All posts by stu

Employee Injury, HR Costs, Insurance, Workers Compensation

Florida Work Comp rates dropping in 2018

It’s final.  This week, the Florida Insurance Commissioner issued a directive for workers’ compensation rates to be decreased by 9.8% beginning in 2018.  His final order increased the rate reductions recommended by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI).  In addition, State Insurance Commissioner David Almaier asked NCCI to analyze the impact of eliminating the attorney fee caps in future work comp rate recommendations.  Last year (2017), Florida businesses paid huge increases in work comp base rates (an average 14.5% increase) due to several Florida Supreme Court decisions in 2016 that removed the caps on attorney fees in workers’ compensation claim cases.

Despite the rate rollback, Florida businesses still have strong incentives to actively manage the risks of employee injury, maintain a safety focus and OSHA compliance culture and actively control the cost of claims, should they occur. Take steps today to protect your business and control your experience mod from rising claim costs and take action to keep employees focused on job site safety and not taking unnecessary risks.  Call us to learn more.

Employment Poster, Minimum Wage, Posters, Wage and Hour

2018 Florida Minimum Wage Poster released

On October 13, 2017, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced that the 2018 Florida minimum wage will be increased to $8.25 per hour, effective January 1, 2018. The agency is mandated to calculate a minimum wage rate each year based on the percentage increase in the federal Consumer Price Index in the South Region for the 12-month period prior to September 1, 2017. Update your poster for free from the Florida DEO website, or click here and download the 2018 minimum wage poster. All Florida employers are required to display the state-mandated minimum wage poster in a conspicuous manner for employees.

Want to know more about what workplace posters need to be displayed (federal and state) and how your company can save money by downloading all your mandated posters for free?  Our next blog will show you how to locate these resources for Florida employers.

1095C form, Affordable Care Act, IRS

Increasing Penalties for Non-compliance with Obamacare in 2018

Today, President Trump signed an Executive Order that ended the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) cost-sharing reduction payments to insurance companies.  The payments were added by President Obama to entice the insurance companies to add policies to the federal and state exchanges.  Since Congress did not appropriate funds for the CSR payments (estimated at $7 billion annually), the White House stated that it cannot lawfully make the CSR payments any longer.   This does not affect the tax credits individuals receive through the Healthcare Exchange, but will affect the profitability of the insurance carriers offering Exchange policies.  The ACA may be falling apart, but it is still the law of the land for employers.

In mid-September Congress came back into session, and was unsuccessful in attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare.  President Trump then issued an Executive Order directing agencies to minimize the ACA regulatory burden, but only Congress can repeal the ACA.  So, businesses are left with a continued obligation to comply with the Affordable Care Act, or face escalating penalties.  Each year, the penalties for failing to comply with the ACA’s employer shared responsibility provision (“pay or play”) keep escalating.

An applicable large employer (ALE) is an employer that has at least 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalents (FTEs).  An ALE will owe penalties to the IRS for the calendar year 2017 if it fails to offer group health insurance to employees, or offers group health insurance that does not meet the ACA requirements of affordability or minimum value.  Read the IRS Q & A Section on Shared Responsibility.

Penalty Option 1 – An ALE does not offer group health insurance to at least 95% of full-time employees (and their dependents) and at least 1 employee receives a premium tax credit to purchase an individual policy on the federal Health Insurance Marketplace.  The employer pays a penalty of $2,260 per full-time employee, minus any credits available to the employer.

Penalty Option 2 – An ALE offers coverage to at least 95% of its full-time employees (and their dependents), but employees are not offered coverage that is affordable or does not meet the minimum value requirements, and at least one full-time employee receives a premium tax credit to purchase individual coverage through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace.  The employer pays a penalty of $3,390 for each full-time employee that received a premium tax credit.

In addition, ALE’s have mandatory reporting requirements.  Applicable large employers (ALEs) will be required to file Forms 1094-C and 1095-C with the IRS no later than February 28, 2018 (or April 2, 2018 if filing electronically) and ALEs will be required to furnish a Form 1095-C to all full-time employee by January 31, 2018.

Consultstu LLC provides fractional HR services to small/mid businesses that lower operational costs, improve business processes and maintain compliance. We deliver customized HR and safety solutions that provide protection from expensive mistakes and strategies to improve workplace results. Call us at 727-350-0370 or visit http://www.consultstu.com

 

HR Compliance, Injury Statistics, OSHA, Record Keeping, Safety

How to Submit OSHA 300A Summary Data to ITA

Who Needs to Do This?

