With summer fast approaching many employers use volunteer workers for a host of reasons. While being proactive, we highly recommend employers review the Department of Labor guidelines to ensure that they are not violating the law.

As a reminder, the Department of Labor strictly prohibits for-profit and private-sector businesses from using volunteers. Other key areas the DOL looks at in determining noncompliance are benefits for work and employer-employee relationships. These three areas are often overlooked by employers.

The Fair Labor Standards Act defines an employee as an individual employed by an employer. The term ”employee” does not include volunteers who work without any compensation, implied or not. Workers who expect to receive a benefit are employees and are entitled to mandatory wages, regardless of whether they view themselves as volunteers.

The test to determine whether an individual is an employee under FLSA is one of “economic reality” not technical concepts. If audited, the DOL and the courts review what the person expected to receive as a benefit for their work, the services provided, and if they were integral to the business. We strongly recommend a review of the DOL guidelines for potential exposures and contacting our offices for any guidance needed.

Benefits

HIPAA and Health Plans You Never Knew Applied.  Did you know that extra benefits your company offers its employees like Employee Assistance Programs and Wellness Plans are subject to HIPAA privacy and security rules? In both cases, employers must comply to the extent services are offered under a group health plan that provides medical care.

Examples of EAP medical care include providers that are staffed by healthcare professionals such as licensed counselors and therapists. Wellness programs are subject to HIPAA as it provides medical benefits at a reduced rate. Benefits like drawing blood, disease management, smoking cessation services, and flu shots all fall under HIPAA regulations.

Employers should review its compliance responsibility with its plan administrator or HR Consultant to develop and implement all the necessary documentation for compliance.

Payroll Compliance

The IRS has released an updated Backup Withholding Rate that has been reduced from 28% to 24% on payments made after December 31, 2017. The backup withholding requirements apply to information that is filed with a missing or incorrect taxpayer identification number. Filers may be required to withhold a specified percentage of certain reportable payments made to payees for whom the information return was filed. For more information visit www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1281.pdf

For these and all other HR, Benefits, and Payroll related issues CorpStrat is here to help. Contact us today to learn more.

Who said starting a small business was easy? When it comes to human resources and small business, the role and value of human resources is often questioned. Over the past 10 years, the role of HR has been evolving beyond just hiring and firing. Many CEO’s feel hiring and firing is simple, so why have the added cost of engaging a Human Resources Professional?

Today’s HR is very complex and time consuming. HR professional’s wear many hats and need to have expertise in employment law, human rights, health and safety, behavior and culture, compensation, benefits, and recruiting to name a few.

Efficiency and Knowledge

The do-it-yourself approach often leads small business owners into legal trouble with the lack of necessary HR knowledge, legal updates, and people-related requirements. When partnering with a HR professional, you will receive appropriate guidance on important legislative updates such as wage increases, overtime compliance, health and safety, employment agreements, and mandatory leaves.

Scalability

No matter what the size of your organization, continual investment in your staff via culture development and growth opportunities is key to being competitive and staying ahead of the competition are key. An HR professional can provide key consultation and assist in attaining, retaining, and developing your staff. By investing in HR you are telling your staff that they are important and you will make sure they have the resources they need to achieve the necessary goals to move forward together.

Bottom line, if you want a successful and profitable business in the long run, there comes a time when your management-related tasks should be handed off to a knowledgeable and talented HR professional. Ensuring the necessary human resources support is important for all businesses; it will guarantee your best assets are well taken care of, and it is a step towards building success. If you were facing a legal challenge you would call a lawyer. Why take the chance with do-it-yourself HR? Make the investment and call today.

New HSA Family Contribution Limits For 2018

As part of the recent Tax Reform law, the IRS reduced Health Savings Accounts (HSA) limits of the HSA family contribution limit.

The revision is due to a change in ‘how’ the amount is calculated. “Chained CPI” will be used for annual inflation adjustments beginning with the 2018 tax year instead of using the CPI (Consumer Price Index).

For the tax year 2018 the new “Chained CPI” calculation will reduce the HSA contribution limit for family coverage to $6,850, instead of $6,900. This is a reduction of $50. The self-only limit remains unchanged from the previously announced amount of $3,450. Client and participants should take action to ensure everyone is within compliance. Anyone who has contributed an amount more than $6,850 for 2018 should contact their HSA administrator to address the contribution.

According to Kiplinger, the IRS recalculated the inflation adjustment used to regulate the maximum HSA contributions for the year. The IRS then announced that $6,850 was the new limit, but this caused problems for participants who had already contributed the maximum amount.

The complete IRS bulletin 2018-10, can be found by here.

Steps to take as a participant:

• If you’ve removed $50 from your HAS due to the reduction in price, you may repay the $50 to your HSA as a mistaken distribution without taxes or penalties.
• If you decide not to repay the distribution, you may treat this as excess contribution.

Steps to take as an employer:

• Employers who offer High-Deductible Health Plans and HSA, should review their staffer’s contributions and decide whether or not if employer contributions would exceed the family maximum.

Be prepared because the contribution limits for 2019 will likely be announced in the next month.

Today’s employers have an agenda to not only please their clients, but to create a positive office culture with including ‘workplace dogs.’ The VC era has spawned a new wave of employee centric thinking and workplaces. Companies like Google, Facebook, Zappos, and Apple have created environments where employees are free to express themselves, coffee and food are abundant and free, and a relaxed fun environment where creativity is encouraged and nurtured.

[Read more…] about Dogs At The Office: Has The World Gone Crazy?

In one of the most aggressive efforts in the nation to curb soaring healthcare spending, a new California measure would put the state in charge of setting prices for hospital stays, doctor’s visits and most other medical services covered by commercial insurers. But opponents counter that capping prices could reduce patients’ ability to get care by driving doctors out of state and hospitals to scale back their services.

[Read more…] about Can California Regulate The Costs of Healthcare?

When a company lacks HR efficiency, it can be detrimental not only to overall productivity, but it can also create a disconnect between you and your employees. Fortunately, an employee self-service human resources (ESS HR system) is an effective solution to this problem. ESS portals provide numerous benefits for employees. Consolidation of information into a single user-friendly gateway, creates efficiencies and helps speed up organizational objectives. ESS HR systems also play a crucial role in raising HR’s importance in the organization, enabling HR professionals to spend more time on strategic efforts than on focusing on administrative transactions. Here’s why your employees will love this type of system.

[Read more…] about The Value of Employee Self-Service Systems