Business Boosters

Are Layoffs on Your Mind? Here is Some Friendly Advice

2009-02-24T06:23:00.001-08:00

At a time when jobless rates are soaring and layoffs are on everyone’s mind there is a right way and a wrong way to do the ugly deed. Today’s business owner may be facing a situation where expenses are growing quicker than their profitability and revenue is declining. This volatile situation forces many to at least consider layoffs.

If you have not decided who is going to get fired then consider the following: What departments require cuts? Who can you live without? Who is vital to the organization? Also, look at the possibility of combining functions and roles. Here is a suggestion, do not combine reception with HR! Many companies may look at the fairness method of making cuts (i.e. seniority) This is wrong! Using the fair and balanced method will strangle the future of your company. Carefully evaluate those ewho have great relationships with your customers or who are strong producers in the respective departments, not just sales.

Okay, you have decided now how do you go and break the bad news? First and foremost, do it in person! There are many examples of companies using e-mail and other tech tools to do this and the results have been poor. It is a sensitive time and you need to show people respect. Give people to leave with dignity. I believe the way a company fires their staff shows how they really feel about their people.

Give a severance package. No, this is not the law, but isn’t it the right thing to do? It is acceptable to ask got a release to be signed when severance is offered, but at least offer. Again, do it in person and make the notification date the last day worked. The fact is allowing someone to work a few weeks after notification is counter productive and may increase tension and bitterness amongst your existing team.

Eliminate the perp walk!We all know what that is. When an employee leaves and the manager or security stands over their desk waiting on them to clean it out and then the fired team member is escorted out of the building, stop doing it now. Show your existing staff and the terminated person you still have trust and integrity. You trusted them while they worked there, trust them while they gather their belongings. Obviously, if there is a safety concern, then other steps may need to be taken to ensure the safety of everyone.

Lastly, be open and honest about what happens next. Communicate about benefits, COBRA and final pay. If a release is offered with severance explain to them the pros and cons of signing and what happens if they do not sign. Encourage them to speak to their attorney regarding a release.

Allowing people to leave with dignity and respect protects the team members who are left behind and prepares your company for the future when you may be hiring those same people back, or interacting with them as your next customer.

If you or someone you know may have questions regarding reducing your workforce, please drop us an e-mail at:

firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com

and a trusted advisor will answer your inquiry within 24 hours.

Should You Use a PEO in Your Organization?

2009-02-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

In today's unpredictable economy where layoffs are becoming more abundant and headlines screaming dismal news, many business owners are turning to a PEO for relief. A top challenge that small and mid-sized businesses face is managing and caring for their employees. Factoring in payroll, taxes, and insurance costs, employee-related costs can be one of a company's largest expenses. For the business owner PEOs take on the headache of payroll taxes, regulatory compliance, and an array of HR issues, from hiring to drafting an employee handbook to mediating conflicts. Although PEOs have been around since the early 1980s, the industry has been growing at 15 to 20 percent annually over the past several years, according to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (www.napeo.org), an industry trade group.

The trusted advisors at First Place Employer Services want to add this very important note, Professional employer organizations, or "PEOs," are not a quick fix and were never intended to be. We firmly believe as much as our industry has tried to educate, more is needed.

Historically, the government including our new administration has made managing employees today a costly and potentially dangerous proposition. Failure to comply with laws such as EEOC, ADA, COBRA, OSHA, FMLA and others could prove very costly. A small business owner could possibly lose their business as a result of a legal action for wrongful discharge or a dispute over wages.

Did you know? Most studies indicate the cost of "employment" ranges between 6 and 16 percent of your payroll.

No business owner is in business to write checks, file tax reports, shop for employee benefits, deal with workers' compensation claims and audits, or answer unemployment claims. Time devoted to these activities not only removes valuable time from the operational aspects of your business but, worse than that, generates no profit.

For those readers who may not be following this blog and are wondering, what is a peo we will answer that question again here:
The PEO concept is designed to be simple. Its origin can be traced to members of the accounting profession who wanted to provide relief for many of their small business clients who spent a great deal of time dealing with administrative challenges such as payroll and payroll related taxes, ongoing tax penalties, and unemployment plans and workers compensation coverage.

For a reasonable fee, a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) assumes responsibility and liability for the "business of employment," including risk management, human resources, labor law compliance, payroll, and employment taxes. The customer or client (business owner) manages product development and production, marketing, sales and service. The PEO and the client contractually allocate some and share other traditional employer responsibilities and liabilities. Subsequently, both the PEO and the client enjoy an employment relationship with the workers.

Typically, a PEO offers a much wider selection of benefits often at considerably lower cost due to the large numbers of employees in its pool. PEOs and their clients enjoy a complete suite of Fortune 500 type benefits.

Did you know? 2,500 PEOs are open for business and enjoying annual growth rates as high as 30 percent. Moreover, experts contend PEOs have tapped a bare 2 percent of their market potential.