Establishments with 250 or more employees that are currently required to keep OSHA injury and illness records, and establishments with 20-249 employees that are classified in certain industries with historically high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses.

When Must This Be Done?

By December 1, 2017.

 

  1. Go to the Injury Tracking Application website (ITA)
  2. Create an account and log in.
  3. Create a separate, uniquely-named establishment for each business location that maintains OSHA injury logging.  Remember, OSHA 300 logs are generally maintained for each individual business location.
  4. You will need your company’s NAICS code!  Not only is it needed to register with and report to ITA, but it can also identify whether a company with fewer than 250 employees needs to submit ITA summary data at all.  If you have not determined your appropriate NAICS code, let us know and we can help.
  5. Pull your OSHA 300A Summary Injury Log from 2016, so you can add this data and create a CSV file of summary data to upload.  If you have multiple establishments, you can upload separate CSV files or compile a single file with multiple establishment summaries.
  6. To see what data fields are needed to create the summary, click here.
  7. Enter the headers and data into an Excel spreadsheet.  Click link to see a sample summary file for a single establishment, or for a multiple establishment sample.
  8. Be careful with commas!  Do not use commas at all in numeric fields.  For example, total employee hours should be: 11550, not 11,500.   If you must use a comma in a text field, that ENTIRE field must be contained inside quotation marks, or the upload will not be successful.  For example, the following company name should be entered into Excel as: “ConsultStu, LLC”.
  9. Convert your Excel spreadsheet to CSV format: File / Export / Change File Type / CSV (Comma delimited) / Save As / specify a filename and location.
  10. Upload your CSV file into the ITA system.  Click the “Upload a Batch File” button on the Injury Tracking Application Home screen in the For Batch Data Transmission section.  Click “Choose File,” and navigate to select the CSV file you created.  Check the box next to “agree to the terms and conditions” section, and click the “Upload” button.  You should receive an on-screen confirmation message once your file is received.  It may take a while for the system to process your upload.
  11. You may review and edit information after the upload.  Click on the “View Establishment List” button on the ITA home screen.  Find your establishment from the drop-down menu and then click on the name field.  Edit the data and then click the save button.
  12. A list of “Frequently Asked Questions” is on the OSHA ITA Recordkeeping.
Company Culture, Employee Handbook, Hiring, Onboarding, Recruiting

5 Steps to Start Building your Company Culture

Every business develops its culture whether intentionally or unintentionally – and it goes without saying that company culture has a lot to do with what type of employees that are attracted to your business, their job satisfaction levels and how well they will satisfy your customers. If your company is not deliberating working on developing and strengthening its company culture, you are missing a golden opportunity to engage with employees in a deliberate manner in order to drive higher results. Leadership certainly sets the tone on culture and supports it financially, but your human resources practices (beyond compliance and cost containment) can be a primary driver of culture and employee engagement. A Harvard study examined businesses that made company culture a key aspect of their business strategy and determined that those companies that focused on culture achieved:

  • 4 times the revenue growth
  • Higher profits (climbed 750% greater)
  • Doubling of customer satisfaction
  • Reduced turnover (by as much as 34%)

HR can develop and implement employee-centric practices for recruiting, onboarding, training programs, performance feedback and employee benefits that connect with your workforce. Here are 5 steps to start your new focus on developing a deliberate company culture.

  1. What about your product or service gets employees inspired? Not what you do, but the impact of the work you do. Write it down, and share with employees. Add this message to your recruiting and employee messages.
  2. Are company values prominently displayed for employees? in the Employee Handbook? posted in the office? If you do not have a mission statement and a vision, work on developing them.
  3. What activities does the company do (or support) that support these values? Identify activities and events that visibly show support for your company mission so that employees can also rally around them.
  4. Add these values to your recruiting list – and hire employees that display support for these value. Also, develop a structured onboarding process that will teach new employees about the company culture, values and behaviors that are necessary to support the culture. For example, if teamwork is a key value, how are employees expected to be good team members – are these actions reinforced and rewarded?  How can you use behavioral questions to learn more about applicant’s past support and experience with teams.
  5. Communicate company values often and make sure employees know what your company is all about, the achievement goals and how each employee can connect and support the goals and objectives.

It’s never too late to start, even if your company has been in business for years.  Can you use company culture as a strategic advantage against competitors?  What type of employees do you want to attract – and why should they come to join your team? Once you have your vision for culture and determine your commitment to it (including proper resourcing and willingness to role model these behaviors) let human resources help you create a roadmap to implement impactful actions that support your desired company culture. If you are not sure about your existing culture, consider an employee opinion survey to determine how employees currently view the company and if company activities are supporting the desired company culture.  Our next blog post will focus on creating an onboarding process that reinforces your company culture.

