Does it seem as though you have two jobs?

StaffScapes gives you the freedom to focus on what you do best; growing your business. As a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) we take legal responsibility for a large part of your day-to-day duties letting you concentrate on your core business.

Between running your business and keeping up with ever-increasing administrative responsibilities, you may feel that you actually do have two jobs. Now imagine having only one job. For more details on how a PEO can make your business run better contact StaffScapes, Inc. 303-466-7864 or info@staffscapes.com.

Good news for employers coming from the state of Iowa. The EEOC is required to pay $4.5 million in fees to defendant in a Title VII sexual harassment complaint. The federal district court in Iowa found that the Title VII claim filled by the EEOC was meritless and warranted reimbursement of fees and expenses because the EEOC failed to investigate or conciliate individual harassment claims. The court summarized the EEOC’s strategy as “sue first, ask questions later”, stating that this lawsuit “imposed an unnecessary burden” upon the employer.

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New Posters

Effective November 21, 2009 ALL employers are required to post the new Equal Employer Opportunity Poster.  This notice now includes Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008(GINA), which prohibits genetic information discrimination in employment.

Effective January 1, 2010 all Colorado employers are required to post the new Colorado Minimum Wage Order Poster. This notice explains what rights and protections employees have under the Colorado Minimum Wage Order, including minimum wage, work periods and overtime.  If you have any questions regarding the application of this Order please contact StaffScapes. 

This year there was a reduction in the Colorado State Minimum wage to $7.24 per hour.  Since the Federal Minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is greater, $7.25 will be the rate that must be used as minimum pay.

StaffScapes provides clients with all of your required posters, and notification of these changes.  If you have any questions or need posters please contact Lora Manternach at 303-466-7864.

On December 3, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service announced a reduction to the optional standard mileage rates for 2010.

For the year 2010, the optional standard mileage rate will reduce from 55 cents to 50 cents per mile. Taxpayers have the option of using the optional standard mileage rate to calculate deductible costs of operating an automobile for business purposes.

The rate for computing the deductible medical or moving costs have also reduced to 16.5 cents per mile, however the rate for providing services for charitable organizations has remained unchanged at 14 cents per mile. For further information you can go to the IRS announcement at: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=216048,00.html

IRS will audit 2,000 taxpayers each year for the next three years.

Beginning February 2010, the Internal Revenue Service will begin employment tax audits on 2,000 randomly selected taxpayers (employers) per year for the next three years.  The IRS states that they are conducting this study “to collect data that will allow the IRS to understand the compliance characteristics of employment tax filers”. This means, the IRS is using this three year “study” to find out where employers are not staying in compliance with collecting, reporting, and paying taxes. The IRS also explains that the examinations will be comprehensive in scope. The IRS will not be looking for just a handful of different problem areas, but searching for any and every area of non-compliance. Now is the time to audit your employment compliance practices. Contact StaffScapes to discuss any concerns or problems that you may have.

See Also

• IRS Will Begin Employment Tax Research Study in February 2010

Congress and US DOL using H1N1 scare to push for mandatory paid sick leave.

Look out employers, the Deputy Secretary of Labor, Seth Harris, gave a testimony on November 10^th, 2009, to a Senate Subcommittee pushing for mandatory paid sick leave. Using the national concern over the H1N1 flu, the Deputy Secretary explained the US DOL strongly supports the Healthy Families Act of 2009. Highlights of the Healthy Families Act include:

·        Paid time of to care for yourself, child, spouse, parent, or any other individual related by blood of affinity;  or absence resulting from domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking

·        employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick leave for each 30 worked, no exceptions for part time workers

·        mandatory carry over, however a cap of 56 hours of sick leave accrued at any given time may be used

·        physician certification can only be requested if leave is greater than 3 consecutive days, employees have 30 days to provide certification

·        severe penalties will be accessed for discharging, discriminating or using the taking of paid sick time as a negative factor in employment action (such as hiring, promoting or disciplinary action)

See Also

• Full testimony of Deputy Secretary Harris
  Remarks Prepared for Delivery by U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis - Testimony of Deputy Secretary of Labor Seth Harris’ before the Subcommittee on Children and Families Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, United States Senate, Washington, DC, November 10, 2009

As the end of 2009 is getting closer, StaffScapes, Inc. wants to remind its FSA participates to use all of the funds available in their FSA accounts.

Some of the expenses that are eligible to be reimbursed under qualified Flexible Spending Accounts are:

-Deductible & Co-pays

-Contacts/glasses and eye exams

-Prescriptions co-pays

-Dental treatments

-Over-the-counter medications

-and many more!

Please contact StaffScapes, Inc. to get a full list of eligible expenses

***Receipts must be dated for services rendered in 2009 and must be submitted by March 31, 2010.

If you would like more information regarding the Flexible Benefit plan or would like to participate in the 2009 FSA program, please contact StaffScapes Benefit Department at (303) 466-7864.

How does reviewing past claims help my business save money with Workers Compensation Insurance?

Today StaffScapes is meeting with representatives from Pinnacol Assurance to review past claim history. This is a very valuable tool for all for all business that have had workers compensation claims. By reviewing claims a business is able to see trends that a supervisor of a department may not notice because of all the other jobs a person is doing. Many times a review will allow a company to look at history and just not at today’s work and what is going on.

When you review claims you can also target claims to learn who was using safety equipment and who was not and compare similar claims and the cost associated with it. We have a small manufacture with 50 or so employees that kept having small eye injuries. Most of the employee did not bother to where the safety glasses when cutting parts and this was the leading cause of injury. After further review we noticed many employee had been using the proper safety equipment and still employees where getting hurt. Material was flying in behind the glasses or around the edge of the traditional safety glasses. By changing the type of glasses used we where able to cut injuries down the fowling year. By not reviewing the claims with the client this type of injury could lead to a very expensive claim or much worse someone losing site because of a work related injury. 

If you have any type of ongoing injury you should be siting down with your workers compensation provider or your Professional employer Organization (PEO) and do a claims review. During this claim review you should also question open claims to be sure that all cost saving measures are being looked at.

To learn more about safety programs, loss prevention and ways to reduce your Workers Compensation Liability contact StaffScapes at 303-466-7864 .

New rules and new minimum wage rules can make being an employer a confusing job.

One week Colorado minimum wage is higher than the Federal min wage and the next week it is lower? What is an employer to do? On January 1st 2010 the wage will drop 1 penny below the Federal Minimum wage. Employers need to pay the higher of the two wages at the least to keep out of trouble. If you want to lower your employees wage you can but be careful about the negative effects that can have around the work site.

For help with HR, Payroll and workers compensation in Colorado give us a call at 303-466-7864

With over 14 years in Business StaffScapes is your source for PEO services in Denver & Colorado.

StaffScapes was created with a single goal - give you the freedom to focus on what you do best; grow your business.  StaffScapes was fonded with a singular goal to provide cost effective payroll, workers compensation and Human Resources Solutions.

Focus on your business. Not your staffing.