Author: Site Staff

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 prohibits anyone from hiring an illegal alien. HR managers, line managers and supervisors can use the checklist below to comply with the immigration laws.

Verify employment eligibility.
Verify and maintain records demonstrating that each employee hired after the law became effective (November 7, 1986) is eligible for employment.

Don’t request additional or different documents than the law requires.
If a manager requests more or different employment-eligibility documents than are required under the IRCA, or refuses to honor documents tendered that reasonably appear to be genuine, charges of discrimination can result.

Don’t retain an employee that you know is illegal.
If an employee’s illegal status becomes known after initial hire, it is unlawful to retain that employee. Knowledge of someone’s lack of authorization for employment includes not only actual knowledge, but also constructive knowledge.

Wait to fill out Form I-9 until the first day of work.
To avoid possible civil rights, age discrimination, and other discrimination suits, avoid having applicants fill out the immigration form (Form 1-9) during the application process. That form gives the employer access to information, such as age, that should not be used in the hiring decision. Instead, the employer could wait until the new employee reports for duty at the job site before completing Form 1-9.

Make sure documents are produced within three days.
A manager or supervisor who hires employees without documents must fire them if they fail to produce the documents in three days, unless they prove they have ordered them, in which case there is a 21-day extension.

Don’t discriminate because of nationality or citizenship.
Employers with four or more employees may not discriminate on the basis of the national origin or citizenship status of legal aliens. While citizenship status may be a basis for extending preference to one applicant over another individual who is an alien, the preference is limited to instances where the two individuals are equally qualified. Managers or supervisors that attempt to avoid problems under the immigration laws by not hiring “foreign-looking” individuals instead may be violating federal civil rights laws.

Don’t impose additional employment standards that could be discriminatory.
Be aware that seemingly neutral standards that are not supported by business necessity, such as lengthy residence requirements, preferred verification documents or restrictive language requirements, that in fact discriminate may be treated by the government as intentional discrimination irrespective of the true motive.

Cite: Immigration and Control Act of 1986, 8 USC Sec. 1324a-c.

Source: CCH Incorporated is a leading provider of information and software for human resources, legal, accounting, health care and small business professionals. CCH offers human resource management, payroll, employment, benefits, and worker safety products and publications in print, CD, online, and via the Internet.

As companies continue to outsource many of their HR functions, it’s important to know how to negotiate contracts with the right vendor. Keep the following in mind:

• Know your needs and goals.
  
  
• Institute a detailed RFP (request for proposal) process.
  
  
• Specify company/vendor responsibilities.
  
  
• Set detailed performance standards.
  
  
• Determine growth rates.
  
  
• Don’t use a vendor’s standard contract.
  
  
• Don’t sign incomplete contracts.
  
  
• Don’t set a reporting system for convenience.
  
  
• Don’t neglect your employees.
  
  
• Don’t ignore the vendor’s motives.

SOURCE: Winning Strategies for Outsourcing Contracts, Personnel Journal (now Workforce), Jennifer J. Laabs and Brenda Paik Sunoo, March 1994.

Are your payroll records in good shape? An employer with workers who are entitled to the minimum wage or to both the minimum and overtime wages prescribed by the FLSA must maintain and preserve records that show the following for each such worker:

• Name in full, including the employee’s number or identifying symbol if such is used in place of a name on any time, work or payroll record.
• Home address, including zip code.
• Date of birth if the employee is under 19 years of age.
• Sex and occupation in which the worker is employed.
• Time and name of day on which the employee’s workweek begins.
• Regular hourly rate of pay, the basis on which wages are paid and regular-rate exclusions.
• Hours worked each workday and the total hours worked each workweek.
• Daily or weekly straight-time earnings or wages.
• Weekly overtime excess compensation.
• Deductions from or additions to wages.
• Wages paid each pay period.
• Date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment..
• Retroactive wage payment under government supervision.

Cite: Fair Labor Standards Act Regulations, 29 CFR 516.2.

Source: CCH Incorporated is a leading provider of information and software for human resources, legal, accounting, health care and small business professionals. CCH offers human resource management, payroll, employment, benefits, and worker safety products and publications in print, CD, online, and via the Internet.