Florida rules, General HR Questions, New Hire, Record Keeping

How to set up online New Hire Reporting in Florida

All Florida employers are required to report new hire information to the State of Florida. Online reporting is faster, easier, free and reduces the risk of error or unreadable information on paper-based forms.  Here is how to set it up:

  1. Go to the New Hire Reporting website.
  2. Click the “register” button
  3. Click on the “employer” button
  4. Multistate employers or employers with one or more subsidiary, location, or branch can save time and resources by consolidating new hire reporting into one central location. centralization of new hire reporting at the corporate office is recommended, using the multistate reporting method if applicable. For more information about multi-state reporting, click here.
  5. Enter your company information, including FEIN, company name, company email address, Reemployment Assistance number and select a password. Also, add all the contact information for the primary point of contact for handling unemployment claims.
  6. New businesses that do not have a reemployment assistance number, you will need to register with the Department of Revenue. Existing companies can find this number on the last unemployment claim or wage audit statement.
  7. Mark the “accept” button and click “register”
  8. Follow the instructions for confirming your account
  9. Use the “login” function to access your new account
  10. Employers having trouble can 1-888-854-4791, for assistance during normal business hours.

To report your new hires, you will need the new employee’s social security number, name, date of hire and address. Terminations can also be reported in the system.  Reporting termination is mandatory when the employee was subject to an Income Withholding Order for child support.

EEO-1 Form, EEOC, Executive Order, Payroll

EEOC Ditches Plan to Require Wage Data on the EEO-1 Form

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced that the upcoming EEO-1 reporting form will not contain pay data collection information – confirming that the Trump Administration was ditching plans developed by the Obama Administration to expand the data collected on the EEO-1 form by adding a requirement to report aggregate W-2 income by sex, race, ethnicity, and job group.

On August 29, 2017, the EEOC issued a news release that it was halting plans for the change and instead employers covered by the EEO-1 rules should comply with the March 2018 EEO-1 reporting deadline by using the previously approved EEO-1 form (no pay data included).  The preferred method for submitting EEO-1 data is through the EEO-1 Online Filing System.

What companies are required to file the EEO-1 form?

  1. Private employers with 100 or more employees (or fewer than 100 employees if the company is owned by or corporately affiliated with another company and the entire enterprise employs a total of 100 or more employees); and
  2. Federal contractors (private employers) subject to Executive Order 11246 who have 50 or more employees and (a) are prime contractors or first-tier subcontractors and have a contract, subcontract, or purchase order amounting to $50,000 or more; or (2) serve as a depository of government funds in any amount; or (3) are a financial institution which is an issuing and paying agent for U.S. Savings Bonds and Notes.

 

Exempt Employee, Fair Labor Standards Act, Payroll, Salaried employees, Wage and Hour

Is a Company required to pay employees for weather closings?

Last Saturday and Sunday, Hurricane Irma stormed its way across Florida closing businesses, forcing evacuations and crashing power lines. Almost all businesses were closed Friday through Tuesday, and some even longer if power was lost. What are the rules for paying employees when a company is forced to close due to severe weather?

The answer depends on some technical wage and hour regulations implementing the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  When an employee misses work due to bad weather, the rules are different depending on whether the employee is classified as exempt or non-exempt.  A non-exempt employee is generally paid on an hourly basis, and they do not need to be paid unless they are working.  So, non-exempt employees are not required to be paid for weather closing days.  The story is different for exempt employees.  They are paid a salary (and also meet the required “duties” rules) and generally must be paid their full salary amount if they perform any work during the work week.  So, if a salaried employee worked at all during the week, they must be paid their full salary, even if the employer closes the business for bad weather.  No deductions should be made from the salaried employee’s pay. There are no Florida state laws that alter these federal rules.

What if the business is open, but an employee cannot come to work due to weather? Non-exempt employees are only paid if they work. A salaried exempt employee who does not come to work may have their salary docked for the missed day (as long as no work was done on that day).  An employer is permitted to make a deduction from the pay of an exempt employee when they are absent from work for one or more full days for personal reasons other than sickness or disability.  If the exempt employee is making phone calls, monitoring emails and/or performing other work remotely, the employer is not permitted to make the salary deduction.