As a premier PEO brokerage firm the trusted advisors at First Place Employer Services assist our client's locate the best PEO for their unique business needs. A franchise owner will have different HR and benefit needs from a dental practice.
Before representing a partner PEO, we thoroughly check each PEO for stability and strength. We encourage our prospective clients to check the references of the PEO. It is always sound practice to speak with clients who have used the PEO. Contact the licensing agency in your state and ask if there are any past problems or complaints filed.
Did you know? If we match a client to a PEO, and the PEO performs poorly, we may lose your business.

If you or someone you know may have questions regarding the benefits of a PEO, please drop us an e-mail at:

firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com

and a trusted advisor will answer your inquiry within 24 hours.

What exactly is a PEO?

2009-01-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

Our team of advisors have been lucky enough to work in the PEO industry for a number of years. We are a team of HR professionals, insurance professionals and client evangelists. We strive to help our client's and their friends focus on the business of business,rather than the busy-ness of business.

We wanted to begin a series of Blog posts answering the questions of, What is a PEO? and the benefits surrounding the PEO concept.In future posts we will attempt to address the advantages of outsourcing your non-profit generating activities to a PEO, the types of businesses that are a great fir for a PEO and how a PEO helps you, the business owmer control costs, amongst others.

As always, if you have a question you can reach a trusted advisor by calling 877-634-7787 and we will be honored to help you. Now on to the blog.

A PEO defined: The National Association of Professional E,mployer Organizations define a PEO as

Professional employer organizations (PEOs) enable clients to cost-effectively outsource the management of human resources, employee benefits, payroll and workers' compensation. PEO clients focus on their core competencies to maintain and grow their bottom line.
Businesses today need help managing increasingly complex employee related matters such as health benefits, workers' compensation claims, payroll, payroll tax compliance, and unemployment insurance claims. They contract with a PEO to assume these responsibilities and provide expertise in human resources management. This allows the PEO client to concentrate on the operational and revenue-producing side of its operations.

A PEO provides integrated services to effectively manage critical human resource responsibilities and employer risks for clients. A PEO delivers these services by establishing and maintaining an employer relationship with the employees at the client's worksite and by contractually assuming certain employer rights, responsibilities, and risk.

That being said, here at we like to offer this as a perspective:

Outsourcing — the practice of using outside firms to handle work normally performed within a company — is a familiar concept to many entrepreneurs. Small companies routinely outsource their payroll processing, accounting, distribution, and many other important functions — often because they have no other choice. Many large companies turn to outsourcing to cut costs. In response, entire industries have evolved to serve companies' outsourcing needs.

But not many businesses thoroughly understand the benefits of outsourcing. It's true that outsourcing can save money, but that's not the only (or even the most important) reason to do it. As many firms discovered during the outsourcing "mania" of the early 1990s, outsourcing too much can be an even bigger mistake than not outsourcing any work at all. The flat economy caused many companies into huge layoffs and subsequently outsourced functions that were better kept in-house. Wise outsourcing, however, can provide a number of long-term benefits:

Control capital costs. Cost-cutting may not be the only reason to outsource, but it's certainly a major factor. Outsourcing converts fixed costs into variable costs, releases capital for investment elsewhere in your business, and allows you to avoid large expenditures in the early stages of your business. Outsourcing can also make your firm more attractive to investors, since you're able to pump more capital directly into revenue-producing activities.

Increase efficiency. Companies that do everything themselves have much higher research, development, marketing, and distribution expenses, all of which must be passed on to customers. An outside provider's cost structure and economy of scale can give your firm an important competitive advantage.

Reduce labor costs. Hiring and training staff for short-term or peripheral projects can be very expensive, and temporary employees don't always live up to your expectations. Outsourcing lets you focus your human resources where you need them most.

Start new projects quickly. A good outsourcing firm has the resources to start a project right away. Handling the same project in-house might involve taking weeks or months to hire the right people, train them, and provide the support they need. And if a project requires major capital investments (such as building a series of distribution centers), the startup process can be even more difficult.

Focus on your core business. Every business has limited resources, and every manager has limited time and attention. Outsourcing can help your business to shift its focus from peripheral activities toward work that serves the customer, and it can help managers set their priorities more clearly.

Level the playing field. Most small firms simply can't afford to match the in-house support services that larger companies maintain. Outsourcing can help small firms act "big" by giving them access to the same economies of scale, efficiency, and expertise that large companies enjoy.

Reduce risk. Every business investment carries a certain amount of risk. Markets, competition, government regulations, financial conditions, and technologies all change very quickly. Outsourcing providers assume and manage this risk for you, and they generally are much better at deciding how to avoid risk in their areas of expertise.

A tip of the hat to for that piece.

