FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (May 15, 2012) – LaborLawCenter™ (www.laborlawcenter.com), a leading provider of labor law posters, human resources products, and compliance solutions services announced today the upcoming launch of “Hot Deals!,” a LaborLawCenter exclusive on discounted products starting May 22^nd.

Business owners, human resource managers, and decision makers who subscribe to the Hot Deals Weekly Email will receive notifications for great savings on exclusive LaborLawCenter™ products. A limited amount of each product will be made available to subscribers.

“At LaborLawCenter.com, we are committed to offering our clients tremendous value every week. Anyone who signs up to receive our weekly emails will find incredible bargains not offered anywhere else,” said Mary-Joy Gamueda, Marketing Manager.

The online-only sales will offer an average of a 40-90 percent discount off regular prices on important compliance and labor law posters, materials, and services. Some of the items that will be featured are the following

• One Year Compliance Protection Plan™ $32.97 (40 percent off

• Complete State and Federal Poster $18 (40 percent off)

• $75 gift certificate valued at $150 (50 percent off)

• No Smoking Poster $4.95 (50 percent off)

• Human Resources forms (40-90 percent off)

About LaborLawCenter™

LaborLawCenter™ is a leading compliance poster company in the United States, providing compliance solutions to small, medium, and large businesses nationwide. It manufactures and ships over 100,000 state & federal labor law posters, industry-specific posters, and human resources products annually. Founded in 1999 in the back patio of a home in Cypress, CA, LaborLawCenter™ has since grown into a multi-million dollar company headquartered in Garden Grove, CA. LaborLawCenter™ attributes its growth to the satisfaction of customers and remains committed to providing stellar customer service and outstanding products. LaborLawCenter™ also provides Human Resources products and services including Complete State and Federal Labor Law Posters, HR and Legal Business Forms, and Compliance

Although we know it when we see it, attitude is one of the hardest things to objectively define. In many cases, the employee doesn’t always realize a problem exists—especially when her work performance is good. Because of the subjectivity of the perceived “attitude,” the worker may believe she is being picked on or discriminated against when her manager attempts to deal with the issue.

There’s no question you have to deal with it—rudeness and a poor attitude towards coworkers can affect the morale and productivity of the entire team, and if the employee is rude to a customer the bottom line is directly impacted. To avoid liability issues—where the employee believes your complaints about attitude are really a cover for some form of discrimination or retaliation—it’s critical to focus on specific examples of the unacceptable behavior.

Step One: Document
Take some time to document specific examples of the employee’s rudeness and attitude. Note the exact words that were said and the particular details of each incident, such as whether the employee rolled her eyes or sighed repeatedly. Thorough documentation will help you provide enough context and detail to the employee that she understands the issue, and it can also be useful to prove your legitimate business reasons for action if you are ever served with an EEOC complaint, for example. The documentation can also be used later to support any discipline, or when including the information in the employee’s performance appraisal.

Step Two: Hold a Staff Meeting
Include an item on customer service and work group relations on the agenda for your next staff meeting, then record attendance at the meeting with a sign-in sheet. Discuss your expectations for conduct and behavior and give specific examples of behavior to aim for and behavior to avoid.

• Conversation Tip Our company prides itself on exceptional customer service. We need customers to know that we value their service and we are happy to help with whatever requests and questions they have. We need to present a friendly, welcoming impression. Even if you’re frustrated, don’t let it show. Rolling your eyes, sighing, or conveying the appearance that the customer’s request is an inconvenience is not acceptable behavior.

Step Three: Counsel the Employee
If the employee’s rude behavior continues, set a time to meet with her. Provide specific examples of the behavior you have observed and explain why it isn’t acceptable. Inform the employee that this is a serious issue that will lead to discipline if it continues.

Sometimes the employee will question why she is being counseled when her work performance is good. Emphasize that the attitude and rudeness is just as much of a concern to the company—and can have as much of an impact on the bottom line—as poor performance on tasks.

• Conversation Tip When a customer asks you for help, an example of excellent service would be to immediately assist them with a smile and ask if you can help with anything else. Yesterday, when a customer asked you for help, you sighed loudly, frowned and commented that they would have to wait until you had time. This isn’t acceptable. Behavior like this affects our revenue because the customer is unlikely to come back to us in the future.

Step Four: Reasons and Solutions
Ask the employee if any specific reasons for the behavior exist—for example, it happens when she is overwhelmed or she is quick to anger when she is stressed. Ask the employee to identify potential solutions, and offer some of your own, such as anger management or customer service training, assistance with prioritizing tasks to prevent her from getting so overwhelmed in the future, or a referral to the employee assistance program to find better ways to manage stress.

Step Five: Further Action
If the employee doesn’t change her behavior, further discipline—such as an employee warning*—will be necessary.

Things to Consider:

• Check your policies. Do they cover unprofessional or rude behavior? Is the employee reasonably on notice that her actions are a policy violation?

Avoid relying on subjective factors such as “tone,” particularly in relation to emails, where tone is inferred by the reader. Instead, focus on concrete examples of attitude.

