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The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2009-10. Although Opinion Letters only apply to the exact set of facts and circumstances presented in each case, they are a valuable aid in understanding current interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Because the letter was apparently never mailed after it was signed, the DOL under new Secretary Hilda L. Solis has decided to withdraw the letter for further consideration. Therefore, this letter may not be relied upon as a statement of agency policy. It is possible that a different conclusion may be reached when the Opinion Letter is reissued.

In this Opinion Letter, the DOL confirmed that community members who coach athletic teams qualify as teachers under the FLSA. Although a teaching certificate indicates that an employee qualifies for the exemption, there is no requirement that a teacher possess a certificate to qualify. Further, “there is no minimum education or academic degree required” for the exemption. Coaches qualify as teachers if their primary duty is “teaching and imparting knowledge to students in an educational establishment.” Since these community members apparently do not provide other services to the school district and there is no salary requirement for teachers under the FLSA, the coaches qualify and are exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements.

State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. The DOL may come to a different conclusion when it reissues the Opinion Letter after further consideration. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions about this Opinion Letter.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2009-9. Although Opinion Letters only apply to the exact set of facts and circumstances presented in each case, they are a valuable aid in understanding current interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Because the letter was apparently never mailed after it was signed, the DOL under new Secretary Hilda L. Solis has decided to withdraw the letter for further consideration. Therefore, this letter may not be relied upon as a statement of agency policy. It is possible that a different conclusion may be reached when the Opinion Letter is reissued.

In this Opinion Letter, the DOL ruled that civilian helicopter pilots employed by the Division of State Police do not qualify as exempt employees under the FLSA. The pilots are not executive employees since “their primary duty is not managing the department or subdivision in which they are employed.” They are not administrative employees since piloting a helicopter is not “office or non-manual” work. The DOL has long held that pilots do not qualify under learned professional exemption since their primary duty does not have any “advanced knowledge that must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.”

State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. The DOL may come to a different conclusion when it reissues the Opinion Letter after further consideration. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions about this Opinion Letter.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued Administrator signed Opinion Letter FLSA2009-8. Although Opinion Letters only apply to the exact set of facts and circumstances presented in each case, they are a valuable aid in understanding current interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Because the letter was apparently never mailed after it was signed, the DOL under new Secretary Hilda L. Solis has decided to withdraw the letter for further consideration. Therefore, this letter may not be relied upon as a statement of agency policy. It is possible that a different conclusion may be reached when the Opinion Letter is reissued.

In this Opinion Letter, the DOL reviews the pay policy of a company that engages primarily in “drain cleaning and other minor plumbing repair and replacement services involving such items as water heaters, disposals, and toilets.” Eighty to ninety percent of the company’s revenues are from retail sales or services to private homeowners. The technicians receive pay based on twenty-three percent of the revenues attributable to their labor and five percent of the revenue attributable to their parts sales. They also receive a monthly bonus that is dependent on monthly sales. Their pay is guaranteed to be more than 150% of the minimum wage and is generally three to six times the minimum wage.

The DOL ruled that “because more than seventy-five percent of its annual dollar volume of goods and services it not for resale”, it qualifies as a “retail or service establishment”. Employees of such establishments are exempt from minimum wage if:

1. The regular rate of pay of such employee is in excess of one and one-half times the minimum wage, and
2. More than half of the employee’s compensation for a representative period (not less than one month) represents commissions on goods and services.

Since the employees apparently qualify under these standards, they are exempt from the minimum wage laws.

State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. The DOL may come to a different conclusion when it reissues the Opinion Letter after further consideration. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions about this Opinion Letter.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Notice 2009-27, Premium assistance for COBRA benefits. Pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA, certain involuntarily terminated employees are eligible for employer-provided subsidies to help pay for their Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) continuation coverage. Employers may then claim a payroll tax credit on their Form 941 to be reimbursed for the assistance provided.