First Place Employer Services encompasses reaching the most compatible PEO's while ensuring accurate and fair quotes, assuring proper client and PEO
partnership.
Through our services, any company, in any industry, can streamline their
efforts, protect against unnecessary liabilities, provide Fortune 500 level
employee benefit packages, rest assured that government compliances are met,
reduce administrative costs, institute essential human capital programs, and
more. All of this without losing control of their business and their vision.

Illegal Immigrants Suing for Wage and Hour Violations! Do They Win...

2009-01-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

Off the record, the question or questions surrounding illegal immigration are one of our most asked questions. One may assume these questions are coming from Sunbelt states such as Florida or Texas. This is a false assumption as the two articles below point out.

According to reports from the Pew Hispanic Center approximately 1 out 3 employees working in the construction or labor fields, agriculture are illegal and 1 out of 5 employees were illegals in the office and house cleaning, hotel/motel and other service oriented jobs. A few statistics lean towards the more dangerous a job, the higher concentration of illegal workers are found in that workforce.
According to a January story in the Boston area,

Outraged at his low pay and uncompensated overtime, an illegal alien in Boston filed a complaint with the Massachusetts attorney general's office against a supermarket – and won his case.

According to an off the record interview, the illegal employee was sick and tired of below average wages and never collecting a nickel for overtime worked.

The supermarket that employed him, was ordered to provide back pay and fines of $200,000 to more than 300 workers

The worker and illegal immigrant was a father of five,and reported he worked 14 hours every day, six days a week since 2004 at the $6 rate. The owner of the supermarket was himself an immigrant and stated as business owners they were not aware of their state labor laws

If this supermarket owner enlisted the help of First Place Employer Services and one of our partner PEOs, he very well may have avoided this expensive and costly nightmare.
A PEO is a company that contractually assumes and manages critical human resource and personnel responsibilities and employer risks for businesses. The PEO assumes the employer responsibility for employment tax, payroll processing, benefit plans, and other human resource purposes.

PEOs enable clients to cost-effectively outsource the management of human resources, employee benefits, payroll and workers' compensation. PEO clients are then able to better focus on their core competencies to maintain and grow their bottom line.

Businesses today need help managing increasingly complex employee-related matters such as health benefits, workers' compensation claims, payroll, payroll tax compliance and unemployment insurance claims. They contract with a PEO to assume these responsibilities and provide expertise in human resources management. This allows the PEO client to concentrate on the operational and revenue-producing side of its operations.

And not to be out done, a story from the Progressive Grocer sheds more light on this real and serious situation.

Hundreds of janitors in California have joined a class action lawsuit against Safeway, Albertsons, Vons and Ralph's supermarkets, as well as Encompass Staffing Services and its subsidiary, Building One Service Solutions, accusing them of paying cleaners less than minimum wage and making them work excessive hours without overtime pay, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The janitors and their attorneys have started an outreach program in San Francisco and Los Angeles to find more of the thousands of workers they estimate could join the suit as plaintiffs. According to lawyers, a large number of the janitors are immigrants with little knowledge of U.S. labor laws.

The lawsuit, Flores v. Albertsons, claims that the workers are illegally referred to as independent contractors, although the supermarkets make up their schedules and oversee their work. That arrangement, according to the suit, has saved the chains millions of dollars in overtime pay, payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance.
The suit is seeking $100 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

If you have a question regarding this post or are not sure of your State's labor lawsw and how they relate to payment of wages or overtime E-mail your questions concerning wages or illegal employees in the workplace to a trusted advisor and we will respond within 24 hours firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com
Please visit us on the web @ http://www.1stplacEmployer.com

Payroll: To Outsource or Not That is the Question

2009-01-09T08:07:00.000-08:00

A recent article from Business Week presents a fair description of the pros and cons of outsourcing. Our advisors at First Place Employer Services wanted to share our thoughts on the benefits of outsourcing.

For small to medium businesses, an in-house payroll service can be a costly overhead. If you consider the number of hours employees devote to payroll-related activities, along with production costs such as printing and distributing checks and creating tax documents, final costs can mount up. Compared to plans offered by payroll-service providers, it is easy to see why an increasing number of companies are choosing to outsource its payroll.

Fact:Payroll management is a time-consuming activity. By outsourcing this responsibility the administrative burden is removed, allowing employees more time to focus on being more productive on the core business.

Fact:Payroll mistakes can be costly for a company. Outsourcing your payroll will give you peace of mind knowing that every aspect of your payroll is being taken care of by professionals with very high accuracy.

Fact:In-house payroll activities function as reliably as the people doing the work meaning annual leave and sick days can affect productivity.

With a payroll service, output speed and quality will be constant as a trained professional will always be on hand. It will also save time on helping new hires understand the business’s payroll system.

Fact:Since payroll-services providers are specialists with vast technical resources at their disposal, they can process even the most complex payrolls to your satisfaction.