Note: With business management in mind, we understand that our readers not only need compliance topic blogs, but office communications as well. This entry was previously published on our HRTalkCenter Newsletter. This is just one of the many benefits we offer to our Compliance Management Service members. Never miss any of our valuable tips by receiving them immediately upon publication ! Learn more here:http://www.laborlawcenter.com/c-211-compliance-management-services.aspx

It’s the morning after Mardi Gras, and Joe calls in sick. You were expecting it—after all, he was sick the Friday before a long weekend, and the Monday after the big game. Joe’s not alone – 2007 research from time and attendance software provider Kronos suggested that approximately 7 million U.S. workers call in “sick” after the Super Bowl each year.

While employees may not realize the consequences of their behavior to the organization, excessive absences have a significant impact on workplace productivity. In a small business, these effects are even more noticeable, because the size of the company means the work can’t always be redistributed among other employees. And no matter the size of the company, morale is affected when coworkers have to pick up the slack of a routinely absent worker. But by dealing with attendance issues as soon as they arise, managers can control the issue and reduce the negative effects on the business.

Step One: Documentation
Record the employee’s absences to see if any obvious trends or patterns exist. It can be helpful to create a chart to record the days, or use specific colors to annotate a printed monthly calendar. Visually representing the leave will help you identify if a pattern of absences is occurring—and it can also be a reality check for the employee to see his leave documented in that way.

Check if he always calls out on the same days, before or after the weekend, or around major events. Determine how long the pattern has been occurring and see if you can identify the reason. More than one employee’s absences have conveniently coincided with the home games of the local baseball team.

Step Two: Consider the Family Medical Leave Act
Has the employee given you an excuse for his absences? If so, review the reasons to see if they are covered by the Family Medical Leave Act, or FMLA. Occasional sniffles and the common cold don’t qualify—but if your employee is suffering from migraines, he is likely to be entitled to family medical leave. Even if you don’t know the reason, a pattern of absences might indicate that the employee could qualify for intermittent leave. Give him the FMLA certification form for his doctor to complete.

Companies with 50 or more employees—or who have employed 50 or more workers for at least 20 weeks within the current or previous calendar year—are required to provide unpaid, protected leave to eligible staff members. The employee must have been employed for at least 12 months, worked a minimum of 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months, and be located at a worksite where at least 50 other company employees are also employed within a 75-mile radius.

Step Three: Meet with the Employee
Once you’ve prepared the chart and gathered the relevant paperwork, set a time to meet with the employee. Choose a private location and schedule a time when you won’t be interrupted.

• Conversation Tip Prepare the employee for the meeting by letting him know what you plan to discuss: “Joe, I’d like to meet with you at 3 today, in my office. I have some concerns about your attendance that I need to discuss with you.”

Tell the employee you’ve noticed he’s been absent frequently, and explain the effects his attendance has on the company as a whole.

• Conversation Tip “Joe, when you’re out, customers notice delays, and your coworkers have to take on the extra work. It makes it difficult for us to get the job done the way we need to.”

Share the chart with him and ask if he, too, notices a pattern to the leave. Ask him if there is an explanation for the pattern of absences. Keep a neutral tone and remain calm, avoiding judgments or accusations.

• Conversation Tip “As your supervisor, I keep records of your leave requests. I’d like you to take a look at this chart—it seems to me there’s a pattern to your unscheduled absences. Can you tell me why you’ve been absent on so many Monday mornings?”

Listen to the employee’s response and evaluate the situation. Provide him with any relevant paperwork, such as the FMLA certification form, relevant workers compensation papers if he alleges an injury caused on the job, or a referral to the employee assistance program if it’s appropriate and your company uses one.

Step Four: Potential Accommodations
Sometimes the employee will reveal a reason for leave that may be protected by either the FMLA or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For example, if the employee provides care for a sick or disabled relative and is required to transport them to treatment on Wednesday mornings. The treatment center doesn’t open until 8:00 a.m.— the time the employee is due to start work. As a result, the employee is late or calls in every Wednesday. A situation like this can be easily accommodated in most workplaces by adjusting his start time to 8:15 or 8:30. However, in certain cases—perhaps where the worker is the only employee, required to open the doors for business at 8:00—an unreasonable hardship might occur. Carefully evaluate all possible options for accommodation on a case-by-case basis.

• Conversation Tip “I want to work with you to resolve this problem. What suggestions do you have for making sure the issue doesn’t continue? Is there anything we can do to help you achieve it?”

Step Five: Requiring Improvement
If the employee does not provide a justified or protected reason for his attendance problems, inform him of the consequences of continued absenteeism. Make sure he realizes that continued excessive or undocumented absences could lead to disciplinary action, and even cost him his job. Consider requiring the worker to produce a doctor’s note for each unscheduled absence from the workplace, otherwise he will be considered absent without leave. Put this requirement in writing, or include it in a performance improvement plan*, with other documented expectations for improvement, such as calling in to speak to a live person, and reducing the number of unscheduled absences. Review the plan periodically—at 30, 60 and 90 days—to determine if the employee’s attendance has improved. This isn’t a permanent solution—once a sustained improvement has been observed, you can remove the verification requirement or graduate the employee from the performance plan.

