U.S. Child Labor Laws - Changes that may affect your business   The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Child-Labor Regulations have recently been revised. On July, 19, 2010, the final revisions to the child-labor regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act will become legally effective.   The Department of Labor has been receiving comments on these most recent suggested regulation changes to the U.S. child labor laws since 2007. The DOL states that these revisions are supposed to make it easier for people under that age if 18 to get a job. These revisions only apply to non-agricultural positions. The Department of Labor (DOL) is scheduled to revise the provisions concerning minors in agricultural employment. The revisions single out industries like banking, information technology and advertising.    While the regulations offer an array of rules to follow, the most recent revisions address specific issues:   There is a provision permitting 14 and 15 year olds to wo ...

  Employee Discipline Templates – Free Template   For people searching for free employee discipline templates, we’ve posted one in our free business form templates resource center. Feel free to print it out and customize it for your company. Keep in mind that proper employee discipline templates will include:   Name of employee Date of the warning meeting A check box list of violations like, attendance, conduct, insubordination, performance, safety, tardiness and “other”. A space for a more detailed description of the infraction. A place for the employee to sing and date, that indicates the employee had read and understands the discipline document. A place for the manager to sign and date.   Looking for free employee discipline templates? Here’s the link to our free employee discipline template.   Modern Business Associates offers a variety of frequently needed blank business forms, free templates and example letters in our free business form ...

  What are the six parts of a business letter? A Refresher.   We frequently get asked to help create department documentation and templates for our clients who are outsourcing HR functions to us. Many of our client forms are designed to be accompanied with the normal six part business letter. There’s usually somebody on the team that needs a refresher to the question, “What are the six parts of a business letter?” A six part business letter is more formal than other current means of communication, like email. But, still, there are times when a traditional letter is needed to make a point or to add as much respect to the message as possible. Just follow these steps to creating your six part business letter.   In order of how they appear in the letter, top to bottom, the six parts of the business letter are:   Heading – This includes the return address of the sender and the date. Then add a blank line at the end of this part.   Inside Address – This is the address of who ...

  Your Employee’s Work email expectation of privacy – New Supreme Court Decision adds some clarity. The latest Supreme Court ruling help that a California police department’s review of sexually charged text messages sent by the officer to his wife and to his mistress from his employer-issued pager, did not constitute an invasion of the employee’s privacy. This overturned a previous ruling by the 9th Circuit. (Link to the full opinion in City of Ontario v. Quon).   As a business owner, you should take note that the Supreme Court’s decision was largely motivated by concept that the police department’s review of the messages was in line with its policy and was conducted for a valid business reason. Also, that the implications of the decision on the employees texts in this case could also be seen to apply to the work email expectation of privacy for the average employee.   The officer had exceeded the allotted monthly number of messaged approved for his text pager and, according with policy, ...

Effective June 21, 2010, federal contractors and subcontractors must post the NLRA Poster advising employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA").  Required by the Department of Labor ("DOL"), this notice informs employees about their rights to form and join a union, and to bargain collectively with their employer.  It also provides examples of unlawful employer and union conduct that interferes with employees' rights under the NLRA.  This new posting requirement does not apply to prime contracts under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold of $100,000 or to subcontracts below $10,000.    Covered entities must post the notice in conspicuous places in a plant or office so that the notice is prominent and readily seen by employees.  Failing to comply with this posting requirement may result in sanctions and penalties including, but not limited to, cancellation of an existing contract or debarment from future federal contracts.  For more informat ...

Hot summer weather can turn up the heat on your HR department, be prepared. Here is a list of things to help you prepare your business for complexities that Summer brings, regarding increased HR work and liabilities.   Staff vacation planning. How will you track vacation time? What is your policy for receiving and granting vacation requests? Think about a few quick policies to publish to your staff. Having all requests sent via email, to create some documentation and prevent misunderstandings, can prove to be very useful. Summer introduces the opportunity for employees to push the boundaries of the dress code. Revealing and/or inappropriate hot weather clothing may start to trickle into your workplace. Consider clear dress policies and a consistent application of them. Temporary staffing whether it’s for increased business, or for intern programs come with their own HR concerns regarding how they are treated and compensated. Doublecheck that your policies are in compliance. Empl ...

  DOL says you may have to compensate employees for time spent putting on protective equipment required by law. The new Department of Labor’s (DOL) Administrator’s Interpretation, issued by Deputy Administrator Nancy J. Leppink), concerns whether you have to pay for the time employees use to change put on and take off protective equipment required by law. It’s entitles “SUBJECT: Section 3(o) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.  203(o), and the definition of clothes.” (Administrator's Interpretation No. 2010-2)   Under the Fair Labor and Standards Act, you don’t have to pay employees for their time spend changing clothes or washing at the beginning or end of each workday. But, this new Administrator’s Interpretation explains that safety equipment is going to be treated separately, and that changing into and out of protective equipment required by law is now time that your employees will be compensated for.   So, if your employees are just putting on uniforms, then it’s prob ...

Articles on Payroll Services   We offer a wealth of free articles on payroll services. What to look for. Mistakes to avoid when selecting a payroll service. How to prepare your staff for the transition to a payroll service. Tips for vetting payroll services before you commit.   Come see our extensive library of articles on Payroll Services.   Our HR outsourcing services track record has given us a great view into what kinds of questions need to be answered for a business owner to make a proper decision about their payroll service. Our articles on payroll services focus on helping you through those decisions.      Modern Business Associates is an HR company that focuses on payroll and HR outsourcing.  As a Professional Payroll and HR outsource organization, our clients rely on us to help them effectively deal with these kinds of topics.

All banks and U.S. Post Offices will be closed Monday, July 5, 2010 in observance of Independence Day.  As a result, our processing schedule for this holiday will be as follows: July 1, 2010 Payrolls reported on this day will be available for delivery on July 2, 2010 July 2, 2010 Payrolls reported on this day will be available for delivery on July 6, 2010 If you use our Direct Deposit service, you may need to change your payroll appointment if any of the following apply: ►You normally would report your payroll on:  July 1, with a July 5, check date  July 2, with a July 6, check date  July 5, with a July 7, check date Reminder:    The earliest day funds can be available to your employees is the second business day after your payroll appointment due to the federal banking regulations. If you have any questions, please contact your Payroll Specialist or Account Manager at your ear ...

Under the recently-enacted Affordable Care Act, qualified small businesses and tax-exempt organizations will be able to claim a health care tax credit.  This new credit is designed to help small employers afford the cost of covering their employees and is specifically targeted for those with low- and moderate-income workers.  The credit is available beginning in 2010, and it applies to health, dental and vision benefit premiums.  Generally, eligibility for the credit is limited to small employers with fewer than the equivalent of 25 full-time workers and average annual wages of less than $50,000.  The credit only applies to employers that pay for at least 50 percent of single insurance coverage for their employees.  It is worth up to 35 percent of a small employer’s premium costs, and phases out gradually for employers with average wages between $25,000 and $50,000 and for employers with the equivalent of between 10 and 25 full-time workers.    To ...