Ever been at the end of your rope? There are a number of valuable benefits for never giving up. Here are a few:

1. You will never know what you could have achieved if you quit.

2. Your competitors would love you to give up.

3. No matter what your station or position in life — there will always be reasons to quit.

4. When you give up, your message to the world is — you really didn’t think you could do it in the first place.

5. Anything worthwhile takes time, effort and the will to go on under adverse circumstances.

6. When you give up, will you start something else, and then quit when it gets hard?

7. The price of quitting is higher than the price of sticking it out.

8. When it gets the hardest, that is when you are almost there.

SOURCE: Tim Connor, author of The Road to Happiness is Full of Potholes. Connor Resource Group, Davidson, NC, January 4, 1999.

Here’s a warning if you’re going to be in a videoconference meeting: Don’t let the sight of yourself shock you. If you haven’t seen yourself on video, or haven’t done so lately, be aware that the sudden image of yourself on the monitor can be mesmerizing or shocking. Before the conference, give yourself a rehearsal, using either the videoconference equipment the meeting will use or a home video camera.

Here are some suggestions from Communispond for putting your best face forward at the videoconference:

Rehearse in advance.
If your videoconference debut is an important job interview or presentation, a rehearsal is even more critical. You’ll be able to practice getting your message clear and concise, and your delivery confident and smooth. Furthermore, you’ll be able to see and correct posture, mannerisms and facial expressions that may be getting in the way of making your best impression

Be still.
At your regular staff meetings you may be accustomed to engaging in side discussions, interrupting the person who is speaking, tapping your pen on the table, and shifting your position. These are all no-no’s at the videoconference. The microphone is very sensitive and will pick up your off-handed comment to your neighbor at the table, the sound of your knuckles cracking, and the shuffling of your feet. Any movements you make when someone else is speaking will grab attention away from the person who is speaking.

Adjust your pace.
When it’s your turn to talk, speak clearly and make a deliberate pause after each thought. Although the sound quality of videoconferencing equipment is good, for technical reasons there is a slight delay between your speaking the words and the listeners on the other end hearing them. A little pause after each expressed thought, and a longer pause between you and the next person to speak will prevent overlapping that might cause listeners to miss what is being said.

Maintain your distance.
In a face-to-face meeting it feels natural to lean forward toward your listeners to draw them in to what you are saying. On camera, such leaning looks like lunging and may make you seem aggressive. To the viewers on the other end, it will appear that you are coming on too strong. Any shifts in your bearing will be exaggerated by the camera. Sit straight in your chair, and don’t lean forward or back when you are speaking, but maintain a consistent distance from the camera.

Tone down your body language.
In live meetings and presentations, big, bold gestures convey conviction and intensity. On camera such moves come across as herky- jerky. For the videoconference, talking with your hands should be confined to slower and smaller movements.

Simplify the visual aids.
If you’re using visual aids, take particular care to make them easy to see and read. Off-white paper is best, because of the glare problems with stark white. If your visuals include bullet points, there should be no more than four lines on each page, and no more than four words on each line. It’s important to tell viewers what they are seeing before you start talking about what it means.

Choreograph the event.
The basic rules of running a good meeting are more critical when the participants are at distant locations. Send out the agenda in advance, and clarify the objectives and time frames for each item. Get the people on your side together for a planning session to decide who is going to talk about what, and who will be the host or moderator. The moderator should introduce each participant, and their names should also be clearly printed on tent cards in front of them. At the end of the meeting, the moderator should summarize what has been discussed and decided, and make sure everyone knows what has been agreed on, what the next action steps are, and when the group will be convened again.

Dress for success.
The camera sees white shirts and shiny jewelry as glaring. Bright reds, bold plaids, and busy prints don’t project well either. Black clothes make faces look overexposed. Bulky and baggy outfits can make you look much heavier on screen than you do in real life. Take your cue from television anchor people: light blue instead of white shirts, solid ties, quiet colors, clear rather than tinted eyeglasses, subtle jewelry and tailored styles.

SOURCE: Tom Hill, Communispond, New York City, February 4, 1999. Phone: 800/529-5925.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued the Form 5500 series for use in filing 1998 annual reports of pension, welfare and fringe benefit plans.