A good payroll-services provider will know all the ins and outs of payroll-related tax laws and regulatory mandates on the federal, state and local levels. Many companies have a generalist on staff and do not employ the skill set to understand the ever changing rules and regulations behind governmental regulations.

This compliance is the value propisition behind outsourcing your payroll. If pay checks are delayed or paperwork is mishandled, it’s the payroll-services provider’s responsibility to fix things.

With a professional client-centric like First Place Employer Services on your team; You can switch to another service provider in a snap – even if you have to absorb a portion of an existing service contract. Try firing, hiring and training in-house payroll staff in anything less than several weeks.

Boring, repetitive payroll work can act like an anchor on your business. Your staff, when freed of payroll responsibilities, will be free to focus on other, more creative work.

Do you have the time and energy to closely supervise your business’s payroll for time and rate abuse? Most payroll services firms have technologies that can spot and alert clients to various types of payroll abnormalities.

There’s a lot to be said for the peace of mind that outsourcing payroll services can bring to a business owner or manager. No headaches, no hassles: You’re left to focus on running a profitable business.

Employers continue to feel the squeeze from swollen health care costs. Are HSAs the new treatment?

2008-12-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

The continuing rise in the costs for employer based health insurance is bringing new attention to Health Savings Accounts or HSAs

HSAs are increasingly in popularity due to a feature, in which dollars are allocated to employees, who can roll the accounts over every year and take them with them when they leave. I have a host of clients that uses HRAs, and a host of clients that uses HSAs,” Bradley said. “Some companies prefer HRAs because they are not as cumbersome to set up, and they retain the funds, rather than returning them to employees.” But others favor the HSA for the effect it has on employees. “It encourages them to become better consumers of health care, since they’re spending their own money,” Bradley said. For instance, “if the money is coming out of their own pocket, consumers might ask doctors if they really need all three tests, or if they really need 100 pills instead of 50,” said Lou Basso, president of The Alcott Group, a Farmingdale-based professional employer organization and provider of human resources services.

For more on this topic, click the link below

http://libn.com/blog/2008/11/21/employers-hurt-by-swollen-health-care-costs/

E-mail your questions concerning your personal health care crunch to a trusted advisor and we will respond within 24 hours firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com
Please visit us on the web @ http://www.1stplacEmployer.com

2009 Salary Planning Forecast

2008-12-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

This post is a bit off center for our blog, but we found it quite interesting and thought it may help, might provoke a bit of conversation, and provide an overall view of how to make everything fine in 2009! Please take note at the bottom of the post for a few fantastic suggestions for alternative rewards.

It’s that time of the year again – time to set 2009 salary budgets. For the past 8 years the answer has been an easy one, 3.5%. Each year the surveys predicted that salary budget adjustments would remain flat and ahead of the Consumer Price Index.

That was, of course, until the latter half of 2008. With fluctuating energy prices and their domino effect on most goods and services, we may be facing the first year in which the salary budget adjustment will fall short of the consumer price index inflation rate. In the July 2008 consumer price index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/), the consumer price index had increased by 5.6% over July 2007 levels. Currently 2008 salary budgets (http://www.worldatwork.org/) are averaging 3.7%, which is higher than 2007 levels.

There is good news as we move into 2009, however. According to the Financial Forecast Center (http://www.forecasts.org/), a financial think-tank group, inflation rates will come under control in 2009, returning to approximately 3.6% per year.

While there are numerous salary budgeting forecasts published this time of year, Astron Solutions closely follows two highly regarded sources. The first is WorldatWork (http://www.worldatwork.org/). The second is Mercer, LLC (http://www.imercer.com/). Both have been providing salary budgeting forecasts for over 30 years.

The WorldatWork 2009 Salary Budget Survey contains data from 2,375 organizations representing 21 different industry segments. In terms of 2009 salary budgeting, WorldatWork reports the following:

2009 General Increase Budgets: 2.9%
2009 Merit Increase Budgets: 3.6%
2009 Total Increase Budgets: 3.9%

From an organizational level perspective WorldatWork discovered the following:

2009 Non Exempt Hourly Adjustments: 3.8%
2009 Exempt Salaried Adjustments: 3.9%
2009 Officer and Executives Adjustments: 4.1%

The report shows very little distinction by region of the country (range of 3.8% - 4.0%), metropolitan area (range of 3.7% to 4.1%), or key industry segment (range of 3.8% to 4.2%).

WorldatWork projects overall 2009 salary range adjustments at 2.5%.

The 2009 Salary Planning Report by Mercer has data from over 1,000 organizations representing over 12 million employees. Mercer reports an overall 2009 salary budget level of 3.7%, with 2009 budgeted structure adjustments at 2.8%.

