Vision Payroll

In News Release IR-2009-091, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the release of its new web-based IRS Retirement Plans Navigator to help small businesses find retirement plan information. The website offers assistance in the following areas:

• Choosing a Plan
• Maintaining a Plan
• Correcting a Plan
• Comparing Plans
• Helpful Links
• Glossary of Terms

Although some plans are meant to be maintained by an employer with little or no assistance, Vision Payroll strongly recommends the services of a qualified third-party administrator for employers maintaining more complex plans. Contact Vision Payroll if you need further information.

According to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), employers in the county of San Bernardino directly affected by the damage resulting from the “Sheep Fire” may request up to a 60-day extension of time from EDD to file their State payroll reports and/or deposit State payroll taxes without penalty or interest. The written request for extension must be received within 60 days from the original delinquent date of the payment or return to file/pay. Contact Vision Payroll if you’ve been affected and need to file the extension request.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 will be Veterans Day, a federal holiday. Although the offices of Vision Payroll will be open and payrolls will be processed, most banks will be closed in observance of the holiday.

Payrolls dated November 11 will be paid November 10 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 16.

The next federal holiday will be Thursday, November 26, 2009, Thanksgiving Day. Contact Vision Payroll as soon as possible to make changes to or for questions on your processing schedule.

As a result of the recent law requiring changes to income tax withholding in California, new withholding tables have been released effective for November 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009. The new tables accelerate withholding and increase the rates for supplemental wages, stock options, and bonuses paid after October 31, 2009. Vision Payroll will automatically transition to the new withholding tables on November 1, 2009. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any further questions on the revised withholding tables in California.

Brad Avakian, Commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries announced recently that, effective January 1, 2010, the minimum wage for the state of Oregon will remain at $8.40 per hour. As a result of Measure 25, which passed in 2002, an adjustment to the minimum wage must be calculated no later than September 30 of each year. The adjustment is based on any increase in the US City Average Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for All Items (CPI). The 1.48% decrease in the CPI will result in no change since there is no provision to decrease the minimum wage. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the Oregon minimum wage or visit our Minimum Wage Chart.

This week’s question comes from Ron, an HR director. We’ve been hearing that GINA is going to create problems for many employers. We have fifty-five employees. Will GINA cause problems for us? Answer: the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) is effective November 21, 2009 and creates a new set of rules for two types of entities: health insurance companies and private, state, and local government employers with 15 or more employees, employment agencies, labor unions, and joint labor-management training programs. Health insurers are generally prohibited from using genetic information to determine eligibility, to determine premium levels, or in determining a pre-existing condition. For employers, GINA generally prohibits discrimination in the employment process because of genetic information. Although the rules are very complex, some limited protections are available when an employer may inadvertently learn information about an employee. For example, a question about a relative’s health may result in the employer learning about family medical history. This might be protected under some of the provisions of GINA. Conversely, state law may provide protection that is more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. Due to complex nature of the many new rules, Vision Payroll strongly recommends covered employers and employers that offer health insurance contact competent labor law attorneys for guidance in this area. If you need a referral to an attorney, contact Vision Payroll so that GINA doesn’t cause problems for you.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending October 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 531,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 520,000. The 4-week moving average was 532,250, a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised average of 533,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.5% for the week ending October 10, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s revised rate of 4.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 10 was 5,923,000, a decrease of 98,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 6,021,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,030,750, a decrease of 59,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 6,090,000.

Advances in online technology have reinforced how the Internet has become an increasingly necessary and unavoidable recruitment tool for small companies to leverage. There are three important areas employers must consider when implementing successful on-line recruiting strategies: on-line recruiting, legal landmines, and employer action items.

You’ll learn much more about these three areas in this month’s HRCast, a recording provided by our team of HR Pros and available exclusively on MyHRSupportCenter.

• Learn the two popular and powerful on-line recruiting strategies.
• Get a list of questions to ask on-line candidates before bringing them in for an interview.
• Discover how to customize those questions to target your needs.
• Find out what you need to include in an on-line advertisement to make it effective.
• Learn to leverage social media networks to target high-quality job candidates.
• Find out points to keep in mind that could help you minimize legal problems during the recruiting process.
• Discover the policies and procedures you need in place to help your employees understand and avoid those legal issues.

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.

In IR-2009-094, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that for 2010 the compensation limitation will remain at $245,000 under §401(a)(17), §404(l), §408(k)(3)(C), and §408(k)(6)(D)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC). The contribution limit under IRC §415(c)(1)(A) for defined contribution plans also remained at $49,000. This limit does not include the age 50 and over catch-up contribution of $5,500 when applicable; therefore the total limitation for eligible taxpayers age 50 or over in qualifying plans is $54,500. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions on changes to the 2010 Retirement Plan Contribution and Compensation Limitations or get further information at Important Facts and Figures.

The Social Security Administration announced recently that the Maximum Taxable Earnings or Social Security Wage Base would not change for 2010. Since there was no increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009, the Social Security Wage Base will remain at $106,800. There is no provision for a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) when there is no increase in the CPI-W. Wages are taxed at 6.2%, so the maximum tax to be paid by each employee will be $6,621.60. About 7% of workers who pay Social Security Tax are expected to reach the maximum in 2010.

For workers under full retirement age, $1 in benefits will be withheld for every $2 above the Retirement Earnings Test Exempt Amount of $14,160 per year or $1,180 per month. The year an individual reaches full retirement age, $1 in benefits will be withheld for every $3 above the Retirement Earnings Test Exempt Amount of $37,680 per year or $3,140 per month. The month an individual reaches full retirement age there is no limit on earnings. These amounts are unchanged from 2009 to 2010.

One amount that did increase for 2010 is that amount needed to earn a Social Security credit, formerly known as a quarter of coverage. In 2009, a credit is earned for every $1,090 of earnings, up to a maximum of four credits. That amount will increase to $1,120 in 2010.

Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the Social Security changes for 2010 or get further information at Important Facts and Figures.