Common Manager Mistakes When Conducting Interviews
Posted February 28, 2017 by Megan DiMartino
Mistake #1: Talking too much
An interview is time to learn about the potential employee so aim for an 85-15 split: 85% of the time you’re listening and 15% of the time you’re talking. Allow the interviewee ample amount of time to respond to your questions. These silences give you and the applicant time to reset after the previous question and gives you a chance to see how they handle pressure situations.
Mistake #2: Failing to prepare
Don’t let the interview be the first time you review the applicant’s resume. Review the resume beforehand as well as what you’re wanting from the new employee. Preparation will help keep the interview on track and determine whether a candidate is qualified or not.
Mistake #3: Asking questions off the cuff
Prepare a list of questions so that you don’t get off track with the interview. Follow-up questions to an applicant’s answer are acceptable, but managers can sometimes get into trouble by just winging it.
Mistake #4: Now knowing your legal limits
Make sure anyone that is interviewing candidates knows the legal limits of what they can and cannot ask.
Avoid questions such as:
– Are you married?
– Are you divorced?
– How old are you?
– Do you have any children or intend to have children?
– What are your daycare plans?
– Do you have any debts?
– Do you suffer from any illnesses or disabilities?
These questions are the basis for discrimination lawsuits. So remember to keep your questions related to the job at hand and how well the candidate can perform the job.
Mistake #5: Being blinded by personal preferences
Avoid letting common interests control your decision making when hiring a new employee. Just because you both like the same sports team doesn’t mean that interest is relevant to them performing the job.
Sources: Business Management Daily | The 5 most common mistakes managers make when conducting interviews
For more information contact info@apbenefitadvisors.com. The information contained in this post, and any attachments, is not intended and should not be misconstrued as legal advice. You should contact your employment, benefits or ERISA attorney for legal direction.
Updating Your Employee Records System
Posted February 22, 2017 by Megan DiMartino
Do you feel weighted under a never-ending cascade of employee papers and files? It’s not your fault. You’re just keeping what the federal and state laws require you to keep.
New Year, New System
Make a fresh start of your record keeping system this year. Whether you’re going to stick with paper files, create a computer-based filing system or store records on the cloud, you need to create at least four separate sets of records for each employee.
Personnel file – This file outlines basic information such as name, address, phone number, emergency contacts, SSN and anything else that’s specific to the employee.
Payroll file – This file contains salary information, benefits, pay rate changes and any other documentation affecting the employee’s paycheck.
Medical file – The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), requires employee medical information to be kept confidential. This file contains health insurance, life insurance, medical leave and other documents containing private medical information. Store these files so that managers or HR who need access to other files don’t have access to the medical files.
I-9 Form file – An I-9 work authorization form must be kept on file for every employee. The I-9 file must be kept separate from all other confidential employee files.
Keeping these files ensures you’re in compliance, protected in case of an audit or litigation, and keeps employee information from getting in the wrong hands.
Also, if you’re converting to electronic files, it is best practice to keep them in a format viable for future use such as a picture document (.jpg or .tif) or as a PDF file.
Sources: Business Management Daily | Update your employee records system: 4 essential components
For more information contact info@apbenefitadvisors.com. The information contained in this post, and any attachments, is not intended and should not be misconstrued as legal advice. You should contact your employment, benefits or ERISA attorney for legal direction.
HRCI & SHRM Pre-approved AP Benefit Advisors Webinar | Voluntary Benefits: Tackling 2017’s Top Tax & Compliance Issues
Posted February 17, 2017 by Megan DiMartino
Partly because of the ACA, the discussions surrounding voluntary benefits and the implementation of them have become much more closely tied to the underlying group medical plans. By some estimations, as many as 80% of voluntary benefits programs may be out of compliance in some way.
Join AP Benefit Advisors’ Director of Voluntary Benefits, Stephen Ivey, for this HRCI* and SHRM** pre-approved, complimentary, one-hour webinar as he explores current tax and compliance questions and issues surrounding today’s voluntary benefits.