Of more interest is Mercer’s analysis of compensation practice trends for 2009. The following is a list of compensation practices and their prevalence in the survey sample:

• Traditional Pay Grade/Salary Range System: 77%
• Use of Non-Monetary Reward Programs: 73%
• Job Families Linked to Formal Career Paths: 68%
• Use of Spot Cash Awards: 59%
• Use of Individual Non-Management Incentive Programs: 52%
• Use of Competency Based Performance Management System: 41%
• Use of Broad-Banded Pay Ranges: 21%
• Use of Skill-Based Pay Programs: 14%
• Use of Competency-Based Pay Programs: 13%
• Use of Gainsharing Plans: 12%

Those interested in a summary of all the 2009 salary budget forecasts should connect with Lake Associates Inc. (http://www.lakebiz.com/) of Albany, NY. They have compiled an excellent summary of all the major consulting firm forecasts for 2009. Based on their review, Lake Associates recommends the following for 2009:

• Salary Structure Adjustment: 2.9%
• Merit Increase Budget: 3.8%
• Total Salary Budget Adjustment: 3.9%

“Pay increases alone won’t work as a strategic attraction and retention tool,” notes National Director Jennifer Loftus. “With a 3.8% merit increase budget, there’s often little room to recognize top performers. Couple those increases with the escalating cost of living, and the importance of using a total rewards perspective becomes all the clearer.”
Consider alternative rewards, including telecommuting, compressed workweeks, and gas cards, as key elements in your total rewards toolkit to ensure your top talent stays with your organization through these possibly challenging economic times.

To learn more about this author, visit Jennifer Loftus's Website.

Striking a Balance with Employee Monitoring

2008-10-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

Employee monitoring is controversial, but experts say litigation trumps privacy.

HOW MUCH SHOULD EMPLOYERS MONITOR THEIR EMPLOYEES' COMPUTER USE AND E-ACTIVITY?

Employee monitoring is a workplace hot potato, steeped in controversy, no matter the industry. In most places of business, it's pretty well known that the employee will have Internet access. The larger isssue is that because of new tools, there is a blurring of work and home time, and the lines between the activities blend.

Excessive monitoring or rigid rules can drive away productive employees, especially those generation X and Y, who expect some freedom in structuring their workdays. Although most employers have come to terms with this new reality, the issue is still confusing on both sides.

From the employer's perspectivefear of litigation trumps privacy, says Nancy Flynn, executive director of the ePolicy Institute (www.epolicyinstitute.com) and author of The epolicy Handbook.

In December 2006, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended, allowing electronically stored information to be subject to discovery in federal courts.

If your company becomes embroiled in a lawsuit, you can take it to the bank that all of your company's e-mail can be subpoenaed,

says Flynn.

E-mail creates the equivalent of DNA evidence sitting on their computer system.

U.S. employers have the right to monitor employees' computer activity under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which has been interpreted to purport that employees should not expect any privacy on employer-owned computers.

The courts have been consistent in siding with employers

says Flynn.

Assume Big Brother is reading over your shoulder. If the company provides a cell phone, there is a good chance your texting is being monitored, too.

According to a 2007 survey conducted by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute, 66 percent of employers monitor Internet connections and 65 percent use monitoring software to block inappropriate software, up 27 percent since 2001. Forty-three percent of companies monitor e-mail, and 45 percent track content and keystrokes.

Likewise, more and more companies are monitoring blogs, just like this one.They are worried about,

breaching company confidentiality rules, giving away trade secrets or secret recipes, uploading videos that would embarrass the company,

says Flynn.

We've seen thousands who have been fired for blogging on their personal time, for content on their personal and social networking sites and YouTube videos.

How do you strike a balance in your monitoring policy? Flynn recommends businesses apply the three E's of risk management:

Establish a written policygoverning usage, contect and retention of business records. Spell out when employees can communicate with family, domestic helpers, physicians and schools, and what constitutes a reasonable amount of time for personal communication. Expect the policy to evolve with the workplace.
Educate your workforce on e-mail and Internet risks, policies and procedures. The 2007 Electronic Monitoring and Surveillance Survey found that 58 percent of employers fired employees last year for inappropriate e-mail or Internet use, some of which were an intentional violation of policy, and some not.
You can't expect your employees to cooperate unless they know about it,
Flynn says.
Enforce the policy with disciplinary action and technology tools, and detail the consequences. While zero tolerance may engender resentment among employees, warnings and escalating consequences will protect the firm and its employees.

If you or a member of your team has a question regarding employee monitoring, please e-mail us at firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com and a trusted advisor will respond withing 24 hours.

Six Tips for Developing Your Employees

2008-02-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

I am not sure how many of you are like me, when I read an article stating, "According to a recent poll"..I wander off into LaLa land. The tips below might seem basic and well...simple. How many of us on a daily basis forget to apply the simple solutions to both our lives and our business.

The trusted, professional advisors at First Place Employer Services see business owners struggle on a daily basis to attract and retain quality employees. When we read tip number one we were in no way shocked. How about you?

According to a recent poll of HR professionals, only ten percent of managers are fully prepared for the next level. Given this information, is it really a surprise that approximately fifty percent of promotions fail (source: Corporate Leadership Council) when the selection decision is based on current performance level?

One of the most important qualities of a good leader is the ability and desire to develop their employees. Taking an active role in the development of your team demonstrates confidence and concern for the future of the organization. Although talent development should be part of a company-wide initiative, most of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the supervisors. Unfortunately, development coaching doesn’t come naturally to many leaders. By following these tips, you can prepare your employees for success at the next level.

1. Encourage professional development. High-potential employees are not satisfied with the status quo. You WANT these employees your team. They are typically ambitious, high performing, and dynamic. They will be the future leaders of your organization if they are given proper guidance in their development. If not, be prepared to lose them to the competition.

2. Create a plan. Planning is crucial to advancing your career. Help your employees establish goals that are aligned with their strengths, interest and experience and then create a plan to get there. A development plan serves as the roadmap that will take you to your goal. It can be simple or complex but it must include action steps, resources, and deadlines. Not sure where to focus your attention? Try the step-by-step promotion planning eClass. You will focus only on building necessary skills and overcoming obstacles to get you to your targeted position.

3. Pair your employee’s with a mentor. Once their goals have been established, find someone who is in a similar role to the target position to serve as a mentor. Mentoring enables an organization to use it’s existing talent to impart their knowledge and expertise to one another. Everyone – the organization, the mentor, and the mentee – benefits from the mentoring process.

4. Identify opportunities to expand their professional network. Having a solid network is imperative to the success of future leaders. A network is a great source of information, advice, support and inspiration. Recommend opportunities within the organization, as well as, networking or professional groups that will help them build strong connections.

5. Challenge your employees to move out of their comfort zone. You can’t move forward if you don’t grow and you can’t grow if you never leave your comfort zone. When possible, give your employees challenging assignments. Help them prepare by providing them a safe environment to learn from the mistakes that they are bound to make.

6. Hire a coach. For high-potential employees and employees who need to be redirected to another career path, it can be best to bring in an outside coach. An external coach provides a confidential environment where employees are free to discuss the challenges and opportunities they face in their careers through the use of assessments, powerful questions, and individual development plans.

To learn more about this author, visit Jill Frank and her website
@ (http://www.leverageyourtalent.com/)

If you or someone you know may have questions regarding employee performance, please drop us an e-mail at:

firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com

and a trusted advisor will answer your inquiry within 24 hours.

http://www.1stplacEmployer.com

Workplace Politics – Lies, Lies, Lies

2008-02-04T17:13:00.000-08:00

In honor of Super Tuesday the trusted advisors at First Place Employer Services voted to cover an unfortunate truth in the workplace. Lies. This time of year, America talks about the lies and the mudslinging over the dinner table or at the water cooler. What we do not publicly talk about often enough is how to handle and confront lying in the workplace. Your first instinct might be to ignore a lie about you, but as it swells to a crescendo, you might want to rethink your strategy. In the workplace, this is especially important, because a lie can rapidly contaminate the environment.

An article published on Courant.com takes a truthful look deeper into this issue. The article titled, "Don't Ignore Lies In The Workplace; Confront Them" suggests what to do with lies that sprout up like fast growing weeds in the workplace. Psychologist David Gruder offers containment tools below:

Escalating Steps to Confront Lying in the Workplace

"Talk to that person privately, or with a neutral third party, where he doesn't have to put on a face for the public."

"Identify key people in the system to tell that a lie is circulating. Ask these key influencers for advice about how to respond."

"Organize an intervention if the previous methods prove ineffective."

"Gather people who understand what the truth really is to collaborate on a procedure for publicly confronting the liar" — but only if you're desperate, because of the humiliation it causes. This could mean a note in a personnel file.

The HR pros at First Place Employer Services tackle workplace challenges head on utilizing a team approach with our client as Captain. If you are an employer, we encourage you to take a look around and take note of behaviors which allow some people to be rewarded for behavior unrelated to doing a good job.

If you or someone you know may have questions regarding workplace behaviors affecting your place of business, please drop us an e-mail at:

firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com

and a trusted advisor will answer your inquiry within 24 hours.
to learn more vist us at:

http://www.1stplacEmployer.com

Is Sexy an Ingredient in Successful?

2008-02-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

Did you ever wonder if your paycheck or your job stability depended on how attractive you were? Well published research suggests that in addition to our highly qualified skills and college degrees, looks are a highly compensated feature desired by employers across the land.

As a CFO or the owner of a successful business, does that also in turn mean that by hiring attractive, pretty people your business will be more successful than those competitors who hire their staff based on brains alone? You might wonder, but the research does not point out a profit equals prettiness factor.

