Vision Payroll

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending June 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 456,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 459,000. The 4-week moving average was 463,000, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 460,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5% for the week ending May 29, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the prior week’s revised rate of 3.7%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 29 was 4,462,000, a decrease of 255,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,717,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,617,500, a decrease of 49,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,666,750.

The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.120 million.

As one of the health care reform provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), a tax credit is available to help offset the employer health care cost of offering employee benefits. On May 17, 2010, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provided new detailed guidance especially helpful for small businesses. With this information, small employers could determine their tax credit qualification and the estimated credit amount.

Do you understand the tax credit qualification process? Do you know the three steps in the determination process? Are you aware of the employer considerations for the credit?

For detailed information on these processes, employer considerations and much more, be sure to read the featured article by the HR pros at MyHRSupportCenter, New IRS Guidance on the New Health Care Tax Credit. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

Allied Waste Services of Massachusetts, LLC (Allied Waste) agreed to pay $1,327,567 in additional restitution discovered during an audit required by a previous settlement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 2009, Allied Waste had reached an agreement to pay restitution of over $404,000 and a $50,000 penalty to settle certain prevailing wage and overtime violations for trash disposal work performed at the Oak Bluffs/Tisbury Transfer Station. At the same time, Allied Waste agreed to an audit of its prevailing wage and overtime calculation for all employees in Massachusetts. According to a press release issued by the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, Allied Waste cooperated with the Attorney General’s Office throughout the investigation. Due to the complexity of prevailing wage and overtime calculations, Vision Payroll strongly recommends that employers consult with a competent labor law attorney to assure compliance with these laws.

On May 5, 2010, Governor M. Jodi Rell of the State of Connecticut signed into law Public Act 10-12, An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Joint Enforcement Commission on Employee Misclassification. Under the law, effective October 1, 2010, the penalty for misclassifying workers as independent contractors goes from $300 per violation to $300 per day per violation. Additionally, the failure to properly classify workers with the intent to injure, defraud or deceive the state of Connecticut (in addition to insurance companies) by failing to pay workers’ compensation assessments or Second Injury Fund assessments is now a class D felony. Given the severe penalties for misclassifying workers in Connecticut, as well as increased enforcement at both the state and federal levels, Vision Payroll strongly recommends employers consult with a competent labor law attorney to assure compliance with federal and state worker classification laws.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed that police officers in the city of Mesa, Arizona were not entitled under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to be paid for time spent donning and doffing their uniforms and protective gear, in the case of Fred Bamonte, et al. v City of Mesa, 08-16206 (9^th Cir. 3/25/2010). According to the appeals court, since “officers had the option of donning and doffing their uniforms and gear at home, the district court determined that these activities were not compensable pursuant to the FLSA and the Portal-to-Portal Act.” The court agreed with this determination and affirmed the district court granting of summary judgment in favor of the City of Mesa. Since many factors affect determinations of compensable time under the FLSA, Vision Payroll strongly recommends employers consult with a competent labor law attorney to assure compliance with the FLSA.

Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 431,000 in May, reflecting the hiring of 411,000 temporary employees to work on Census 2010, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported recently. Private-sector employment changed little (+41,000). Manufacturing, temporary help services, and mining added jobs, while construction employment declined. The unemployment rate edged down to 9.7%.

The number of unemployed persons was 15.0 million in May. The unemployment rate edged down to 9.7%, the same rate as in the first 3 months of 2010.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for blacks (15.5%) declined in May, while the rates for adult men (9.8%), adult women (8.1%), teenagers (26.4%), whites (8.8%), and Hispanics (12.4%) showed little change. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.5%, not seasonally adjusted.

In May, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was about unchanged at 6.8 million. These individuals made up 46.0% of unemployed persons, about the same as in April.

The number of unemployed reentrants to the labor force fell by 286,000 in May, offsetting an increase in April.

In May, the civilian labor force participation rate edged down by 0.2 percentage points to 65.0%. The employment-population ratio was about unchanged over the month at 58.7%

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) declined by 343,000 in May to 8.8 million. These individuals were working part-time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

About 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in May, unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

Among the marginally attached, there were 1.1 million discouraged workers in May, up by 291,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.1 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

This week’s question comes from Lynn, a business owner. I recently hired my spouse to work in my sole proprietorship. My spouse qualifies using Form W-11, but I’m not sure if my spouse is considered my relative. Can my spouse’s wages qualify for payroll tax forgiveness? Answer: Under the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, employers may avoid paying social security tax on qualified employees and receive an income tax credit for retaining those employees. Employers are required to obtain a signed affidavit from qualified employees. Certain relatives of the taxpayer, as defined in §152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC) are not eligible for the payroll tax forgiveness or the credit. They are:

• A child or a descendant of a child.
• A brother, sister, stepbrother, or stepsister.
• The father or mother, or an ancestor of either.
• A stepfather or stepmother.
• A son or daughter of a brother or sister of the taxpayer.
• A brother or sister of the father or mother of the taxpayer.
• A son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.
• An individual (other than an individual who at any time during the taxable year was the spouse, determined without regard to [IRC] §7703, of the taxpayer) who, for the taxable year of the taxpayer, has the same principal place of abode as the taxpayer and is a member of the taxpayer’s household.

Since a spouse is not on the list of ineligible employees, wages paid to spouses of sole proprietors who otherwise qualify are eligible for payroll tax forgiveness and potentially the retention credit. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any further questions on HIRE Act.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending May 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 453,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 463,000. The 4-week moving average was 459,000, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 457,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6% for the week ending May 22, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.6%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 22 was 4,666,000, an increase of 31,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,635,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,654,000, an increase of 9,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,644,250.

The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.124 million.

In 2010, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has increased its budget, the size of its enforcement team, and the number of its enforcement actions, which all point to a big warning for businesses to make sure a proper safety and health program is in place to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses.

• Is your company on OSHA’s hit list?
• What is the impact of OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program?
• How has the level of enforcement changed under the Obama administration?

Get answers to these questions by listening to Responding to OSHA Recent Ramp-up in 3 Steps in this month’s HRCast, a recording provided by our team of HR Pros and available exclusively on MyHRSupportCenter. You’ll also learn three steps you can take right now to prepare for an OSHA inspection.

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 US Department of Labor recently announced the availability of a new tool to help America’s employers ensure their employment policies and practices do not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities.

The interactive, online Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor helps employers quickly determine which federal disability nondiscrimination laws apply to their business or organization and their responsibilities under them. To do this, it asks users to answer a few relevant questions and then generates a customized list of federal disability nondiscrimination laws that likely apply, along with easy-to-understand information about employers’ responsibilities under each of them.

The Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor is one of a series of elaws (Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses) Advisors developed by DOL to help employers and employees understand federal employment laws. Contact Vision Payroll if you have further questions on the Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor.