On Sunday, March 10, 2013, most people in the USA will set their clocks forward one hour to start daylight savings time (DST). The loss of sleep brought on by the daylight savings time change may increase workplace accidents and injuries, according to researchers.
Most organizations have developed protocols for dealing with the technological requirements as a result of the time shift, such as adjusting the time on their computer systems and time clocks. Many employers, however, should be aware of the potential effects on employee safety caused by the start of DST.
Studies show that it takes most people a few days to adjust to the loss of one hour of sleep. According to a study in theJournal of AppliedPsychology, losing just an hour of sleep for those who work in a hazardous work environment could pose dangerous consequences.
Recent data collected by the Department of Labor found that the DST switch resulted a 5.7% increase in workplace injuries and nearly 68 % more workdays lost to injuries. Studies have shown that the loss of even one hour of sleep causes attention levels to drop off which can present a potential danger for occupations that require a high level of attention to detail.
All covered employers are required to display a Department of Labor poster summarizing the major provisions of The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The poster must be displayed in a conspicuous place where all employees and applicants for employment can see it and must be displayed at all locations even if there are no eligible employees.
Changes have been made to the FMLA regulations including military caregiver leave for a veteran, qualifying exigency leave for parental care, and the special leave calculation method for flight crew employees. These changes will go into effect March 8, 2013.
You may start using the new poster immediately or you may use your current FMLA poster until March 7th.
Please contact our office if you need a copy of the new poster.
Wage and Hour suits hit a record high of 7064 in the recent fiscal year.Our monthly topic focuses on a Wage & Hour Audit. It covers understanding the steps to take in the event of an investigation by the Wage & Hour Division.
Do you know what areas you should you review prior to a Wage & Hour investigation to ensure you are in compliance?
What options are available to you when the Department of Labor shows up for an audit?
Contact us today for more information on this topic.
Our payroll stuffer this month will focus on the important topic of Heart Health. It covers topics imporant to your employees such as:
Heart Disease & Diet
If you have high cholesterol, are at risk for heart disease or just want to follow a healthy diet, see what the TLC diet can do for you.
Nutty Ways to Keep Your Heart Healthy
If you have heart disease, nuts are healthier than many other snacks. You can easily incorporate them into your diet by adding them to your morning yogurt or adding to your favorite stir fry recipe.
Exercise Prescriptions
If your doctor writes you a prescription for an antibiotic, you are most likely going to take it. Research has show that people are likley to start and stick to an exercise program if their doctor tells them to do so…and actually writes them a prescription to exercise as well.
Step By Step Exercising with Heart Disease
Regular exercise can be safe and has many benefits such as improving cholesterol levels, helping you manage medical conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, as well as increasing endurance and improving muscular strength and flexibility. Just be sure you are aware of any symptoms you might have before starting an exercise program that would make working out dangerous.
For the full version of this document, please contact luann@visitaag.com.
On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) into law. ATRA was passed by Congress to address the combination of tax increases and automatic spending cuts also known as the “fiscal cliff.” In addition to the tax and spending-related changes, ATRA also made several important changes that affect certain employee benefits. Employer-provided benefits that were affected by ATRA include:
Qualified Transportation Plans
Some or all of employer-provided transportation benefits, such as qualified parking & transit passes, may be provided to employees on a tax-free basis. The amount of transportation fringe benefits that an employee can exclude from income is subject to a statutory limit, which is adjusted annually for inflation.
There were temporary statutory provisions, which expired as of Dec. 31, 2011, that made the limit for the combined transit pass the same as the limit for qualified parking (or $230 per month in 2011). Because these temporary provisions expired, the 2012 combined monthly limit for transit pass became $125, while the limit for parking increased to $240. ATRA extended the expiration date for these provisions from Dec. 31, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2013, which retroactively increased the 2012 combined limit for transit pass from $125 per month to $240 per month. The 2013 limit has not yet been announced. Employers may need to correct the 2012 Form W-2 reporting.
Qualified Adoption Assistance Benefits
Amounts paid by an employer (subject to dollar limits and other requirements) for qualified adoption expenses incurred with an employee’s adoption of a child are excludable from an employee’s gross income if furnished with an “adoption-assistance program” sponsored by the employer. The maximum amount that can be excluded from the employee’s gross income is subject to both a dollar amount limit ($13,360 for 2011 and $12,650 for 2012) and an income limit, which phases out the dollar limit if the taxpayer’s “modified adjusted gross income” falls within a specified range ($185,210 - $225,210 for 2011; $189,710 - $229,710 for 2012). If the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds the higher amount of the range, the income exclusion amount is $0.
But these adoption assistance income exclusion provisions were subject to the sunset provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), a prior federal law, and were scheduled to expire at the end of 2012. ATRA deleted the EGTRRA sunset provisions, restoring the adoption-assistance income-exclusion provisions and making them permanent. In addition to the adoption-assistance exclusion from income, an employee may claim a tax credit for qualified adoption expenses; however, both the tax credit and income exclusion cannot be claimed for the same expense.
Qualified Educational Assistance Programs
Excludable educational assistance to an employee that is paid under the employer’s qualified educational-assistance program is not included in the gross income of the employee. Excludable educational assistance includes not only the employer’s payment of educational expenses incurred by or on behalf of an employee (such as tuition, fees, books, supplies, and equipment), but also the cost of employer-provided courses of instruction for an employee, including books, supplies, and equipment. The exclusion for payments under a qualified educational-assistance program was also subject to EGTRRA’s sunset date and would have expired at the end of 2012. ATRA’s deletion of the EGTRRA sunset date restores the exclusion and makes it permanent.
Employer-Provided Child Care
An employer tax credit up to a maximum of $150,000 per year was created by EGTRRA for employers that provide child-care services. This credit was subject to the sunset provisions of EGTRRA and was scheduled to expire at the end of 2012. By deleting the EGTRRA sunset date, ATRA makes the credit permanent.
Dependent Care Assistance Programs/Dependent Care Tax Credit
Under a dependent-care assistance program, payment can only be made for employment-related dependent care expenses. There are two conditions required for a dependent care expense to be employment related. The first condition is that the employee must incur the expense to enable the employee and the employee’s spouse to be “gainfully employed,” and the second condition is that the expense must be for the “care” of one or more “qualifying individuals.”
If a spouse is not gainfully employed (which may include looking for work), the spouse can be deemed to be gainfully employed for any month in which he or she is either a full-time student or mentally or physically incapable of self-care with the same principal place of abode as the employee for more than half of the year. The employee’s spouse would have deemed earned income of $250 per month for one qualifying individual or $500 per month for two or more qualifying individuals.
Effective January 1, 2013, the deemed earned income amounts would have fallen to $200 and $400, respectively, but ATRA has retained the higher amounts. These same deemed earned income provisions apply for the Dependent Care Tax Credit under IRS Code §21. In addition, other EGTRRA limits applicable to the dependent care tax credit, including the maximum amount of the tax credit ($3,000 for one qualifying individual, and $6,000 for two or more qualifying individuals); the percentage for determining the credit (35%); and the income level at which the credit begins to phase out ($15,000) were subject to the sunset provisions of EGTRRA and were scheduled to expire at the end of 2012.
By deleting the EGTRRA sunset date, ATRA makes these provisions permanent. Note: other changes to a taxpayer’s earned-income tax credit and child tax credit have also been extended or made permanent by ATRA, which may be relevant when calculating a participant’s federal income tax savings from claiming the DCTC.
These are obviously complicated and complex changes, but could have a significant tax effect both on employees and employers.
Article courtesy of Fisher & Phillips LLP
Technology advances and innovations bring benefits and efficiencies. Most changes sooner or later bring potential difficulties as well. In the end, we can’t resist technological change- but the trick is to utilize the advantages and be prepared to address the downsides.
This is especially true in the workplace. More frequently, employers are using telecommuting as a way to increase employee productivity, efficiency, and even morale. In 2009, 34 million workers in the United States telecommuted at least part of the week, and estimates are that by 2016, 63 million workers (43% of the work force) will telecommute.
An employee’s at-home “virtual office” might consist of a cell phone and a laptop computer. These relatively inexpensive and portable items permit an employee to work just about anywhere there is a wireless network and/or cell coverage. In addition, it is important to note that with these technologies, even employees who report to a brick-and-mortar office each day will be capable of informally “telecommuting” at all times of the night and day, for example, by answering emails over the weekend.
The advantages have been well established including increased employee productivity, increased job satisfaction, reduced absenteeism, lower employee turnover, reductions in fixed expenses (i.e. energy costs, office rental, parking, etc), improved customer service, improved employee morale, and reduced employee stress and improved health.
However, with these advantages come potential pitfalls. Telecommuting raises unique legal obstacles that employers need to address with established policies and procedures before they become a liability.
WAGE LAWS- Even if you permit an employee to work from home, you are responsible for compliance with state and federal wage & hour laws, including paying non-exempt employees overtime for all time worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. If an employee has the flexibility to be more efficient by taking calls after hours or when on vacation, or if the employee answers emails late at night or during the weekend, that time might count as compensable work time.
There are many options for keeping track of this extra time, but the important point is to make sure that you first have a procedure in place for recording the time worked by telecommuting employees, and second have a policy in place clearly outling what work is permissible and when. One approach is to record automatically, by computer, the number of hours worked online each day and week. Employers can also establish policies to make it clear that employees are not permitted to work more than 40 hours without prior approval by management.
SAFETY -Employers are responsible for providing a safe workplace to all employees, even those working at home, under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Workers’ compensation laws still apply to telecommuters, even when they are working at home. To address these issues, you may want to consider requiring telecommuters to have a designated workspace that has been inspected and approved by the company to address workplace safety obligations. You can even advise telecommuters that the designated workspace may be subject to random safety inspections and require that the telecommuter maintain safe work practices.
PROPRIETARY INFO -When an employee works at home, from a remote computer on a wireless network, valuable confidential and proprietary information might be less secure. To maintain the confidentiality of this information, require telecommuting employees to follow adequate security procedures, including the use of passwords and protected networks. You should also evaluate and maintain effective security measures for employees using computers and the Internet for business communications when out of the office.
DISCRIMINATION LAWS -Employers are obligated to protect employees from discrimination and harassment, whether they work at home or in the office, and any telecommuting policy must be implemented in a nondiscriminatory manner. In addition, permitting an employee to work at home might be a form of reasonable accommodation for an employee with a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or a similar state law.
TEXTING/ TALKING WHILE DRIVING -Regardless of work locations, the entire work force has access to smart phones that could be used to perform work while driving. Employers should be wary about the potential liability that could result from an accident involving an employee who is engaged in work-related texting or even talking on the phone while driving. Employers need to ensure the appropriate policies and procedures are in place, including policies prohibiting texting and/or talking while driving.
Imagine you are the Hiring Manager for a distribution warehouse and you are interviewing applicants for a materials handler position. The first candidate enters the room, standing at a height of 5’4”, weighing more than 500 pounds. You continue the interview and learn that he has high qualifications, but you can’t help considering how his weight may affect his work performance.
You anticipate that his obesity might put him at a greater risk of developing serious illnesses that may lead to absenteeism. You also consider that accommodations may be required for him to use the fork lift and other machinery, and you worry he may pose a safety threat if he were unable to move quickly enough to evacuate in the event of an emergency.
Based on these considerations, you decide not to hire this candidate. Was this proper or did you put too much emphasis on his obesity and risk liability? This is the question many business employers have had to face in light of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Recent cases brought by the EEOC may shed light on whether severe obesity is a protectable disability, but the question still remains: when is obesity “severe” enough to constitute an ADA-protected disability?
In the last ten years, we have seen the largest armed forces deployment since WWII. Soldiers have returned from Iraq, and thousands more are scheduled to return from Afghanistan over the course of 2013. It is expected that by the end of 2014, nearly 1.5 million will have returned from combat operations in those two countries alone. Many will apply for reemployment with physical or mental impairments that can oftentimes trigger a host of statutory obligations, varying from the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) to the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAAA).
It is essential to reconsider the legal and practical ramifications for reintegrating them into your workplace. Effective reintegration calls for a commitment from upper management, with an focus on appropriate training and education for supervisors and managers alike.
Any such program must start with a review of the legal obligations required by laws such as USERRA, which establishes rigid timetables for reemploying our returning reservists, veterans and other uniformed service members, along with the accommodation requirements imposed by the ADAAA. If you employ the spouse or close family relative of a returning veteran (as opposed to the veteran him or herself), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may also apply.
USERRA
USERRA is the primary federal statute governing the reemployment rights of returning veterans. Returning employees need to only submit a timely reemployment application (typically within 14 or 90 days, depending on their length of service) and otherwise establish that they were discharged from duty under honorable circumstances.
Upon receipt of the application, an employer must reinstate uniformed service members (typically within two weeks) to the position they would have held if they had never taken military leave (their “escalator” position) in the first place. Before you decide whether or not they are qualified to return to their escalator position, you must provide refresher as well as any other training that would have been furnished during their leave of absence.
Exemptions from this reemployment obligation are few and far between. An example would be where the circumstances have changed so significantly, such as an intervening reduction in force, that reemployment would be impossible or unreasonable under the circumstances. Following reemployment, the returning veteran can only be terminated “for just cause” for 180 days (if their deployment was for more than 30 but less than 180 days), or for one year following reemployment (if the length of deployment exceeded 180 days). USERRA also restricts employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of military service, or from retaliating against those who pursue enforcement assistance.
