Smallbiz Brainiac

Unlimited PTO polices are like giant squid. You know they exists, but you’ve never actually seen one. In the last episode we covered several types of both paid and unpaid leave: sick, personal, maternity, holiday, vacation, and bereavement. Today, we’ll learn about jury duty, military, and family medical leave. These are typically unpaid and all three are…

What is your philosophy about time off? You might already have a paid time off policy. Maybe it’s been in place for a long time now and needs updating. Maybe it isn’t documented or even clearly defined. Whatever your situation, it’s a good time to review it. If you don’t already have a policy, then it’s high time you created one.…

Helping your employees to be active both on and off the job will pay you dividends in the form of fewer sick days, better problem solving, clearer thinking and increased productivity. How To Shrink Your Employees’ Waistlines is an article written by Stephanie Pronk, Senior Vice President at Aon, and leader of their U.S. National…

What’s your attitude toward vacation time as the owner of your company? Are you communicating the same message through both your words and actions? Do you make employees feel guilty for taking time off? In episode 46 we learned about the mandatory paid sick leave laws and ordinances that exits, and the need for you…

Chicago is now the 34th jurisdiction and the third most populous city to have a paid sick leave law. If you have employees in one of the many jurisdictions with some form of mandatory paid time off, and you qualify based on your number of employees (which for example is every employer in California), then you must…

“Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state lives at the expense of everyone.”? – Frederick Bastiat Last week I was preparing an episode on paid time off, and during my research I came across something that really lit a fire in my sole. There is no federal…

What could possibly go wrong? In the past several episodes we’ve talked a lot about workers’ compensation insurance and controlling your costs. We’ve established the fact that having a workplace safety program is paramount. The nucleus of a workplace safety program is an injury and illness prevention plan or IIPP. When it comes to an IIPP, every business is different,…

What kind of workplace safety program do you have? What kind of workplace safety program do you have? Do you fly by the seat of your pants and leave safety to lady luck? Do you sorta have a safety program that you dust off once in awhile, maybe in reaction to a claim or your newly published experience modifier,…

Can productivity and safety be friends? In a recent survey by the National Safety Council, one-third of employees say that their employer values productivity over safety. Do you have to choose between productivity and safety? Are they mutually exclusive? I would argue that they go hand in hand. An unsafe working environment is not productive in the…

Your Assigned Risk Plan Exit Strategy. In the last episode we learned about the residual market and the Assigned Risk Plan. This is the insurance market where companies who can’t find an insurance company to sell them a policy end up. The premiums are significantly higher in the residual market, making it difficult for you to compete…

What is the Residual Market and how do get out?  What if you can’t find an insurance company who wants to offer you a workers’ compensation insurance policy? You’re required by state law to have it and you can’t be in business without it. If you do go without it and one of your employees…

You can be held liable for 100% of your employee’s debt if you don’t administer your garnishments properly. One of the least enjoyable parts of being an employer is when you have to get involved in your employee’s personal financial affairs. How? By having to withhold money from their paycheck and send it to a…

The United States remains mired in the ranks of the “mostly free,” the second-tier economic freedom status into which it dropped in 2010. Join me at FreedomFest 2016 in Las Vegas at the Planet Hollywood Resort from July 13th-16th. Some of the excellent Speakers: Learn from speakers like Judge Napolitano, Senator Rand Paul, Actor Ed…

Are you taking advantage of employment tax credits as you hire new employees? Are you even aware of these credits? If not, you’re missing the chance to get some of your tax dollars back and significantly reduce your payroll expense.  Both the Federal and State Governments have billions of dollars set aside to pay you…

Small employers may qualify for federal tax credits toward group medical insurance purchased from healthcare.gov. In the last two episodes, 34 and 35, we learned about health insurance terms and how to use the benefit. In episode 20 on the Affordable Care Act, we learned a little bit about the federal government’s SHOP Marketplace. So,…

Only 33% of employees rated the benefits education they received as excellent, or very good. Do you know how to use the health insurance plan you offer to your employees? With the information from the last episode and with what I’m going to share with you today, you’ll be ready start teaching your employees how…

Teach your employees how to use their health insurance so they don’t make the mistake I did.  Do you provide your employees with access to group medical insurance? It’s a great benefit to offer, but the premium is expensive. More than likely your employees have to pay part of that premium. But that’s just the…

A massive transfer of income begins December 1, 2016. The salary basis test says that the employee must be paid a predetermined and fixed salary that is not subject to reduction because of variations in the quality or quantity of work performed.  The salary level test says that the amount of the salary must meet a…

Follow this guide to make a job offer they can’t refuse. We’ve learned about the first 3 steps in the hiring process in earlier episodes. In episode 2 – Creating a job description, we learned how to define the position. In episode 12 – Where to find employees, we learned where to fish, and; in Episode 13 – Applicant tracking…

You can’t complete Form I-9 until after you’ve hired your employee. Form I-9 compliance is regulated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE is the audit and enforcement agency for the provisions of section 274A, the Unlawful Employment of Aliens section of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). You…