryan Staffing at a rate that is very affordable. This provides continuity of the employee's services and compliance with the law so that you can rest easy. And one less thing to worry about can't ever be bad right? 

Tim's Talking About Business Tax Hike, Manpower in Vietnam and Whistleblowers

THE BUSINESS TAX HIKE NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT 

As many of you know, the Federal unemployment tax rate is 6.0% of the first $7,000 of an employee's wages which was reduced from 6.2% in the second half of 2011. Employers have normally received a credit of 5.4% from the payment of their state unemployment taxes making the net FUTA rate .6%. 

What you might not know is that because Ohio is one of 20 states that have not paid back borrowed funds from the Federal government that 5.4% credit will be reduced to 5.1% in 2012. This .3% reduction in the credit will continue to take place every year the money is not paid back by the State of Ohio. 

It could be worse. Michigan is now in its third year of "default" and their credit deduction for employers is down to 4.5%. This in effect represents a tax hike for all Ohio employers that nobody is talking about! 

ATTENTION ALL YOU MANPOWER USERS 

I suppose this should not bother me as much anymore. But growing up in the 60's and knowing about all the tragedies of the Vietnam War, I still said ouch when I came across this announcement. 

Manpower Group signs new deal with Vietnam

It seems that Manpower recently signed a new three year deal to partner with Vietnam to continue working to develop that country's local labor market. They are now the first 100% foreign owned employment services company with a license to operate in Vietnam. 

So aside from the war issue, Manpower is now working hard to exploit the low skilled, low wage labor force of Vietnam that continues to take jobs away from the United States. 

Something to think about. 

TEMP OR NOW TEMP YOU JUST CAN'T DO IT! 

This is the message sent out by OSHA recently in a case involving the termination of an employee for filing a worker's compensation claim. That message sent out by the Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA stated, "This case sends a clear message that OSHA will not tolerate retaliation against workers for reporting a work-related injury."

The case involved a Nebraska based Union Pacific Railroad Company employee and was filed as a whistleblower complaint. The company was ordered to pay back wages, compensatory damages, attorney fees and punitive damages. 

You can find detailed employee whistleblower rights information under OSHA at www.whistleblower.gov. 

IF YOU THINK TEMP COMPLAINTS ARE NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY...Think again! 

Blockbuster recently settled a discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC to the tune of $2 million that involved alleged sexual harassment and racial discrimination against female temps by male supervisors at one of its distribution centers. 

The incidents took place in 2004 and 2005 and involved seven female temporary employees, four of whom were Hispanic. The alleged acts included sexual favors, offensive racial remarks, yelling and forced resignations among other things. 

The EEOC attorney pointed out that "Employers who are customers of staffing agencies have a responsibility to protect their temporary workers from unlawful discrimination". 

Frankie Vali and the Four Seasons contest winners from October 2011 newsletter

The winner of last month's contest for the tickets to see Frankie Vali and the Four Seasons was Stephanie from Fastener Tool in Solon. As an added bonus, we also gave away twelve Frankie Vali CDs to go along with the tickets to the following readers:

• Charlotte Rowe - Mantaline, Stow
• Cindy Craver - American Way, Lordstown
• Dorothy Mitchell - Xaloy, Boardman
• Debbie Tefs - Hubbell, Wadsworth
• Pam Kochman - Radix Wire, Cleveland
• Ron Serich - Goodwill, Youngstown
• Linda Barron  - Toys R Us    
• Brandon Lands - Hygenic, Akron
• Christine Zaletel - Swagelok, Solon
• John Angelilli - John Zidian Company, Youngstown   
• Don Snyder - Aqua America, Canton

Tim's Talking About Ohio's Minimum Wage, a Lesson Against Payroll Scheming and Small Business Hiring Prediction

Ohio Minimum Wage Rate Rising

While you probably have heard by now that the Ohio minimum wage rate for most will increase to $7.70 per hour January 1, 2012 did you know that Ohio has only had its own rate since 2007? That's right, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2006 creating our own rate with an annual CPI review.

Perhaps no coincidence, state unemployment figures have been higher every year since. Since 2007 the Ohio rate has now increased from $6.85 to the upcoming $7.70 per hour and is $.45 higher than the current Federal rate.

And did you know that the Federal Minimum Wage Act created in 1938 set the first minimum wage at $.25 per hour. Currently 30 states have a rate that mirrors the Federal rate. The highest state rate is the State of Washington at $8.67 per hour. Several southern states have no state minimum wage and Georgia has the lowest rate at $5.15/hour.

Know Who You Are Doing Business With!

A former owner of a  Massachusetts based staffing company was sentenced to seven years in prison for running a $30 million under the table payroll scheme. Apparently Michael Powers paid the money under the table to workers over a five year period to workers to avoid paying the payroll taxes on the funds. The IRS will also get $9 million in past due taxes as part of the sentence.