All required forms and schedules must be filed by the last day of the seventh month after the end of the plan year. For a short plan year, required forms and schedules must be filed by the last day of the seventh month after the end of the short plan year.

Form 5500 satisfies the reporting requirements of the IRS, Labor Department and Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) for qualified plans.

If plan administrators file Form 5500 electronically or on magnetic media, it must be accompanied by Form 8453-E, the Employee Benefit Plan Declaration and Signature for Electronic/Magnetic Media Filing document.

Administrators with plans covered by the PBGC termination insurance program must file PBGC Form 1, the Annual Premium Payment form, directly with the PBGC.

Source: Reprinted by permission of Council on Education in Management (March 1999) with the understanding that in publishing this material, the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, seek the advice of an attorney. Council presents employment law seminars nationwide for HR professionals and publishes the Personnel Law Update newsletter.

A new federal study issued by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) warns that with “the nature of work changing at whirlwind speed,” job stress for today’s workers may be higher than ever before. NIOSH points to a Princeton Survey Research Associates survey which shows that three-fourths of employees believe workers have more on-the-job stress than a generation ago.

The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine reports that healthcare expenditures are nearly 50 percent greater for workers who report high stress levels. And, stress on the job is associated with increased absenteeism, tardiness, and a desire by workers to quit. Workers who take time off as a result of a stress-related disorder tend to be off the job for roughly 20 days.

Helping employees better manage their work and personal lives can dramatically reduce their stress levels. Some ways to help reduce employee stress include:

1. Assisting employees with financial planning related questions. Poor personal financial planning behaviors are breeding productivity-inhibiting stress for roughly 15% of US workers (Garman, Leech and Grable; Virginia Tech, 1996).

2. Setting up a toll-free 24-hour number to help employees with home assistance services, including locating handymen, plumbers, electricians.

3. Offering assistance-via subsidy vouchers and/or a referral network-with emergency child care, elder care, pet care, and public transportation.

4. Providing “soft” benefits to employees such as employing an office concierge service to run errands for employees, offering in-house massages, shoe shines, manicures or meditation sessions to relieve daily stress, providing an in-house dry cleaner and tailor.

SOURCE: Work/Life Benefits, Cypress, CA, January 20, 1999.

They might not have come from a higher authority, but these commandments will reduce stress.

1. Thou shalt organize thyself
2. Thou shalt give thyself positive feedback
3. Thou shalt reward thyself with enjoyable leisure
4. Thou shalt exercise
5. Thou shalt relax
6. Thou shalt take rest breaks
7. Thou shalt listen to what your body is telling you
8. Thou shalt eat a balanced diet
9. Thou shalt smile a lot
10. Thou shalt ask for help when you need it

SOURCE: Trans4mation Training Ltd, Evesham, U.K. Receive learning tips via e-mail at Intouch@trans4mation.com

In general, federal law does not require employers to provide rest or meal breaks for employees, although OSHA is considering rewriting its rules that require bathroom facilities to include provisions allowing employees reasonable access to the bathrooms. Any requirement to provide breaks to employees generally comes from state law. Approximately twenty-six states have laws requiring that employees be provided with certain meal or break periods: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania (depending on the employee’s age), Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

In general, federal wage-hour laws require that rest periods of twenty minutes or less be counted as time worked under the minimum wage and overtime laws. Bona fide meal periods of thirty minutes or more need not be counted as hours worked and therefore are not compensable, provided that the employee is completely relieved of duty.

Source: Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Nelson & Schneider, P.C., Atlanta, GA, January 1999. Phone: 404/365-0900.

Why You Should Be Consistent (Part II of II)

1. Here are a few benefits to maintaining consistency:
2. People will know what you expect.
3. People will know what you believe and why.
4. People will be able to be honest with you.
5. People will bring you bad news without fear of retribution.
6. You will achieve more.
7. You will enjoy life more.
8. You will live longer.
9. You will make more money.
10. You will better be able to influence people.


11. You will have more fun.

SOURCE: Tim Connor, Connor Resource Group Davidson, NC.