Unattractive people earn less than average-looking people, who in turn make less than the good-looking, according to a study by economists Daniel Hamermesh and Jeff Biddle. The “plainness penalty” is about 9%, while the “beauty premium” is 5%, according to the report, which was published in the Journal of Labor Economics. So what exactly does this mean? Translation: An attractive worker makes 5% more per hour than an average-looking person, who in turn earns 9% more than their unattractive counterparts. In real dollars, this means that if an average-looking person makes $30,000; their beautiful colleagues would make $31,500, while the homeliest workers earn just $27,523. And interestingly, the impact was similar for both men and women.

Read more of the story here:
(http://www.theimproper.com/Template_Article.aspx?IssueId=3&ArticleId=1207)

Luckily, beauty is in the eye of the employer. What one recruiter considers plain, another HR executive finds beautiful. Will Corporate America be better off if they see that talent is a beautiful thing?

Good luck, stay legal, and look for the beauty within!

E-mail your questions concerning survival in the workplace to a trusted advisor and we will respond within 24 hours firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com
Please visit us on the web @ http://www.1stplacEmployer.com

Do I have to pay them when.......

2008-01-31T16:26:00.000-08:00

It is the start of the New Year and we wanted to get a jump on answering questions our clients face throughout the year. Employers are often encounter, "How do we..." or "Do we have to ...." when it comes to paying employees outside of the normal pay cycle.

The trusted advisors at First Place Employer Services (www.1stplacEmployer.com) fielded a few questions from last year, consulted the experts and decided to put them out for you to use.

Q. What is the financial exposure from payroll in the event an employer closes its operation for a day? And when an employer asks its exempt employees to put in extra hours, is additional compensation required?

Federal law sets certain parameters with regard to the compensation of exempt employees, but in this area employers also retain a fair amount of discretion.

Q: If the company closes for two days for the Christmas and New Year holidays but only one day (the actual holiday) is a paid holiday, must the company pay the exempt-salaried employees for the other day? Can the company require them to take vacation time for the days that are not paid holidays?

Employees who are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime-pay provisions must, among other things, be paid on a "salary basis." This means that the employees must be paid full compensation in a predetermined amount for any week in which they perform any work, regardless of the number of days or hours worked. 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(a) (2008). The exempt employees generally do not have to be paid for any week in which they perform no work for the employer.

There are certain limited circumstances in which an employer may pay an exempt employee less than the employee's full weekly salary. For example, deductions can be made for time that the exempt employee is absent from work for one or more full days for personal reasons or as a result of sickness or disability if the employee has exhausted applicable paid-leave banks. 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(b)(1)-(2).

If, however, the exempt employee is "ready, willing, and able" to work, but the employer either closes its facility (e.g. for a holiday) or has no work for the employee to perform, then the employer cannot deduct that time not worked from the exempt employee's pay.

An employer that makes such an improper deduction risks jeopardizing the employee's exempt status. 29 C.F.R. § 541.603(a)-(b). Thus, the employer that closes its offices for two days but considers only one a paid holiday would, nevertheless, be required to pay its exempt employees their standard weekly salaries for that week.

The FLSA does not address paid time off, such as vacation time. Rather, whether the company in this example could require exempt employees to take vacation time for the days that are not paid holidays would be governed by state law.

In most states, an employer could lawfully require its exempt employees to use their vacation time in the event of an office closing, provided this was consistent with the terms of the employer's vacation and related policies and any applicable employment contracts.

However, because the permissibility of such a mandate is fact-specific, it is advisable to consult local counsel before proceeding with such an approach.

Q: We have exempt employees who are sometimes mandated to work overtime. Can we pay them a straight hourly rate for these hours without losing the exempt status? Can we distinguish between overtime that is mandated or pre-authorized versus overtime that is a normal part of the job?

Under the FLSA, an employee who is properly classified as exempt is not entitled to be paid overtime for hours worked beyond the standard 40-hour workweek.

An employer may, however, pay an exempt employee money in addition to the standard salary for hours worked beyond the typical workweek without jeopardizing the employee's exempt status.

The FLSA regulations provide that such additional compensation may, but need not, be paid as a straight-time hourly amount. Other alternatives for supplemental compensation include a flat sum, a bonus payment, time and one-half, paid time off, or any other basis. 29 C.F.R. § 541.604.

Moreover, the employer retains the ability to set the rate for such additional compensation irrespective of whether the overtime is "mandated," "pre-authorized" or a "normal part of the job."

If you or a member of your team has a question regarding employee pay, please e-mail us at firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com and a trusted advisor will respond withing 24 hours.

Are Salespeople Entitled to Overtime?

2008-01-31T13:11:00.000-08:00

This a great article on the exempt on non-exempt discussion. Entreprenuers who have evolved into the employer role commonly get caught in this kind of trap.

