Outsourcing HR Is A Global Strategy

Outsourcing HR is popular not only in the US, but also around the globe! Check out what companies in India and England are saying their reasons are for HR outsourcing:
Outsourcing Is A Global Strategy

Outsourcing To Grow

Many people consider outsourcing to be something a company does when it is attempting to cut costs while trying to stay in business. However, outsourcing is also a very helpful tool for companies looking to grow and need help managing the growth.

With human resources, the accessibility of good staff can be difficult to find. When you outsource your human resources, you are having automatic access to an expert in Title VII, payroll, benefit programs, SUTA, FUTA, FMLA, The ADA, Worker's Compensation, and so much more. Not only that, but the costs of technology is very minimal, as the outsourcing company has this technology already in place. You also don't need the time or money to train personnel on how to perform all the tasks necessary with technology they most likely are unfamiliar with.

 

In Australia, outsourcing is becoming a very essential function for growing businesses. In an article from the Sydney Morning Herald, all types of outsourcing are discussed, and the benefits of outsourcing.

"David Fincher, a partner in Ernst & Young's advisory practice, says that outsourcing can bring a range of benefits, including access to new talent, a broader skill base, access to new technology, added flexibility and allowing the company to focus on its core business. “Organisations should focus on what they're good at and what they need to be good at. Potentially anything else which isn't core or differentiating for that organisation could be delivered by someone else,” he says."

 

Read more of this article at The Sydney Morning Herald.

Don't Let Your Policies Fall To The Wayside...

A Tampa-based company must pay $2.75 million in a race discrimination case brought on by the EEOC. To some of you, this may not seem like new news, as discrimination cases, unfortunately, are opened all the time.

However, with this case, here is something interesting you should know: The Tampa-based company argued that it had an anti-harassment policy in force, which usually can be a form of "evidence" that the company has performed proper procedure.

Unfortunately, the judge noted that the company did not post the anti-harassment policy until the day after forms of discrimination had already taken place. The judge found that a jury could say that the company, “by allowing its harassment policy to gather dust in a corporate office, instead of being distributed to employees, did not take reasonable care to prevent harassment.”

It is very important that you ensure your company is performing proper procedure in the workplace to prevent cases like this from happening to you. It is not only costly, but it can leave a bad taste in the mouths of potential customers and potential employees.

If you feel concerned that you may not have all your ducks in a row, do not hesitate to contact EMT for help.

E-Verify Renewed!

Many employers are aware of the program, E-Verify, which allows employers to look up the information in an employee's I-9 and verify if said employee is legally allowed to work in the United States. The U.S. House of Representatives passed bill S. 3245 on September 13, which would reauthorize for three years E-Verify as well as certain immigrant visa programs that were set to expire at the end of September.

The bill re-authorized the following programs:

• E-Verify program
• EB-5 Regional Center program
• Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker program
• Conrad State 30 J-1 Visa Waiver program

The reauthorization of these programs would be in effect until September 30, 2015. E-Verify is a free service that allows employers to verify newly hired employees are legally allowed to work in the United States by doing so electronically. More than 300,000 employers use E-Verify, including the federal government, legislative branch and contractors.

The Immigrant Investor Program, or also known EB-5, was created to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors, with a minimum investment requirement of $1,000,000.
The Conrad State 30 J-1 program waives the two-year residence requirement under the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program for international medical graduates who have finished their medical education in the U.S. and choose to work at least three years in areas that lack medical availability.
The Non-Minister Religious Worker program provides special immigrant visas so that religious organizations may sponsor foreign nationals to come to the United States and provide religious services.

To learn more about these programs and the E-Verify program, visit The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.

What constitutes a full-time employee?

Most employers are familiar with the controversial PPACA that passed recently. Starting in 2014, employers with 50 or more full-time employees will be required to provide the minimum necessary health care coverage for their full-time employees or pay a penalty. But what constitutes a full-time employee?

The statute currently states that any employee with 30 or more hours a week in any given month would be considered an employee. But then what about seasonal employees or employees who have different hours every week?

The IRS provides documentation (IRS Notice 2012-58) which describes safe harbor methods that employers may use (but are not required to use) to determine which employees are treated as full-time employees for purposes of the shared employer responsibility provisions of § 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). A link to the IRS Notice 2012-58 can be found here.

This document provides ideas and examples of ways employers may determine what classifies full-time employees. Here is an example given from IRS Notice 2012-58:

For new variable hour employees, Employer B uses a 12-month initial measurement period that begins on the first day of the first month following the start date and applies an administrative period that runs from the end of the initial measurement period through the end of the second calendar month beginning on or after the end of the initial measurement period. Employer B hires Employee Y on May 10, 2014. Employee Y’s initial measurement period runs from June 1, 2014, through May 31, 2015. Employee Y works an average of 30 hours per week during this initial measurement period. Employer B offers coverage to Employee Y for a stability period that runs from August 1, 2015 through July 31, 2016.

If you are concerned about meeting these requirements for full-time employees, please call The Employee Management Team to receive assistance in all branches of human resources.

Early bird gets the internship!

If you’re thinking of applying for a summer internship, the clock has already started ticking. Internships have become one of the key ways that companies make permanent hires, so competition for them has intensified. Students hoping for an internship can no longer rely on luck or last-minute efforts to land one. To read the full article, click here. Looking to get an internship? Visit the chamber website at http://www.sarasotachamber.com/intern.