Vision Payroll

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending November 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 388,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 393,000. The 4-week moving average was 396,750, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 400,750.

Advance Seasonally Adjusted Insured Unemployment Rate Remains Unchanged

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.9% for the week ending November 5, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate.

Advance Seasonally Adjusted Insured Unemployment Decreases

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 5 was 3,608,000, a decrease of 57,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,665,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,670,000, a decrease of 32,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,702,750.

With many company holiday celebrations being planned, employers need to be aware of and prepare for potential workplace-related risks and liabilities.

Three Areas You Must Be Well Prepared to Address

1. Religious Accommodation: Some employees may feel uncomfortable with the inclusion or exclusion of certain holiday celebrations. Do you have a fair resolution process for dealing with complaints?
2. Harassment and Discrimination: Harassment and discrimination are issues year-round, but may be more prevalent during holiday social gatherings. Have you reminded employees about inappropriate conversations and actions before such gatherings?
3. Alcohol and Drug Use: Inappropriate and illegal drug and alcohol use during company functions is still a high-profile concern. Have you set the expectations about what is and is not acceptable drug and alcohol use at company events?

Have You Addressed the Top Three Employer Hot Points During This Holiday Season?

To learn the valuable tips for dealing with these issues and much more, be sure to listen to Top Three Employer Hot Points During This Holiday Season in this month’s HRCast, a recording provided by our team of HR Pros and available exclusively on MyHRSupportCenter.

MyHRSupportCenter Provides Alerts, Best Practices, and HR Tools Every Day

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 haven’t yet signed up and would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

The Vermont Department of Labor announced recently that pursuant to Title 21 of the Vermont Statutes, Annotated §384, the minimum wage for the state of Vermont will increase from $8.15 to $8.46 per hour effective January 1, 2012. The law requires an adjustment to the minimum wage be calculated each year.

Adjustment Is Tied to Changes in CPI

The adjustment is tied to the change in the federal Consumer Price Index, US city average, not seasonally adjusted (CPI-U) for the 12 months ending in August and cannot increase more than five percent per year. The 3.7% increase in the CPI-U will result in an increase of $0.31 for 2012.

Find Out the Minimum Wage for All States by Visiting the Vision Payroll Minimum Wage Chart Page

Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the Vermont minimum wage increase or visit our Minimum Wage Chart.

Thursday, November 24, 2011 will be Thanksgiving Day, a federal holiday. The offices of Vision Payroll will close Thanksgiving Eve, November 23 at 3 pm EST and re-open Friday November 25. Most banks will also be closed in observance of the holiday. Payroll changes and hours must be submitted before the processing deadlines as listed below.

Date Paid	Process Deadline
11/24/2011	11/21/2011
11/25/2011	11/22/2011
11/28/2011	11/23/2011

Payroll Dates May be Affected by Thanksgiving Day

Payrolls dated November 24 will be paid November 23 unless a previous change in schedule has been submitted. Payrolls submitted after these processing deadlines will be pushed back until the next available processing day. No changes are required for payrolls dated November 29.

Christmas Day Is Next Federal Holiday

There will be no UPS ground delivery on November 24 or November 25, so we strongly recommend submitting payrolls during this time as early as practicable. The next federal holiday will be December 26, 2011, celebration of Christmas Day. Contact Vision Payroll as soon as possible to make changes to or for questions on your processing schedule.

This week’s question is from Herman, an HR Manager.

Herman asks:

We are reviewing our payroll processing schedule for 2012. What is the holiday schedule for 2012?

Answer: There are two types of holidays: those on which payrolls are processed and those on which payrolls are not processed. In addition, companies should also consider that there is no mail pickup or delivery on federal holidays.

UPS Holiday Delivery Schedule Varies

UPS may pickup and deliver on certain holidays, but may not pickup or deliver on other days that are not holidays. Consult the UPS website for further information. The schedule for 2012 holidays is as follows:

Date	Holiday	Federal Reserve Holiday	Payrolls Processed
1/2/2012	New Year's Day (Observed)	Yes	No
1/16/2012	Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.	Yes	Yes
2/20/2012	Washington's Birthday	Yes	Yes
5/28/2012	Memorial Day	Yes	No
7/4/2012	Independence Day	Yes	No
9/3/2012	Labor Day	Yes	No
10/8/2012	Columbus Day	Yes	Yes
11/12/2012	Veterans Day (Observed)	Yes	Yes
11/22/2012	Thanksgiving Day	Yes	No
12/25/2012	Christmas Day	Yes	No

Visit VisionPayroll.com for Further Details on Individual Holidays

Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the 2012 holiday schedule and be sure to check VisionPayroll.com for further details as each holiday approaches.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending November 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 390,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 400,000. The 4-week moving average was 400,000, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 405,250.

Advance Seasonally Adjusted Insured Unemployment Rate Remains Unchanged

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.9% for the week ending October 29, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate.

