It is a quiet Friday afternoon for you at Wernham Hogg Paper Company. As you gaze out the window and contemplate your plans for the weekend, you are suddenly jolted back into reality when your company’s best salesperson, Peter Gibbons, enters the office to tell you that he is resigning his employment, effective immediately. Your jaw drops to the floor when he tells you that he is moving to Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Wernham Hogg’s biggest competitor.

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According to survey sponsored by Cintas Corporation, 84% of employees admit to reporting to work when ill and 45% don’t tell anyone of their condition.

A study taken in 2012 in the United Kingdom suggests that 30% of employees feel compelled to show up for work ill because of a “precarious economic climate” and job insecurity. This promotes the spreading of airborne illnesses and may actually reduce office efficiency and productivity, and in the UK study it ...

Professional Employer Organizations, otherwise known as PEO’s, offer some real advantages to companies of different sizes and industries. The ability to streamline operations of a business by having a professional employer organization assume responsibility for the HR function can be a boon to revenue, especially in small businesses. CPA’s often recommend PEO’s to companies that need to grow, but have limited professional capabilities to properly handle the ever-growing burden of human resource compliance, both regulatory and financial.

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It’s been reported that workers who get flu shots use 43% fewer sick days than those who don’t. When you consider that over 200,000 people are hospitalized for flu-related illness every year this is an astounding statistic.

Yearly vaccinations start in September. Do you encourage employees to get a flue shot? One company sets aside an afternoon where employees take one hour shifts to leave the office,  get their immunization, then return and another employee does the ...

Holiday parties seem to generate a surge in sexual harassment complaints, with employees losing their usual professional demeanor  and falling pray to lack of inhibitions from drinking alcohol in the festive moment.

As a business owner, you must have some concern about employee behavior at your planned workplace holiday parties, as these can often bring about questionable and awkward behavior. Co-workers, holiday cheer and alcohol are not always a good combination, are they? As the old saying ...

Tips to control cell phone use in the office…..

1. Cell phones shall be turned off or set to silent or vibrate mode during meetings and in other locations where incoming calls may disrupt normal workflow.

2. Employees may carry and use personal cell phones while at work on a sporadic basis. If employee use of a personal cell phone causes disruptions or loss in productivity, the employee may become subject to disciplinary action. Department managers ...

The 2017 business mileage rates and how much you can deduct if you use a car for business purposes will be decreasing again for 2017.

Here are the new rates…..

* Business use: 53.5 cents a mile
* Medical use: 17 cents a mile
* Moving use: 17 cents a mile
* Charitable use: 14 cents a mile

* The withholding rate for FICA (social security) remains unchanged at 6.2%.

* Employee’s maximum contribution for 2017 is $7,886.40 on maximum wage of $127,200.

* The withholding rate for SUI (state unemployment insurance) remains unchanged at 0.425%.

* Employee’s maximum contribution for 2017 is $142.38 on maximum wage of $33,500.

* The withholding rate for DISABL (state disability insurance) is 0.24%.

* Employee’s maximum contribution for 2017 is $80.40 on maximum wage ...

Many Expect Significant Increase in Number of Worksite Employees

Jan. 9, 2017, Alexandria, VA — A new survey by the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) shows that industry executives are optimistic about the prospects for strong growth in 2017, with 99 percent indicating they expect an increase in worksite employees this year, and 38 percent predicting a significant increase.

The quarterly survey, conducted after the presidential election in November 2016, also showed that PEO ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1964 to eradicate discrimination in employment. The Commission enforces various statutes that prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, retaliation, age, and disability or protected veteran status.

The EEOC has the authority to investigate charges of discrimination filed against employers who have a statutory minimum number of employees. HR can help avoid costly penalties by following ...