Can a company require a salaried exempt employee to use vacation or PTO days to cover the bad weather days?  Yes, according to the Wage and Hour regulators.  They stated that since the FLSA does not require employee provided vacation or PTO time it is permissible for a company to substitute or reduce the accrued leave in the plan for the time an employee is absent from work, even if it is less than a full day, without affecting the salary basis of payment. However, the employee must still receive an amount equal to the employee’s guaranteed salary.  So, if the salaried employee does not have sufficient vacation or PTO to cover the bad weather days, then the employer can not reduce the employee’s pay.

Consultstu LLC provides fractional HR services to small/mid businesses that lower operational costs, improve business processes and maintain compliance. We deliver customized HR and safety solutions that provide protection from expensive mistakes and strategies to improve workplace results. Call us at 727-350-0370 or visit http://www.consultstu.com

Department of Labor, FMLA, Leave of Absence, Record Keeping

What if a Company does not properly designate an FMLA absence?

For many reasons, a company (with at least 50 employees) may forget, or simply neglect to provide an eligible employee with the proper FMLA paperwork before or during their leave of absence.  If this happens, does the employer need to offer the affected employee with a new 12 weeks of FMLA leave, re-sent the original notices but late, or can the employer retroactively designate an absence as FMLA leave?

Good news, the Department of Labor regulations provide some direction to those employers in the text of the regulations (29 CFR Section 825.301(d) and (e)).  If an employer does not timely designate FMLA leave, the employer may retroactively designate the absence as FMLA leave if the employer provides appropriate notice to the employee and the retroactive designation does not cause harm or injury to the employee.

For example, if an employer that was put on notice that an employee needed FMLA leave
failed to designate the leave properly, but the employee’s own serious health condition
prevented him or her from returning to work during that time period regardless of the
designation, an employee may not be able to show that the employee suffered harm as
a result of the employer’s actions. However, if an employee took leave to provide care
for a son or daughter with a serious health condition believing it would not count toward
his or her FMLA entitlement, and the employee planned to later use that FMLA leave to
provide care for a spouse who would need assistance when recovering from surgery
planned for a later date, the employee may be able to show that harm has occurred as
a result of the employer’s failure to designate properly. The employee might establish
this by showing that he or she would have arranged for an alternative caregiver for the
seriously ill son or daughter if the leave had been designated timely.  Review the regulation section. 

If an employer fails to timely designate FMLA leave and that failure causes the employee to suffer harm, the employer may be liable for damages or be required to take other remedial actions.  In those cases, the employer may be required to provide an additional 12 weeks of leave, reactivate health benefits, etc… based on the circumstances. Make sure that your company also has the most recent FMLA poster in the workplace and a written Family and Medical Leave policy in its employee handbook (signed by employees).

Consultstu LLC provides fractional HR services to small/mid businesses that lower operational costs, improve business processes and maintain compliance. We deliver customized HR and safety solutions that provide protection from expensive mistakes and strategies to improve workplace results. Call us at 727-350-0370 or visit http://www.consultstu.com

Department of Labor, Exempt Employee, Overtime, Salaried employees

Obama Overtime Rule is Invalidated

On August 31, a federal judge hearing the case challenging the validity of the Obama Administration’s controversial new overtime regulation ruled that the key provisions were unlawful.  The regulations, developed in 2016, had nearly doubled the salary level required to qualify a worker for an exemption from overtime (the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “white collar” executive, administrative and professional (“EAP”) exemptions, changed from $455 per week ($23,660 annually) to $913 per week ($47,476 annually). The case was pending since November 2016, when the judge ihad blocked the enforcement of the regulations from taking effect on December 1, 2016.

The judge ruled that workers, who were clearly intended to meet the overtime exemption regulations, would have lost their exemption, and thereby making the “duties” portion of the salary test irrelevant. In addition, the judge found that automatically increasing the salary level every three (3) years was unlawful. Although the salary test in the Final Rule was invalidated (due to high level), his ruling did not prevent a rule going forward that adjusts the salary level higher than the current level. In fact, the judge noted that the Department of Labor could have adjusted the salary figure for inflation (the last salary adjustment was in 2004) without an issue because the salary figure would still be operating as it had in the past – more as a floor.  The Trump Administration’s Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta has already stated that a more reasonable salary level would be around $33,000.

Bottom line – employers should continue to use the current “white collar” exemption test which is $455 per week, when determining if an employee is exempt from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Consultstu LLC provides fractional HR services to small/mid businesses that lower operational costs, improve business processes and maintain compliance. We deliver customized HR and safety solutions that provide protection from expensive mistakes and strategies to improve workplace results. Call us at 727-350-0370 or visit http://www.consultstu.com

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