Healthcare workers are at a much higher risk of obesity than the majority of occupations, according to a 2014 study by the American Journal of Medicine. In the survey, the healthcare category, overall, ranked 5th out of 20 industries with an obesity rate of 32 percent. However, analysts suggested that figure was skewed due to the inclusion of health providers, such as doctors, who have very low obesity rates. Furthermore, ‘Healthcare support’ positions, including home…
One of the most common questions for employers determining compensable time is how to handle on-call situations. If an employee is on-call, is he or she eligible to be paid for the on-call time? The answer lies in the restrictions the employer places upon the worker during the on-call period. To make this determination, there are two key questions that employers should consider. 1. Does the employer control the location where employees must wait? Per…
Cell phone usage in the workplace is at an all-time high, and evidence is mounting that employee cell phone use causes unwanted distractions in the office. In a 2015 study by CareerBuilder, 44% of business leaders ranked cell phone usage as the number one productivity killer—placing it atop the list of workplace distractions. Yet, many company leaders struggle to manage cell phone usage effectively. Here’s a simple solution. Unless workers need their cellphones to perform…
As the year draws to a close, company personnel charged with record-keeping should collect their corporate health insurance information in preparation for W-2 and other tax form reporting. For S-Corporations (S-Corps), this information should be segregated by payments made to employees, and their spouses and dependents (which are not wages and are therefore not subject to withholding), and payments made on behalf of officers, owners or employees who own more than two percent of the…
In the past, we have written about a variety of requirements and forms, from OSHA form to payroll and other accounting documentation. Today, we’ll cover some general guidance related to payroll recordkeeping. This task isn’t easy—although the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are straightforward, other state and federal laws can be complicated and confusing. Additionally, most of them change from time to time. As with so many workplace laws, one principle overrides…
The end of any year is always challenging, between juggling personnel holiday vacation schedules, preparing year-end paperwork, and making adjustments for the upcoming year. From Affordable Care Act compliance and reporting to adjusting compensation strategies, there is no shortage of things to do. In case you are overloaded or running behind this year, here’s a handy list of items to review and determine if you have outstanding work for any of them. To simplify things,…
As we head toward the new year, following are some considerations for compliance in various areas. Staying on top of these will help keep your firm out of trouble while minimizing expenses and payroll. Payroll compliance is often more about correct interpretation of the law than math. If you are having trouble discerning between employees and independent contractors, look to the IRS guidelines for direction. Some—but not all—employee discounts qualify as income. Learn the difference. Even…
In July 2018, Bryan Jarrett, Acting Administrator of the Department of Labor (DoL), issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2018-4 (FAB) to help Wage & Hour Division (WHD) field investigators determine whether home care, nurse, or caregiver registries are employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Registries aren’t employers – they are “worker matching services,” in this case, matching people who need care giving services with the caregivers who provide them. For this registry, the caregivers were home health…
It’s always amazed us at MarathonHR how many restaurants—even fairly large ones—don’t have a Human Resources (HR) department, or even an HR professional on staff who handles payroll, workers’ comp claims, and other issues that restaurants face. They also may not outsource any of their HR functions to another firm. In the most bare-bones situations, the owner does it all. We have worked with a lot of restaurants and have seen, firsthand, that not having…
Although flu season doesn’t really get started until late October, especially in the South, now is a great time to get your office and your workers ready to battle it. Last year’s flu season was especially dangerous—and deadly. Flu sent more than over 700,000 people to the hospital, and 180 children died. The 2017-2018 season was driven by a flu strain, the H3N2 virus, which tends to result in more hospitalizations and cause more deaths….
Buffalo's Cafe Ends Human Resources Headaches;