Topics include:
- ERISA
- Pre-Tax vs. Post-Tax
- Supplemental Health Plans Taxation Questions
- Life & Disability Taxation Questions
- HSA Compatibility
Webinar Details:
- Thursday, February 23, 2017
- 1:00 – 2:00pm EST
- No Cost to Attend
- This webinar is open to all HR and Finance Professionals – but not to brokers, agents, TPAs and PEOs.
*The use of this seal confirms that this activity has met HR Certification Institute’s (HRCI) criteria for recertification credit pre-approval. This activity has been approved for 1 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR, PHR, PHRca, SPHR, GPHR, PHRi, and SPHRi recertification through HRCI.
**AP Benefit Advisors is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP. This program is valid for 1 PDC for the SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit shrmcertification.org.
For more information contact info@apbenefitadvisors.com. The information contained in this post, and any attachments, is not intended and should not be misconstrued as legal advice. You should contact your employment, benefits or ERISA attorney for legal direction.
Finalized Paid Family Leave Law – Washington, D.C.
Posted February 15, 2017 by Megan DiMartino
The D.C. Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016 (UPLAA) was passed in December 2016 by the District of Columbia City Council and goes into effect as of July 1, 2020. This will guarantee certain periods of paid family and medical leave to private-sector employees. Beginning exactly a year before the effective date, payments will be funded by an additional .62% employer payroll tax that the city will collect from private-sector employees.
As of now the law applies only to D.C., but will have wide-ranging implications. The D.C. experience will serve as a model to a nationwide effort to seek passage of state and local paid-leave laws.
The D.C. Chamber of Commerce was opposed to the UPLAA and Mayor Muriel Bowser argued that many of the Maryland and Virginia residents who work in the city would reap the benefits of the $250 million tax increase on D.C. employers. However, Bowser did not veto the bill.
Shorter Paid-Leave Periods
The D.C. Family and Medical Leave Act (DCFMLA) is much more generous than the federal FMLA, allowing eligible employees of D.C. to take 16 weeks of unpaid leave for qualifying family and medical reasons compared to the typical 12 weeks.
However, UPLAA’s paid leave will provide shorter periods:
- Eight weeks within a 52-week period to new parents
- Six weeks for the care of a family member with a serious health condition
- Two weeks for an employee’s own medical leave
In total, no more than eight weeks of paid leave is allowed within the 52-week period under the UPLAA.
Expanded Rights
The new UPLAA leave entitlement will apply to more private-sector employees than the DCFMLA:
- New employees will be entitled to take paid family or medical leave in circumstances in which they currently have no entitlement to take even unpaid leave.
To currently qualify for unpaid leave, an employee must have worked for the employer at least one year before the leave request. But for the UPLAA, no such conditions apply. The UPLAA considers an individual eligible as long as they are a covered employee “during some or all of the 52 calendar weeks immediately preceding the qualifying event.” - The UPLAA provides paid-leave rights to part-time employees, as long as they worked for the employer at some point in the prior year.
The current local law only provides a right to unpaid leave to employees who have worked at least 1,000 hours during the 12-months prior to the request for family or medical leave, as opposed to the FMLA’s 1,250 hours in a 12-month period. - The UPLAA applies to all private-sector employers regardless of size, except for those that are exempt from taxes in D.C. by federal law or treaty.
This now allows employees of small businesses with fewer than 20 employees the right to take leave for qualifying family and medical reasons. Although, a clause in the law suggests that employees who work for small businesses with fewer than 20 employees are not entitled to “job protection” when returning from paid leave. - The UPLAA broadens – although slightly – the class of family members for whom leave can be taken.
The DCFMLA requires covered employers to allow unpaid leave to employees to care for family members with a serious health condition to also include:
– A person to whom the employee is related by blood, legal custody or marriage
– A child who lives with an employee who exercises parental responsibility
– An individual with whom the employee lives and is in a “committed relationship”
The UPLAA adds the following:
– A legal ward
– A son or daughter of a domestic partner
– A person “who stood in loco parentis” to the employee when her or she was a
child
The UPLAA also includes provisions prohibiting retaliation against employees who exercise their right to paid leave. One provision goes as far as forbidding employers from retaliating by reporting, or threatening to report, an employee’s “actual suspected citizenship or immigration status” to federal, state or local agencies.
