NYS New Hire Reporting Law Information effective 7/15/2011

To CDO Business Community:

As of this Friday (July 15, 2011), all New York state employers will have to report their newly hired or rehired employees’ information to the Department of Taxation and Finance.

The New Hire Reporting Law is an attempt to move people off NY state-funded health insurance programs that should not be on them. Under the provisions of the law, employers must report an employee’s name, address and Social Security number, along with the employer’s name, address and identification number assigned to them by the Internal Revenue Service, and whether dependent health insurance benefits are available for the new employee. This information must be reported within 20 days of the new hire.

Failure to provide the information in a timely manner or to provide accurate information will result in a $20 fine per employee for which the state did not receive accurate or timely information

Additional information from NYS Dept of Tax & Finance relating to how and where to report new hire information is listed below. If you need additional information, please feel free to contact me.

http://www.tax.ny.gov/bus/wt/newhire.htm

http://www.tax.ny.gov/bus/wt/newhire_rules.htm


Alan Sessions, Business Services Rep.
Dept. of Labor & CDO Workforce
12 Dietz St., Oneonta, NY 13820
607-432-4800, Ext. 103
alan.sessions@labor.ny.gov

2010 Roundtable Discussion - Employee Discipline and Retention

The Chenango JSEC is sponsoring a Round Table Discussion focusing on best practices & policies involved with the discipline of employees & how employee retention can benefit from clear and fair discipline practices. The discuss will be lead by Nancy Root, from Golden Artists Colors, Anne English, from Chenango Memorial Hospital, and Lydia Bell, from Custom Electronics & Otsego-Delaware JSEC Chair. The discussion leaders are all experienced Human Resource professionals with experience dealing with discipline & retention issues. A "Discipline Checklist" will be available to start the discussion. Come join us for this informative and thought provoking round-table discussion!

The Round Table Discussion will be held on March 25th - Thursday, 8:30 AM Registration - Seminar: 9 AM to 10:30 AM, at Morrisville State College Norwich Campus' Community Room. This is a FREE EVENT!

For information or to make reservations, please contact the CDO Workforce - (607) 432-4800 ext. 103, or e-mail: alan.sessions@labor.state.ny.us

Nonprofit Director Request: Part-Time Employee Hours

This recent request for advice came in from a nonprofit director. I am listing a couple answers below, and feel free to add your own feedback.

Question:
Hi Andrew
I am hoping you can help me, I have a question about our part time employees. Is there a limit to the number of hours a part time employee can work in a week?

Our youth coordinator can work 15-20 hours per week as needed. Occasionally when we have special activities like this weekend with the Relay For Life walk he possibly could work more than that. Or do you have a connection at the department of labor that I could contact?

Thank you very much.


Answers:

1) Andy to my knowledge, there is no limit to how many hours a part time employee can work, unless of course they are considered a child/minor (17 or under). Part time is often used to save on benefit costs, either by prorating benefits offered or by not offering them at all. This is defined by the employer in the hire letter and should be in personnel handbook. Hours worked in excess on a regular basis may trigger additional benefits etc. but again it can be deemed that benefits are by averages of hours worked.

As an additional note: NYS Unemployment defines full time as 4 days; anything below this is part time. If a part time employee working 50% time were to drop to 25% time they may be eligible for unemployment benefits, even if a part time “pattern” can be proven. In this case it would be good to talk to the employer carrier if self-insured or NYS Insurance Fund. The director may also want to consult with an attorney.

2) If this situation is occasional there shouldn’t be a problem. The status of the employee would still be considered part-time.

They should refer to their employee handbook (also).

Just another mention, AFLAC benefits (some) are only eligible when the employee works at least 30 hours per week to be eligible, such as disability.

Hope it helps.

Small Payroll, but Big Woes on Insurance

The NY Times discusses the impact of the economy on small businesses and health insurance benefits:
"Even before the recession, owners of the smallest businesses had struggled to absorb the inexorable annual rise in health premiums. The share of firms with fewer than 10 workers that offer health benefits has declined by 16 percent since 2001, to 49 percent, according to an annual survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, while the rate in larger firms essentially stayed flat." Read more here.

These issues confront all businesses, including the nonprofit sector. As new ideas and solutions are proposed, we will post them here for your information and discussion.

Helpful Information For A Difficult Topic: Layoffs

Blue Avocado offers a special Layoff Issue, which includes the following:

• A How-To on layoffs, furloughs, and shutdowns
• Board Cafe column on a frequently problemmatic topic: the Board's Role in HR
• An invite for Layoff Stories from Blue Avocado readers
• A First Person Nonprofit narrative about a layoff experience
• Some tips on getting health insurance if you've lost your job

This information offers a little bit for everyone. Share your own stories or resource ideas here.

Updating Your Nonprofit's Policies

We received a great question today about personnel policies:
1)When the personnel handbook policies are rewritten and adopted, does this negate all previous policies?

Share your input on this question or check back for the answer from CCSNYS Legal Accountability & Compliance Services. A quick point about your nonprofit's personnel policies: CCSNYS recommends that you have these policies reviewed on a regular basis in order to protect your organization and stay up on changes to employment laws and regulations.