FOR THE PEOPLE

May 2010 A snapshot into the current issues affecting your people

When the Company Picnic is No Picnic

As the weather gets warmer, companies are beginning to think about the annual company picnic. Employees look forward every year to the time off, the food, the games, the fun, the injuries and the humiliation. Injuries and humiliation? How does someone get humiliated at a company picnic? The owner or CEO sends out a company-wide email or hangs a flyer that says Vote for the person you want to see in the dunking booth or hit in the face with a pie. Does this sound familiar? From there the humiliation factor takes off. You will have some employees voting for a female that they would love to see in a bikini or wet T-shirt. Some will vote for an employee they dislike, just to see him take a bath or get covered in whipped cream. This whole thing gets worse if the person selected doesnt really want to participate but feels forced to or thinks her job/career could be in jeopardy if she doesnt play along. The greatest danger to your business is that is the comments and emails that will fly around the company about the
Please see Picnic, page 2

Wanna Save Money? Hire Someone!

President Obama signed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act on March 18, 2010. This new legislation is of particular interest to businesses as it includes new tax benefits directly related to hiring currently unemployed candidates. There are two main benefits to employers: 1. Hiring companies are exempt from paying their 6.2% portion of withholding taxes in 2010 for new employees hired between February 3, 2010 and Jan 1, 2011. This is basically exempting companies from having to pay the employers share of social security. 2. Hiring companies can receive an additional $1,000 tax credit for keeping the new employees they hire in 2010 on the books for at least one year. Before you go crazy hiring folks, there are a few things to keep in mind:

Inside This Issue

When the Company Picnic is No Picnic Wanna Save Money? Hire Someone! Hiring Teens: Which Ones Will Actually Work? One for the Road: Rules for Minors and Summer Interns Yup, They Said It Perfect People Solutions

Newly-hired employees must have been unemployed during the 60 days prior to starting work, or must have worked fewer than 40 hours for someone else during the prior 60-day period. Business owners cannot hire their sons, daughters or other relatives to take adPlease see HIRE, page 2

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Hire
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chosen employee are discoverable if a claim is later filed alleging discrimination. There is also potential long-term damage to employee morale if the situation gets out of control. Injuries are often an uninvited guest at the picnic. The softball game and volleyball game are frequent culprits. Broken arms, broken legs or back injuries are the most likely ailments. This doesnt mean that you shouldnt have any physical events at the picnic, but you need to make sure that you dont require employees to participate. By requiring them to play, you make any potential injury one that can fall into the category of a workplace injury. This could fall under workers compensation instead of being just an accident. Your best bet for a real fun company picnic is for all events to be voluntary. If you really want a victim for a dunking booth or pie in the face, choose the company owner, president or CEO.

vantage of these benefits.

Companies cant try to get around the regulations by firing a current employee and hiring a new employee covered by the HIRE Act to take the existing position, unless the original employee quit or was fired for cause. (Be careful with this one!) For businesses to receive the $1,000 tax credit, the wages they pay a covered employee during his second six months of tenure must be at least 80% of the wages paid during the employee's first six months. This means you cant cut the employees salary and just keep them on the books for a minimal salary to get the tax benefit.

In dollars and cents, if a company were to hire a $12/hour mechanic, they could save 74 cents per hour in withholding taxes. Using May 1, 2010 as a start date, the company could save more than $800 this year. The sooner you hire unemployed candidates the more monetary benefit you can receive from this legislation. If you need employees, now is a good time to hire someone.

One for the Road: Rules for Minors and Summer Interns
State and Federal laws protect minors and unpaid interns. Children under 14 generally cannot be employed. Exceptions include certain jobs such as working for a parent or working as a newspaper carrier. Minors ages 14 and 15 generally are permitted to work a limited number of hours outside of school time in nonhazardous jobs. When school is in session, work hours are limited to three hours per day and 18 hours per week. Exceptions exist during holidays and school breaks: Children ages 14 and 15 can work as many as eight hours each day and 40 hours each week, but only from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. or from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. Those who are 16 and 17 may generally work during school hours but are restricted from working in what the Fair Labor Standards Act deems as hazardous jobs. Some states may also impose restrictions on the number of hours worked. Make sure you dont take an applicants word for how old he is. You can ask the candidate to provide you with proof of his age and are also allowed by law to ask if a potential employee is over 18 or 21 where alcohol is served. Some states issue age certificates to minors. The federal government has begun to closely monitor the hiring of unpaid summer interns. Make sure if you are hiring an intern, he is acting only as an observer who is receiving training and participating in work that serves as an introduction to his chosen field. If you have him doing a bunch of grunt work like answering phones or other menial tasks, you should consider paying him minimum wage.

Hiring Teens: Which Ones Will Actually Work?

Summer is arriving, which means that high school and college kids will soon be out looking for jobs. Business owners always seem to struggle when it comes to hiring kids for summer work. The question becomes How will I know which ones to hire? Most kids seem nice enough but which ones will actually work for their pay? Summer job applicants tend to fall into one of three categories: 1. A teen whose parents are forcing her to get a job 2. A teen looking to save up money to pay for something specific (e.g. a car, laptop computer, etc.) 3. A teen seeking to find out more about the profession she is interested in pursuing You can easily determine into which category the applicant falls based on the questions you ask and how the applicant answers. Here are some questions to ask that will help you figure out into which category your applicant falls:

Why are you looking for work? What is special about my company that made you apply here? If you suddenly came into $500 what would you do with it? What is your major? (or What are you planning to major in when you get to college?) What have you heard about my company? What did you say to your friends when you told them that you were coming here for an interview? Do you know anyone who has worked here before? If the applicant says yes, ask What did they tell you about working here? Are you looking for a job just for the summer or would you be willing to work some during the school year?

These questions, in addition to questions that are specific to the position for which she is interviewing, will help you categorize your candidate. If an applicant's parents are forcing her to get a job, she probably will not be committed to the position and will likely make mistakes that could cost your business both money and customers. If she is looking to save up money, she will likely be great right up until she gets the amount needed for that new phone, laptop or iPod. Applicants falling into the third category should do well as long as the job allows them a real chance to learn something about their chosen field. The key is to be careful in your selection. Dont just hire an applicant because she is nice or because she is your niece or your next-door-neighbor's kid. Your business is too important.

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While people arent perfect, your people solutions should be.

P ERF ECT P EOPLE S OLUTIONS

Yup, They Said It

A young woman in her early 20s got an interview with a department store for their apparel buying team. She picked out a very conservative black skirt and pinstriped top to wear to the interview. She arrived for the interview and was greeted by a male interviewer. During the interview she noticed that he frequently tilted his body to one side. She thought it was a bit odd but brushed it off. During her second interview with another man the same thing happened, but again the young woman said nothing since she really needed the job. Her third interview was with a woman who was the lead buyer for the department store. Things started fine until the interviewer leaned over to one side. What gives! the young woman said. I can put up with the two guys ogling me, but you...well, youre a woman! The lead buyer smiled and said Well, young lady, your skirt is falling apart at the seams and while they may have been looking at your legs, I was just trying to be sure by looking at the tag that it wasnt one of ours!