Even if this claim is frivolous, I wonder how many hours the company owner spent dealing with this case? I wonder how much they have paid out in leagl defense fees? I wonder what price the owner would put on their emotional toll a case like this brings on; sleepless nights, stress, tension, fear, concern?

I wonder if this company had the benfit of a professional on his or her business team with insourcing the HR expertise of a professional employer organization brings to the table?

Find the article here:

What circumstances qualify an employee as an outside salesperson who is exempt from overtime?
A federal court sitting in New York State recently reviewed some of the factors.

What happened? A woman worked for the Paul T. Freund Company, a manufacturer of boxes in Palmyra, New York, where she was promoted to the job of salesperson in 2002. In that job, she regularly worked 50 to 60 hours per week, spending 75 percent to 80 percent of her workday working inside the office, and 15 percent to 20 percent of her work day performing tasks and keeping appointments outside of the office, such as making sales calls and periodically meeting with customers at their places of business.

Freund didn't pay her overtime because the company classified her as an outside salesperson. After she left Freund (for undisclosed reasons), she sued for failure to pay her overtime in violation of state and federal law. Freund asked the court to throw the case out at an early stage, without full development of the facts.

See what the court had to say here:
http://hr.blr.com/news.aspx?id=77866

If you or someone you know may have questions regarding exempt and non-exempt status, please drop us an e-mail at:

firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com

and a trusted advisor will answer your inquiry within 24 hours.

Outsourcing: Is It Critical to My Business?

2007-05-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Owning your own business is the American dream. Doin it better than the other guy and making money at it! There is no better feeling in the world. All start out as entreprenuers and some evolve into "The Business Owner". We all know that guy, he is over taxed, under paid, provider of employee benfits, redeemer of social ills, and compares managing employees to the herding of cats.

The solution, we think, is Outsource it! A fantastic article published on the businessTN website (http://www.businesstn.com/pub/4_5/features/8119-1.html) discusses the ins and outs of outsourcing. As a proponenet of outsourcing I found this article both eye opening and well balanced. More and more, the experts are touting the profit enhancing benefits of outsourcing.

“Outsource,” they say—in the name of freeing you and your employees up to concentrate on your business’ core competencies. “We generally say you need to outsource anything that takes you off-focus,” says Paula Roberts, small business specialist for the Tennessee Small Business Development Center at Tennessee State University.

Mrs. Roberts makes an excellent point. Every business owner can identify with the burn out of dealing with the non-profit generating tasks of payroll, workers' compensation insurance, employee benefits, and more. The article further suggests a business owner look at what can be done in-house. Jeff Cornwall, director of the Belmont University Entrepreneur Center, says “[Business owners] need to understand the financial structure of the business and understand cash flow because they’ll have to make decisions based on that information.”

The experienced, trusted advisors at First Place Employer Services suggest a business owner first identify the core business activities. These activities are profit generating activities. in taking this vital step, the business saves time, increases productivity, and ultimately takes steps to become more profitable.

Jeff and Rich Sloan of StartUpNation, a Web site the Sloan brothers launched to provide information to entrepreneurs, advise taking the time to analyze how the business adds value to your customers and where you, as a business owner, focus your efforts.
“Are you spending too much time on areas outside your expertise? Many times, it’s more cost-effective to have someone outside of the company take care of these non-core activities,” the Sloan brothers write. Cornwall says today’s customers are concerned with more than just the price of the product or service you provide. “They come to you because of how you operate and provide that service to them,” he says.

Committment to service is one of many reasons a business owner finds a PEO ( Professional Employer Organization) an attractive outsourcing option. When it comes to payroll processing, HR management, State and Federal taxes, Workers' compensation insurance, Safety, OSHA, and the myriad of Federal and State laws; the choice to outsource to a PEO becomes all to clear.

A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) helps client companies cost-effectively outsource the management of payroll, workers' compensation, human resources and employee benefits. PEOs help clients focus on their core competencies to maintain and grow their bottom line.
Businesses today need help managing increasingly complex employee related matters such as health benefits, workers' compensation claims, payroll, payroll tax compliance, and unemployment insurance claims.

Engaging a PEO enables companies to share these responsibilities and provide expertise in human resources management. This allows PEO clients to focus on the operational and revenue-producing side of their business.

PEO companies provide an integrated service to effectively manage human resource responsibilities and employer risks for their clients. A PEO delivers these services by establishing and maintaining an employer relationship with the employees at the client's worksite and by contractually assuming certain employer rights, responsibilities and risk.
Professional Employer Organizations have thrived because they have helped their client companies succeed by providing:

Improved employment practices, compliance and risk management to reduce liabilities.
Relief from the burden of employment administration.
A wide range of personnel management solutions through a team of professionals.
Access to a comprehensive employee benefits package, allowing clients to be competitive in the labor market.

Definition provided courtesy of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations - NAPEO

to learn more vist us at:

http://www.1stplacEmployer.com