Take A Lesson From The CAT

If you are a stock watcher you may have noticed that heavy industrial equipment maker Caterpillar has been on a roll lately having beat earnings estimates for the third quarter by about 25%. 

What you may not know is that Caterpillar has increased its "flexible" workforce 35.1% in that same quarter. The company's flexible workforce totaled 27,385 up 7,117 from the third quarter of 2010. Full time traditional employment was up 18.7%.

TD Bank Reports 16% Of Small Firms Hire

According to the survey 16% of all small businesses plan to create at least one new position during the  fourth quarter of 2011. Another 69% reported they plan to keep staffing levels the same.

Another 66% expect to meet or exceed revenue projections during the current quarter. The survey serves to point out the importance of small business in getting things turned around in this economy.

Tip of the Month: Give A Small Business A Chance...If You Can

With all the talk about "Small Business Saturday" coming up after "Black Friday" and before "Cyber Monday" it should be no surprise that we support using "locals" whenever we can here at Ryan Alternative Staffing.

When you are a small business owner (like us) and you've gone down that path of starting something from scratch, taking all the risks associated with being a start-up along with the daily grind of worrying whether you're going to make it you appreciate others in that same boat. But it is more than that...

Consider that 99% of businesses with payrolls in this country are small businesses and that they employ more than half of all workers and create 80% of all new jobs. This means that there is a good chance that a friend, neighbor or family member depends on those that support small business.

Small business accounts for about 60% of U.S. GDP and has created 93% or 21.9 million of the new jobs created in America since 1989.

Some say that if you want to get this country moving again small business is the engine to do this. You want to lower unemployment....create an environment to help start-ups. You want to increase the tax base....turn the creative juices of entrepreneurship loose.

The Clinton Administration created 20 million new jobs....many came from start-ups. Think about Amazon starting in a garage and now employing 30,000 people.

Ronald Reagan said in a 1988 speech to students at Moscow University of all places that, "The explorers of the modern era are the entrepreneurs, men with vision, with the courage to take risks and faith enough to brave the unknown. These entrepreneurs and their small business enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States."

The most important thing you (personally) or your company can do is obviously to support small business owners with your business. Supporting political candidates that support small business initiatives is another way. If you need a few more reasons consider these:

*Keeping Dollars In The Local Economy

*Local Job Creation

*Local Decision Making

*Local Prosperity and  Community Well Being

*Product Diversity*

All that small business owners ask for is a chance to provide you or your place of business their product or service. We don't expect special treatment and we know that we have to deliver the goods so to speak.

So the next time you get ready to call for temporary staffing services look past those "giants" and give us little guys a chance. It just may be the best move you've ever made.

TIP OF THE MONTH: GETTING INSIDE THE AVERGE TEMP'S HEAD

Last month we took a brief survey of our active temps and applicants for temporary employment to gain some insight on their thought process about issues temps face every day. While the results was not all that shocking to us it may serve some use to those using temporary staffing services to get the most bang for your buck.

For example, the number reason why a temp quits an assignment before it is over is because it became apparent that there was no chance for permanent hire. Next was inadequate job training ahead of the pay rate being too low.

When it came to deciding to accept a temp assignment permanent hire opportunity was again the most important factor followed closely by pay rate and somewhat surprising, job location.

A combined total of 55% of those responding rated the quality of job training received at the start of the assignment as either excellent or very good. Those less satisfied felt they were just handed over to another worker, sometimes another temp to teach them the ropes. Similarly, 38% thought the safety training received was very thorough while 24% said they received no real safety training beyond using their own common sense.

We all know that the "first day" on the job comes with some anxiety. We found 48% reported having a client rep waiting for them and spending a fair amount of time orienting them on expectations and helping them get off to a good start. The negative was the 34% that arrived with nobody to greet them and not being sure where to go. Another 10% reported being turned over to another production worker upon arrival and told to do whatever that person tells you to do....not a great start. Imagine, not one of our survey participants said the first day was the greatest time of their life because they were put in an air conditioned conference room with unlimited coffee and donuts to devour while watching videos about the client for four hours.

Given a choice 41% described their last temp experience as one where they were given the impression that they were nothing more than cheap labor without any future working for the client and that they could be replaced tomorrow....OUCH! On the plus side, 21% felt as though they were an important part of the process by the way they were treated by others and that there was some potential future at the client. About 31% put their impression somewhere in the middle.

We also directed a few questions towards how our staff was perceived. About 45% said that our staff did an excellent or very good job in the overall placement process from start to finish. Nearly 14% seemed to think that we did not present the job accurately or that the placement was a complete waste of time and that they would not be returning. On a similar note 59% graded the Ryan Staffing experience positively with 24% not being happy campers at all mostly due to never being placed on assignment.

One of the biggest problems in the staffing industry is the temp that accepts an assignment and then fails to show up for the first day of work without calling anyone. This is the dreaded NCNS..no call/no show in industry lingo. The number one reason why this happens according to our survey is that the temp after the fact gets home and decides that the job is to far away for the pay rate and that the staffing company will have no problem finding someone else to take their place (35%). A close second is that they receive a better off from another service and they know they will never return to the original service anyway so "what the heck" (31%). It's funny but 14% used payback for not being placed quicker s the reason.