FMLA
The FMLA was recently revised to provide both “military caregiver” and “qualifying exigency” leave to close family members (i.e., the spouse, child, parent or “next of kin”) of covered servicemembers. Military caregiver leave allows eligible employees to take up to 26 workweeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period to care for close family members who have sustained serious injuries or illnesses in the line of active duty. FMLA also allows eligible employees to take up to 12 workweeks of qualifying exigency leave each year to tend to certain “exigencies” (i.e. attending military ceremonies, arranging for alternative childcare arrangements, etc.) brought about by their close family member’s federal active duty commitment.
In other words, FMLA applies only in those circumstances where your employee is affected by virtue of their relationship to a uniformed servicemember. When the employee actually is a uniformed servicemember, USERRA will outline your legal rights and obligations.
ADAAA
USERRA outlines a bottomline for employer’s legal responsibilities to returning veterans. You may also be operating under additional obligations imposed by laws such as the ADAAA (and any state law counterparts). The ADAAA prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified employees who are known, regarded as, or have a history of being disabled.
Full compliance with USERRA will not eliminate the need for additional obligations in the form of reasonable accommodation for any known, service-connected physical or mental impairments that significantly restrict the ability to perform one or more major life activities.
Excluding undue hardship, employers must provide reasonable accommodation to disabled veterans to aid them in performing the essential functions of their pre-duty positions, and to allow them to enjoy equivalent benefits and privileges of employment (including access to sponsored training programs, break areas, social events, etc.).
With recent amendments widening the extent of the term, “disability,” the ADAAA has cast a wide net around this concept, covering millions of Americans in statutory protection. As a result, it is more important than ever to properly engage in the process with regard to service-connected injuries such as mobility, cognitive, sensory, and psychiatric impairments.
Unique Challenges Presented By Mental Impairments
Around 25% of all veterans serving in the middle east conflict have returned home from active duty with physical disabilities. Due to the nature of the conflict, nearly 20% of them are returning with diagnoses consistent with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or depression as well as traumatic brain injuries.
It is also fair to assume that a significant number of veterans are returning with symptoms that have yet to be formally diagnosed, perhaps due to an unwillingness to acknowledge or disclose the disorder. While most will return fit to immediately undertake the essential functions of their positions, others may require a period of adjustment that calls for a gradual reintegration.
Public Resources Are Available
A number of public resources are available to assist in the readjustment process, including the ESGR, a federal ombudsman service devoted to Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve, the Disability Management Employer Coalition, the Veterans Administration, and a host of private third-party programs. The Society for Human Resource Management has even recently partnered with the U.S. Army to provide additional resources to facilitate the reemployment process.
The ADAAA suggests evaluating each reintegration on a case-by-case basis when it comes to accommodating returning veterans and other disabled employees. Accommodating for those afflicted with impairments such as PTSD can often be implemented for a relatively small expense. However, in other cases, enhanced supervisory training may be required to help ensure that the return-to-work transition is a smooth one.
Every veteran who returns for reemployment potentially triggers a broad range of practical and legal factors, and every situation must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In many cases, challenging obstacles await those who encounter these considerations. But with a sufficient amount of investment in planning, supervisory training and legal analysis, there are rewards for employers and employees alike.
The 2010 health care reform law requires health plans to provide women’s preventative care and services without cost sharing. Regulations issued August 1, 2011 included all FDA-approved contraception for women in the definition of women’s preventive care and services. That includes abortion and abortifacient drugs (like the so-called “morning-after” pill). The regulations were effective for the first plan year beginning on or after August 1, 2012. The government released proposed regulations on January 30, 2013, that would amend those regulations.
On January 24, 2013, the DOL published Part XI of the FAQs about Affordable Care Act (ACA) Implementation. This delayed the March 1, 2013 deadline for employers to send an Exchange Notice.
The DOL provided two reasons for delaying the Exchange Notice.
(1) The notice will be coordinated with educational efforts by the IRS and HHS on the subject of minimum value
(2) A later deadline will ensure that individuals receive a notice with meaningful information
The new deadline will be in the late summary or early fall of 2013. Open enrollment for the Exchange- now known as the Health Insurance Marketplace- begins on October 1, 2013.
The DOL also addressed several pending issues for Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) related to when they are considered to be integrated with other coverage. Further guidance will be forthcoming.
The DOL had the following comments on HRAs:
Please feel free to contact our office with any questions.