Sources: SHRM | Washington, D.C., Finalizes Paid-Family-Leave Law
For more information contact info@apbenefitadvisors.com. The information contained in this post, and any attachments, is not intended and should not be misconstrued as legal advice. You should contact your employment, benefits or ERISA attorney for legal direction.
IRS Warns of Dangerous W-2 Phishing Scam
Posted February 13, 2017 by Megan DiMartino
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) put out an alert about a W-2 email phishing scam that not only has taken on the corporate world, but is also invading the other sectors such as school districts, tribal organizations and nonprofits.
The IRS Commissioner, John Koskinen, states, “This is one of the most dangerous email phishing scams we’ve seen in a long time. It can result in the large-scale theft of sensitive data that criminals can use to commit various crimes, including filing fraudulent tax returns. We need everyone’s help to turn the tide against this scheme.”
Cybercriminals use various spoofing techniques to disguise emails to make it look as though they’re from an organization executive. The email is then sent to an employee within the payroll or HR department of an organization asking for a list of all employees and their Forms W-2. This scam is often referred to as business email compromise (BEC) or business email spoofing (BES). So Security Summit partners are asking all employers to be extremely vigilant. The W-2 scam came about last year and is circulating earlier this year and to a broader scope of organizations, including school districts, tribal casinos, chain restaurants, temporary staffing agencies, healthcare and shipping and freight. The scam is also being sent to businesses that may have received the same email last year.
New Twist: Cybercriminals follow-up with an “executive” email to payroll and HR employees asking for a wire transfer be made to a certain account. Though this wire transfer is not tax related, it is being coupled with the W-2 scam and some companies have lost both employees’ W-2s and thousands of dollars due to the wire transfers.
The IRS urges all employers to share this information with their payroll, finance and HR employees and also consider creating an internal policy on the distribution of W-2 information and how to conduct wire transfers properly.
Steps Employers Can Take If They See the W-2 Scam
Organizations: Organizations that receive this email scam should forward it to phishing@irs.gov and put “W2 Scam” in the subject line. Organizations that receive the scam or fall victim to it should file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which is operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Employees: Employees whose W-2 have been stolen should review the recommended actions of the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov or by the IRS at www.irs.gov/identitytheft. Should an employee’s tax return be rejected due to a duplicate Social Security Number (SSN) or if instructed to do so by the IRS, should file a Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit.
Be Safe Online
Not only should taxpayers and tax preparers be leery of phishing emails, but also of using search engines to find technical help with taxes or tax software. Selecting the wrong “tech support” link could lead to a loss of data or an infected computer. Also, “tech support” software will not call users randomly so this would be another scam.
Sites for paid tax professional or free tax assistance:
- Choosing a Tax Professional lookup tool
- Free Tax Return Preparation Programs
- 12 Brand-Name tax software offered for free
IRS e-Services are also being manipulated by thieves sending emails asking e-Services users to update their credentials so they can then steal the information.
See Also
Affected employers and companies should also alert the state tax agencies by notifying StateAlert@taxadmin.org.
For more information contact info@apbenefitadvisors.com. The information contained in this post, and any attachments, is not intended and should not be misconstrued as legal advice. You should contact your employment, benefits or ERISA attorney for legal direction.
Benefits Market & ACA Under President Trump
Posted February 10, 2017 by Megan DiMartino
For more information contact info@apbenefitadvisors.com. The information contained in this post, and any attachments, is not intended and should not be misconstrued as legal advice. You should contact your employment, benefits or ERISA attorney for legal direction.
Is Paid Parental Leave Right for Your Company?
