March 2011 Newsletter

Finding and Keeping Skilled Employees

The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) regularly surveys small businesses on their most pressing problems and priorities. Their Small Business Economic Trends survey shows that labor quality is one of the most pressing and growing problems. Retaining skilled employees varies significantly by firm size and it worsens for small business owners as the number of employees increases, as skilled workers can be difficult to retain and replace.

Finding and retaining top talent is a problem that often results from small businesses being forced to deal with all of the other headaches they face.  There are only so many hours in a day and businesses are finding that they must run leaner and smarter to compete.  This means that every hire a small business makes must make a positive impact on the business.  With applicants becoming more informed on how to successfully interview and the number of unemployed who will say anything to get work, it is very difficult to make a good decision on whom to hire.

Four Point HR works closely with its clients through its Four Point Staffing division to become a single source recruiter for your business.  We get to know the unique values that your top performers possess, the culture that exists in your business and the skills that each position requires.  We charge you with a simple and reasonable per hour charge that is added to the PEO fees to cover the first 90 days of employment.  We assume the charges for all job adds, assume the unemployment and workers’ compensation claims risk and pay for all back ground checks.  No more dealing with job ads, looking through applications and conducting multiple rounds of interviews.  Our professionals get to know the ins and outs of your business, make finding the perfect fit for your company a priority, and represent you professionally to all applicants.  We can make the hire for you or deliver two to three finalists for a position to the door for you to make the final decision.

Critical Success Factors Create a Culture of Accountability

All business owners juggle numerous responsibilities over the course of a normal day. We process information from a wide variety of sources while wearing many hats. The volume of information that we process makes identifying, focusing on and measuring the really important data difficult. Many business functions appear to be critical and, therefore, worthy of our attention. The result, we spend too much time working inside the operation and not enough time working on the operation.

At Four Point, we encounter businesses in many industries. We find the companies that work the best are those that work simply. That is, the best businesses combine their people and processes to efficiently meet daily goals in the normal course of business without involving their chief executive or executive team. Therefore, the executives are free to stay above the day to day business operations to develop new products and services, respond to market changes and manage those key ingredients of the business that are critical to its success.

Critical success factors are those that most directly relate to the health of the business and the first step is to identify them. Next, take advantage of their real value by measuring, understanding and using them to create accountability. With limited time and resources within our businesses, using critical success factors can promote a business culture of management by the numbers.

We will begin by examining how many factors should and can be measured. The list can be lengthy, so pare it down by balancing the need for as much data as possible with the reality that it is difficult to give a long list proper focus. We want to think about the most critical items such as new business deals, pipeline vitality, operating expenses, and customer satisfaction. Generally, the list should contain four to six critical success factors, depending upon the complexity of your business.

Every critical success factor (CSF) will have an owner within your organization who is responsible for meeting that particular goal. Creating and holding an owner accountable for reaching a number instills a culture of accountability inside your business and sheds light on the effectiveness of your business structure and personnel.

Once the owners are in place, you’ll need a process to manage them and a standard reporting structure. Once the standard report is created, establish a regular reporting time frame. Weekly is probably too often based upon the time taken for direct reports to compile reports. Quarterly is not frequent enough. Monthly is just right.

Once a business owner has identified and measured the CSFs, making improvements to these numbers is the next logical step. We will use our factors and the structure around them to set goals, support the owners of the goals and hold them accountable to the results. Setting goals and communicating these goals to their company peers stimulates tremendous motivation to succeed. Whether it is fueled by a fear of failure or determination for success, we want your team to make hitting their numbers a matter of personal pride. In doing so, you will have an opportunity to monitor your staff to gauge their reaction to accountability, help them with their obstacles and develop a stronger team.

Take some time to reflect on how well you are managing by the numbers in your business and how well your team focuses on the critical success factors in your business. At Four Point, we find that removing the burden of back office employee matters allows our clients to focus on the important work of improving their companies rather than working inside their companies’ daily processes. A culture of accountability emerges from these activities as business owners create ownership of results within their staff members.

Protect Your Eyes During Winter Months

During the winter months, it is equally important to protect your eyes from the UV rays as it is in the summer months. For those who live, work and play in the snow regions, the snow reflects almost 80% of UV radiation. Essentially, winter can wreak havoc on unprotected eyes.

We need to protect our skin and eyes from exposure. The eyes, like the skin, can get sunburned resulting in intense pain, discomfort and even temporary vision loss known as snow blindness. Since most people put their sunglasses away until spring or summer, the potential for harm is maximized. Cold winds and bright glare also contribute to dry, fatigued, or itchy eyes. In higher elevations where the air is thinner, the risk increases even more.