Advance Seasonally Adjusted Insured Unemployment Decreases

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 29 was 3,615,000, a decrease of 92,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,707,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,690,250, a decrease of 19,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,709,750.

When you post a job on My Recruiting Center, not only do you get the advantage of our bulk buying discount for ads on job sites such as CareerBuilder, Monster, LinkedIn and Craigslist, you get a whole suite of Applicant Tracking features.

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• Job Template Library
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Paperless Onboarding for New Hires Also Available

Once you’ve made that hiring decision, simplify the onboarding process with the customized paperless onboarding option. This allows you to send paperless tax forms, offer letter, ACH authorizations, and other forms all with a single click. Your new hire can review the forms, sign electronically, and return them to you. No delays, no paper forms to file, and ask about easy importing to bring right into your payroll software.

Get Started with My Recruiting Center Today!

Simply go to the Vision Payroll home page, click “Payroll Login”, and then sign in to Online Employer. Once in, click the “Recruiting Center” tab on the left and then the company you want to recruit for on the right and you’re ready to go. Contact Vision Payroll if you need help with your Online Employer login or password.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released a draft of a new form, Form 8822-B, Change of Address—Business. The new form will be used to notify the IRS if you changed your business mailing address or your business location.

IRS Uses USPS National Change of Address Database

The IRS automatically updates your address of record based on any new address you provide the US Postal Service (USPS). The IRS uses the information in the USPS’s National Change of Address database. The IRS also automatically updates your address of record when the USPS changes your address because of a new Zip Code boundary or other administrative reason. IRS notices or documents sent to a taxpayer’s “last known address,” are legally effective even if the taxpayer never receives it.

Form 8822-B Will Have a Signature Requirement

An officer, owner, general partner or LLC member manager, plan administrator, fiduciary, or an authorized representative will be required to sign Form 8822-B. An officer is the president, vice president, treasurer, chief accounting officer, etc. A representative signing on behalf of the taxpayer must attach to Form 8822-B a copy of Form 2848. The IRS will not complete an address change from an “unauthorized” third party.

Contact Vision Payroll Today

Clients should be sure to inform Vision Payroll of any address changes so that tax returns are filed using the correct address.

In Revenue Ruling 2011-29, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ruled that a taxpayer can establish the “fact of the liability” under §461 for bonuses payable to a group of employees even though the employer does not know the identity of any particular bonus recipient and the amount payable to that recipient until after the end of the taxable year.

Bonus Deductibility a Three-Prong Test

For accrual-basis taxpayers, a liability is incurred, and is generally taken into account for federal income tax purposes, in the taxable year in which:

1. All the events have occurred that establish the fact of the liability,
2. The amount of the liability can be determined with reasonable accuracy, and
3. Economic performance has occurred for the liability (collectively, the “all events test”).

Rev. Rul. 2011-29 Addresses First Prong Only

Revenue Ruling 2011-29 addresses only whether the first prong of the all events test is met. The first prong of the all events test requires that all the events have occurred that establish the fact of the liability. Generally, all events occur to establish the fact of a liability when:

1. The event fixing the liability, whether that be the required performance or other event, occurs, or
2. Payment is unconditionally due.

Liability Is Established by the End of the Tax Year

Under the employer’s plan, its liability to pay a minimum amount of bonuses to the group of eligible employees is fixed at the end of the year in which the services are rendered. The employer is obligated under the program to pay to the group the minimum amount of bonuses determined by the end of the taxable year. Any bonus allocable to an employee who is not employed on the date on which bonuses are paid is reallocated to other eligible employees. Thus, the fact of the employer’s liability for the minimum amount of bonuses is established by the end of the year in which the services are rendered.

Employers Should Consult Their Tax Advisors

Vision Payroll recommends that employers consult their tax advisor with questions as to the deductibility of bonuses in a year other than when they are paid.

According to statistics released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in October 2011, the percentage of people with disabilities in the labor force was 21.3, up from 21.1 in September. By comparison, the percentage of persons with no disability in the labor force was 69.6, down from 69.7 in September.

Unemployment Rate at 13.2%

The unemployment rate for those with disabilities was 13.2%, compared with 8.3% for persons with no disability, not seasonally adjusted. These rates are down from the September rates of 16.1% and 8.5%, respectively.

Table A-6 Provides Further Details on Employment Levels by Disability Status

Table A-6 shows further details on the employment status of the civilian population by sex, age, and disability status, not seasonally adjusted.

Definition of a Person with a Disability

In compiling the data, the BLS defines a person with a disability as a person having at least one of the following conditions: is deaf or has serious difficulty hearing; is blind or has serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses; has serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition; has serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs; has difficulty dressing or bathing; or has difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition.

Visit VisionPayroll.com Monthly for Updated Disability Employment Statistics

Each month, Vision Payroll will provide updated disability employment statistics as they become available.