In recently issued guidance, the IRS explained how state agencies should allocate the COBRA premium reduction credit. Often a single state agency may provide health care coverage to employees of several other state agencies and local government units. Generally, the credit is attributed to the agency or unit that was the former employer whose termination of the employee made the employee eligible for the subsidy. When a plan is subject to COBRA under the Public Health Services Act (PHSA) and the former employee is required to pay the thirty-five percent share directly to the agency that maintains the health plan, however, that agency may claim the credit as long as it has received notification that the former employee was involuntarily terminated and that the former employing agency will not claim the credit. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the COBRA premium reduction credit.

This week’s question comes from Marco, a small business owner in Massachusetts. I terminated an employee. He wants to get his paycheck before he leaves the building. How quickly must I pay a terminated employee? Answer: Under Massachusetts General Law (MGL) c. 149 §148, “any employee discharged from such employment shall be paid in full on the day of his discharge.” Therefore, Massachusetts employers should pay terminated employees on the day of their termination. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on paying terminated employees.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending July 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 522,000, a decrease of 47,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 569,000. The 4-week moving average was 584,500, a decrease of 22,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 607,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.7% for the week ending July 4, a decrease of 0.5 percentage points from the prior week’s revised rate of 5.2%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 4 was 6,273,000, a decrease of 642,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 6,915,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,666,750, a decrease of 110,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 6,777,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.449 million.

Employers are often thrilled to have those employees who are always on time, never take a sick day, and never take a vacation. But are they model employees, necessary employees, or a stress case waiting to happen? Does returning to a desk-full of unfinished work worry them? Are they worried about losing work to a co-worker? Or in this time of layoffs are they worried about appearing to uncommitted to their work?

Learn the answers to these questions and also what you need to know about how local laws may impact your vacation policies in this month’s HRCast, a recording provided by our team of HR Pros and available exclusively on MyHRSupportCenter. You’ll learn if you must offer vacation time and if you should offer vacation time. Learn if you can cap the employee’s balance at some pre-determined level, whether you can limit how much vacation is taken, or when it is taken. Learn what you need to know about forced vacation time and how it’s impacted by the employee’s exempt or non-exempt status.

Visit MyHRSupportCenter regularly not only for our HRCasts, but also to get late-breaking compliance alerts, best practices to implement, and HR tools to use every day. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Notice 2009-27, Premium assistance for COBRA benefits. Pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA, certain involuntarily terminated employees are eligible for employer-provided subsidies to help pay for their Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) continuation coverage. Employers may then claim a payroll tax credit on their Form 941 to be reimbursed for the assistance provided.

In recently issued guidance, the IRS discussed the results when a group health plan (other than a multiemployer plan) covers employees of two or more employers that are members of a single controlled group. A controlled group is considered a single employer for purposes of employee benefits but not for payroll taxes. Consequently, the credit is attributed to the former employer whose termination of the employee made the employee eligible for the subsidy. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the COBRA premium reduction credit.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Notice 2009-27, Premium assistance for COBRA benefits. Pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA, certain involuntarily terminated employees are eligible for employer-provided subsidies to help pay for their Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) continuation coverage. Employers may then claim a payroll tax credit on their Form 941 to be reimbursed for the assistance provided.

In recently issued guidance, the IRS explained that when a group health plan covers employees of two or more unrelated employers, then the credit is attributed to the former employer whose termination of the employee made the employee eligible for the subsidy. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the COBRA premium reduction credit.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Notice 2009-27, Premium assistance for COBRA benefits. Pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA, certain involuntarily terminated employees are eligible for employer-provided subsidies to help pay for their Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) continuation coverage. Employers may then claim a payroll tax credit on their Form 941 to be reimbursed for the assistance provided.

In recently issued guidance, the IRS confirmed that employers, multiemployer plans, and insurers are not required to report on Form W-2 or Form 1099 any premium subsidies provided to Assistance Eligible Individuals (AEIs). They are requited to keep records and supporting documentation for any such payments to AEIs and to support any credit claimed on Form 941. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the COBRA premium reduction credit.