03.25.10

Tax Incentives for newly hired and retained employees

Posted in Employment and Labor at 11:18 am by Michael Dalrymple

READY TO “HIRE”?

The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, also known as the “HIRE Act”, is now law, following President Obama’s signature on March 18, 2010. the law’s intent is to “encourage businesses to hire and help put Americans back to work.”

The HIRE Act provides tax incentives for employers which include any non-governmental business or organization and public institutions of higher learning. The incentives include:

v An exemption from paying the Social Security excise tax on the wages of any newly hired “qualified employee” for wages paid between March 9, 2010 and December 31, 2011.

In order to qualify, a “qualified employee”:

(1) must be hired after February 3, 2010 and before January 1, 2011; and

(2) cannot have worked more than a total of 40 hours in the two months prior to being hired; and

(3) was not hired to replace an employee terminated from employment without cause.

v The HIRE Act also provides up to a $1,000 tax credit to the employer for each “retained worker.”

A “retained worker” must:

(1) meet the “qualified employee” requirements of the HIRE Act; and

(2) be employed for at least 52 consecutive weeks; and

(3) have wages during the last 26 weeks of the taxable year that are equal to at least 80% of the wages earned during the first 26 weeks of the year.

While the requirements of the HIRE Act are somewhat restrictive and a little tricky, they will grant some tax relief for some employers. Whether the Act will encourage businesses to hire more employees remains to be determined.

For more information about this or other legal topics, please e-mail Michael Dalrymple.

http://www.dalrymple-law.com

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03.19.10

workplace Violence Policies and the New Gun Law

Posted in Employment and Labor at 11:32 am by Michael Dalrymple

Time to revisit your workplace violence policy

As I am sure you are well aware, the Indiana Legislature passed a bill and Governor Daniels signed it into law that permits employees to bring their guns to work, even if the employer has a policy prohibiting guns at the workplace. The debate over this bill waged Second Amendment Constitutional rights against safety concerns in the workplace. A review of the blogosphere reveals that gun advocates are elated and many business owners, managers, supervisors, and employees are a little nervous. No matter your opinion, it is now the law, so here are the essentials.

The law prohibits an employer, which includes an individual, a corporation, and a governmental entity, from adopting or enforcing a policy that prohibits an employee, including a contract employee, from:

(1) legally possessing a firearm or ammunition that is locked in the trunk of the employee’s vehicle,

(2) kept in the glove compartment of the employee’s locked vehicle, or

(3) stored out of sight in the employee’s locked vehicle while the vehicle is in or on the employers property.

Firearms or ammunition that requires a federal license to possess are exempted. There are several additional exemptions in the law. These are mainly exempted locations, including:

(1) on school property, on property used by a school for a school function, or on a school bus;

(2) on certain child care and shelter facility property;

(3) on penal facility property;

(4) in violation of federal law;

(5) on property belonging to an approved postsecondary educational institution;

(6) on the property of a domestic violence shelter;

(7) at a person’s residence;

(8) on the property of a person that is subject to the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards and licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission;

(9) on property owned by a public utility that generates and transmits electric power or a department of public utilities; and

(10) in an employee’s personal vehicle if the employee is a direct support professional who uses the employee’s personal vehicle while transporting an individual with developmental disabilities.

One provision of the law is a recent movement in state legislatures that limits the jurisdiction of courts over certain legal action. The law provides that a court does not have jurisdiction over an action that:

(1) is brought against an employer who is in compliance with the prohibition against adoption or enforcement of a policy or rule that prohibits the possession of a firearm in a locked vehicle; and

(2) is brought to recover for any injury or damage resulting from the employer’s compliance.

While this provision protects business owners, it does limit access to courts, which is often the only remedy to enforce rights. At the same time, the law authorizes a person harmed by a violation to bring a civil action for damages, costs, attorney’s fees, and injunctive relief to remedy a violation.

If you have a workplace violence policy in place, it may require modification to comply with the law. If you do not have a workplace violence policy in place, this would be a good opportunity to implement one.

For more information about this or other legal topics, please e-mail Michael Dalrymple.

http://www.dalrymple-law.com

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03.17.10

Using COBRA

Posted in Employment and Labor at 2:37 pm by Michael Dalrymple

More and more of the unemployed are relying on COBRA to subsidize their healthcare costs. The subsidy is important for many who are in between jobs, but it is not to be relied upon for long-term use.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124736827&sc=17&f=1001

For more information about this or other legal topics, please e-mail Michael Dalrymple.

http://www.dalrymple-law.com

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