• Conversation Tip “From now on, I’m instructing you to bring a doctor’s note every time you call out sick. We’ll meet again in 30 days to review your progress and I’ll let you know then if this requirement will continue.”

Step Six: Disciplinary Action
If you’ve ruled out FMLA and ADA, and the employee still fails to improve, despite counseling, performance improvement plans and any accommodations you provide, it’s time to take further disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal from employment. If you discover the employee was dishonest about his leave, this is also a reason for discipline.

Things to Consider:

• Make sure your company has a strong sick leave policy, emphasizing that verification may be required.
• Check that employees are aware of the call-in requirements.
• Lead by example. You can’t expect your employees to adhere to a strict attendance policy if you continually flout it yourself.

Don’t discipline an employee with an attendance problem by suspending him—it’s not usually an effective resolution to the problem.

Note: With business management in mind, we understand that our readers not only need compliance topic blogs, but office communications as well. This entry was previously published on our HR Tips Newsletter. This is just one of the many benefits we offer to our Compliance Management Service members. Learn more here: http://www.laborlawcenter.com/c-211-compliance-management-services.aspx

Does your poster include the new Federal NLRA posting?

A Federal district court in the District of Columbia has ruled that a controversial employee rights poster requirement will be enforced and will go in effect April 30.

The poster is issued and enforced by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and is required to be posted in an 11″ x 17″ size. Content of the notice basically explains an employee’s right to unionize. Because NLRA rights apply to union and non-union workplaces, employers who do not have a union, aside from the USPS, will need to post the notice.

Many recent changes have occurred to labor law posters, and obtaining a new updated poster is highly advisable to avoid any employee dispute, legal lawsuit, or unnecessary miscommunication.

Consider one of the compliance management services, which allows you to not worry about posting compliance requirements.

To see special prices on a range of poster options, click here.

Hiring Independent Contractors is a legitimate business model in all states, and true Independent Contractors should receive 1099s for compensation for their services. However, many employers give 1099 forms to people who are misclassified as Independent Contractors when they should have been paid as employees.

Sometimes the employer’s motive is honest - they believe that the worker is truly an Independent Contractor; but more commonly, they pay with a 1099 to keep the overhead cost down and not give the employee the true protection they need for their work.

The basic definition of the “Employee” and the “Independent Contractor” as given by the Employment Development Department (EDD) of California is as follows:

• Employee: An individual who performs services for you and is subject to your control regarding what will be done and how it will be done.
• Independent Contractor: An individual who performs services for you, but you control only the result of the work.

The employer must understand these definitions in order to remain in compliance and not be issued all the fines and penalties.

The IRS, Department of Labor, and many state agencies are taking aim at businesses using Independent Contractors due to the suffering tax revenues everywhere. Paying Independent Contractors with a 1099 eliminates wage withholding, employment taxes, unemployment taxes, worker’s compensation, and offers no pensions and fringe benefits to the worker. The employer may be benefitting now, but the ramifications can be outstanding.

If found guilty of misclassifying workers, the employer will be faced with costly audits by the IRS, EDD, and Department of Industrial Relations, additional taxes, penalties, and interest, plus revocation of state/local license.

The state of California passed a Labor Law in October 2011 designed to crack down on the misclassification of workers as Independent Contractors and dramatically increased the penalties on employers who have been found to have willfully done so. The SB 459 added the following fines:

• California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency can fine you for “willfully misclassifying” an employee from $5,000 to $15,000 per violation.
• The penalty goes up to $25,000 per violation if you commit a “pattern and practice” of “willfully misclassifying” workers.
• There’s joint and several liability for consultants (but excluding practicing lawyers) who advise employers on such independent contractor engagements.
• It’s unlawful to charge misclassified independent contractors any fee or take deductions from the compensation paid to them.  Companies cannot deduct fees for goods, materials, space rental, services, government licenses, repairs, etc. provided to contractors who are reclassified.

Paying a true employee with a 1099 and misclassifying them as Independent Contractor may lower the overhead costs now, but should the relationship be terminated, or competitors start to ask questions – both may contact the EDD or the IRS, and the truth will be revealed. The employer will be left having to pay an enormous amount of taxes, fines, and penalties.

The cost is not worth the risk. Be informed of the regulations and the law. Be in compliance at all times for your business.

Resources:

Forms:

DE 231, Information Sheet - Employment

DE 231EEE, Information Sheet - Exempt Employment

DE 38, Employment Determination Guide

DE 1870, Determination of Employment Work Status

Additional Resources:

Employment Status Course

www.edd.ca.gov/Payroll_Taxes/Web_Based_Seminars.htm

Employee or Independent Contractor Tax Seminar

www.edd.ca.gov/Payroll_Tax_Serminars/