It would seem from both the perspective of the supplier and the user that some easy opportunity exists to make the temp experience more productive by putting ourselves in the temps shoes and asking how we would like to be treated.....is that not true about a lot of things in life?

Tim's Talking About Ohio's Minimum Wage, Election Season and Canada's Job Push

Ohio Minimum Wage To Go Up

In case you have not heard, the Ohio minimum wage will increase by 30 cents from $7.40 per hour to $7.70 per hour on January 1, 2012. This impacts all Ohio employers with annual gross receipts of $283,000 or more. Those with less can pay the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Sometimes I think I should own stock in those companies that make all the bulletin board legal posters.

Staffing Employment Up

Staffing employment went up 3 percent in September from August according to the ASA. The index stands at 90 for the first time this year but is still 1.2 percent lower than the year ago reading.

World Series OF Wine Winner

Renee Seitz, Wellman Products is last month's lucky winner of a pair of tickets to the 2011 World Series Of Wine at the Terrace Club in Progressive Field. The 16th annual event provides a spectacular wine weekend with a variety of 400 wines from over 150 fine wineries. Proceeds from this charity event all go to support local public television programs.

Election Day Fast Approaching

With election day fast approaching on November 8th keep in mind that Ohio election law can impact the rights of your employees.

Specifically, you cannot threaten to discharge or discharge an employee for taking a reasonable amount of time to vote (reasonable of course is not defined).

It against the law to refuse to permit an employee to serve as an election official.

And of course you cannot beat an employee up for not voting the way you want....I simplified it.

The point is employees have election day rights and before you get in trouble for trampling all over them you might want to check out the basics.

One Way To Cut Our Unemployment Rate-Canada's Hiring

According to the federal immigration minister of CANADA of all places, it is looking into ways to tap the U.S. labor force for anticipated shortages in parts of our northern neighbor. While our rate remains stuck over 9% the rate in Alberta is 5.6% mainly from a renewal in oilsands development.

According to the minister, "a lot of skilled tradespeople in the U.S. could walk straight into productive jobs here". Canada imported some 185,000 of these workers from around the world last year.

Lookout Independent Contractor's

Last month the U.S. Department of Labor held a "ceremony" where that department signed an agreement with the IRS to coordinate efforts to nab those posing as independent contractors to avoid paying taxes. Amnesty is being offered to companies that may be violation of the provisions related to this misclassification" issue.

Changes In Background Checking Coming?

As expected Governor Jerry Brown of California signed Assembly Bill 22 in to law which greatly restricts an employer's ability to use credit reports in the hiring process. While it excludes most positions that have confidential access or financial/proprietary information duties it does start a trend that has led to the "Ban the Box" movement across the country.

Staffing on the rise, hot start for Browns and background check reform in this edition of Tim's Talkin

STAFFING INDUSTRY GROWING JOBS...DOING ITS PART!

Despite the recent dismal August jobs report nationally that produced a net zero for new jobs, staffing employment rose 5.4% in the second quarter fm the first quarter and 8.6% from the second quarter last year. According to the American Staffing Association this is the six straight quarter of temporary and contract growth since industry began its recovery from the recession in 2009. This has amounted to 200,000 new jobs in the past twelve months.

ANOTHER HIRING OBSTACLE TO WORRY ABOUT

Do you have to hire an applicant in drug treatment on methadone? According to the EEOC you cannot automatically rule out hiring a person that tests positive for methadone which is a medication prescribed in drug treatment programs for recovering opiate addicts.

Under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA)" recovering addictions" are considered disabilities. United Insurance Company of America is finding this out the hard way as did Hussey Copper in Leetsdala, PA which paid out $85,000 to settle a similar case before hiring the addict to a mason utility laborer position.

Makes you wonder what the EEOC would do in hiring to fill a position within its ranks with a recovery addict? My guess is that they are exempt!

BIG SEASON AHEAD FOR THE BROWNS!

According to the experts that participated in our survey of how the Browns season will go it will be a very good year on the shores of Lake Erie. Our pundits have the orange and brown finishing the season at 10-5-1 but not doing well within the tough AFC North. Optimism always runs wild on the Browns this time of year.

And congrats goes out to Eric Spradling of Power Direct Energy for his participation in the survey. He will be going to the Browns-Miami game on September 25th as last month's winner of a Browns prize package.

BACKGROUND CHECKING REFORM PICKS UP STEAM

We have reported in this column recently about meetings conducted by the EEOC concerning the use of criminal background checks in the hiring process.

Well, according to recent reports the EEOC is definitely leaning towards revising their 20 year old background check guidelines. Frustrations over inaccurate and incomplete background checks have gotten them to this point.

In short, the view of the EEOC is that criminal background checks should not come in to play in the pre-employment.