Protecting your eyes is simple with the right gear. Choose wraparound sunglasses or goggles with a foam liner to block out the drying wind. For UV ray protection, look for polarized lenses, which absorb glare and prevent eye fatigue as these types of lenses allow your eyes to relax. Consult with your eye doctor to determine the correct eyewear for your situation. Our VSP Vision program provides an extensive list of physician options.

Wage Garnishments on The Rise

It’s a fact that during these strenuous economic times more and more workers are in debt and employers are seeing an increase in wage garnishments. Employers who have never had to deal with the issue of wage garnishments are finding themselves inundated with requests for wage attachments. We’ve detailed a few questions below on their responsibilities pertaining to these requests.

Question: What is a wage garnishment?
Answer: The definition of a wage garnishment by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division states: “A wage garnishment is any legal or equitable procedure through which some portion of a person’s earnings is required to be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debit.” Garnishments are mostly made by court order, but there are other types of legal or equitable procedures for garnishments such as,

  • IRS or state tax collection known as levies for unpaid taxes.
  • Federal agency garnishments for non-tax debts owed such as defaulted student loans.

Question: Can an employer terminate an employee for a wage garnishment?
Answer:   Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) which is administered by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) prohibits an employer from terminating an employee because their wages have been garnished for only one debt. This applies no matter how many number of levies made or proceedings brought to collect that one debt. However, Title III does not protect an employee from discharge if the employee’s wages have been subject to garnishment for two or more debts.

Question: How much can an employer withhold from a worker on a wage garnishment?
Answer: The amount of pay subject to garnishment is based on a worker’s disposable earnings. Disposable earnings are the amount left after legally required deductions, such as Social Security, Medicare, Federal, State, and Local taxes. It also includes the worker’s share of State Unemployment Insurance and withholdings for retirement systems required by law. Any voluntary wage deductions, such as health and life insurances, charitable contributions, union dues, purchases of savings bonds, payroll advances, purchases of merchandise, and retirement plan contributions (except those required by law) are not subject to be subtracted from gross earnings when calculating disposable earnings under the CCPA. The maximum amount that may be garnished in a workweek or pay period may not exceed the lesser of two figures: 25% of the worker’s disposable earnings, or the amount by which a worker’s disposable earnings are greater than 30 times the federal minimum wage which is currently $7.25 per hour.

Question: Are Child Support and Alimony calculated at a different rate?
Answer: There are specific restrictions that apply to court ordered child support or alimony. The law allows up to 50% of a worker’s disposable earnings if the worker is supporting another spouse or child, or up to 60% if the worker is not. An additional 5% may be added for support payments that are 12 weeks or more in arrears.

Question: What is the amount allowed for non-tax debts owed to federal agencies?
Answer: The Debt Collection Improvement Act allows up to 15% of a worker’s disposable earnings to repay defaulted debts owed to the U.S. government. The Higher Education Act allows up to 10% of a worker’s disposable earnings to repay defaulted federal student loans. Any of these debts that exceed 25% of the worker’s disposable earnings should be questioned by the agency initiating the withholding action.

Please note: If you are a PEO client of Four Point HR and receive a garnishment notice of any type on your employees, please forward the information to us immediately. These notices are time sensitive and are subject to fines and legal action if not answered. This also applies if your company no longer employs the worker.

This document is not intended to provide legal advice. More information on the federal wage garnishment laws can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division website:
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/garnishments.htm.

 

Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Safety Standards
for Fiscal 2010 (Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2010)
Federal Data As of Oct. 8, 2010

The following is a list of the top 10 most frequently cited standards following inspections of worksites by federal OSHA. OSHA publishes this list to alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take steps to find and fix recognized hazards. Far too many preventable injuries and illnesses occur in the workplace.

  • Scaffolding
  • Fall Protection
  • Hazard Communication
  • Respiratory Protection
  • Ladders
  • Lockout/Tagout
  • Electrical Wiring Methods
  • Powered Industrial Trucks
  • Electrical, General Requirements
  • Machine Guarding

Please contact the Risk Management Department for all of your safety questions and programs.

Payroll Corner

W-2 Reprints – If a W-2 form needs to be reprinted, please do not have the employee contact us. All requests should come from the payroll contact and a $5.00 fee will be assessed per reprint.

Spring is right around the corner and it’s a good time to “spring clean” your employee roster and remove the names of former employees. Employees who are not working due to a specific type of leave may remain on payroll until they become active or a request to terminate is received. An employee who has not received a check for more than two pay periods, and does not have leave approval, should be removed from the payroll. Please contact Four Point HR with any questions.