Posted February 7, 2017 by Megan DiMartino
The number of employers looking to offer paid parental leave is on the rise. A solid company policy is needed and Jeff Nowak from FMLA Insights has some of the best practices you can consider when drafting your policy:
- Decide when it kicks in
Employers, not the feds, are able to determine when the eligibility requirements of this benefit go into effect. So employers could require employees to work a certain number of hours before parental leave kicks in. - Watch for discrimination traps
Per the EEOC’s new pregnancy discrimination guidance, it is absolutely acceptable to provide better medical benefits to new moms than to new dads when it comes to childbirth recovery…for obvious reasons. But for bonding leave, employers can’t treat mean differently from women. New dads should be offered the same amount of bonding leave as new moms otherwise, you could leave yourself open to a discrimination suit. - Consider other paid leave
An unpopular leave tactic among employees would be to require them to use their other paid leave, such as vacation, sick and PTO, before utilizing paid parental leave benefits. But a more popular option that can keep employee morale up would be to require employees to use
paid leave before parental leave, but allowing them to set aside a certain amount of days for future use in the year. - Use FMLA accordingly
Employers have a legal right to run parental leave and FMLA concurrently. This also makes the administration of benefits much easier for HR and benefit pros. r
Source: HRBenfitsAlert.com | 4 keys to a solid paid parental leave policy
For more information contact info@apbenefitadvisors.com. The information contained in this post, and any attachments, is not intended and should not be misconstrued as legal advice. You should contact your employment, benefits or ERISA attorney for legal direction.
Pennsylvania & New York Employment Law Updates
Posted February 2, 2017 by Megan DiMartino
Philadelphia Passes Pay Equity Ordinance
Philadelphia Mayor, Jim Kinney, signed Bill 160840 on January 23, 2017, amending the city’s Fair Practice Ordinance, which will go into effect on May 23, 2017. The bill makes it unlawful for an employer to:
- Inquire about, or require disclosure of, a prospective employee’s wage history, whether in writing or otherwise;
- Condition employment or consideration for an interview or employment on disclosure of wage history; or
- Rely on a prospective employee’s wage history obtained from a current or former employer in determining the individual’s wages at any stage in the employment process, including the negotiation or drafting of any employment contract, unless the applicant knowingly and willingly discloses his or her wage history to the employer.
- Also prohibits retaliation against a prospective employee for failing to provide their wage history or for enforcing their rights under law.
New York DOL Releases Model Templates for Wage Payment Methods
The New York Department of Labor (NYDOL), under recent changes to wage payment methods, have issued model templates for written notice and consent for using payroll debit cards and direct deposit. These regulations will go into effect on March 7, 2017, after the public has had time to view and provide feedback on the templates. The deadline for feedback is February 10, 2017. The templates will be updated if applicable and posted prior to the effective date, along with translations into additional languages specified during the rulemaking process.
View templates
New York SDFS Prohibits Denying Commercial Crime Coverage
The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) have recently issued regulations that require insurance companies to provide commercial crime coverage to employers who have knowledge of employees with a prior criminal conviction. The regulations only apply to insurers whose insureds have engaged in an analysis under Article 23-A of the Correction Law, which prohibits discrimination of a conviction for a previous criminal offense, unless:
- There is a direct relationship between one or more of the previous criminal offenses and the employment sought or held by the individual; or
- The granting or continuation of employment would involve an unreasonable risk to property or to the safety or welfare of specific individuals or the general public.
In determining the above, employers must consider the following:
- The public policy of the state to encourage the licensure and employment of persons previously convicted of one ore more criminal offenses.
- The specific duties and responsibilities necessarily related to the license or employment sought or held by the person.
- The bearing, if any, the criminal offense or offenses for which the person was previously convicted will have on his or her fitness or ability to perform one or more such duties or responsibilities.
- The time elapsed since the occurrence of the criminal offense or offenses.
- The age of the person at the time of occurrence of the criminal offense or offenses.
- The seriousness of the offense or offenses.
- Any information produced by the person, or produced on the person’s behalf, in regard to his or her rehabilitation and good conduct.
- The legitimate interest of the public agency or private employer in protecting property, and the safety and welfare of specific individuals or the general public.
These regulations apply to policies issued, renewed, or delivered in NY after July 1, 2017.
Sources:
ThinkHR | Pennsylvania Employment Law Update – January 2017
ThinkHR | New York Employment Law Updated – January 2017
For more information contact info@apbenefitadvisors.com. The information contained in this post, and any attachments, is not intended and should not be misconstrued as legal advice. You should contact your employment, benefits or ERISA attorney for legal direction.
