HR & Employment Law Important Changes to the I-9 Process M. Catherine Farrell, Esq. Imagine you sign up a new PEO client, only to find that a few of the employees have not properly completed their I-9s. You check and learn that the original worksite employer I-9s are deficient. In 2008, what are your obligations as a PEO, and what concerns should you have?       As we know, the I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification form) is the federal employment form completed by the employer and employee, is maintained by the employer, and verifies the employee's eligibility to be employed under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952 as amended (including the 1986 amendment, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)). It was amended and reissued June 5, 2007. The amended version… For the rest of the article, click here.

Benefits Anatomy of a Health Benefits Strategy Helping Employees Understand Costs and Adding Healthy Lifestyle Features Amber Vargas Concerns about healthcare coverage for employees and what it will cost are at the forefront of the news today. Rising healthcare costs have made it difficult for some employers to continue offering it as a fully paid benefit for the employees they hire. Some people involved with government feel that forcing companies to pay for a portion of their employee's health insurance will solve the problem by ensuring that more individuals are covered for healthcare. Although this may work in the short run, it will also cause many businesses to either pay their employees less in wages to make up the difference or go out of business. Perhaps a more long-term solution is to educate employees on the true costs of medical procedures and prescription drugs. Another long-term solution is… For the rest of the article, click here.

Risk Management Catching the Workers' Compensation Tail Managing the Long-Term Liabilities of Workers' Compensation Claims Greg D'Ambrosio, ARM, AU Workers' compensation insurance is a long-term liability line of business. Stated otherwise, claims are not fully paid and closed until several days, months, or even years after a claim has occurred. This is also commonly referred to as the "tail."       For PEOs, in particular those on loss sensitive programs, the tail can significantly impact the organization's financial statements. No PEO, or any business, wants to restate earnings for the worse due to adverse development of losses. Therefore, it is important to… For the rest of the article, click here.

Operations PEOs and Employment Eligibility Part I: The I-9 William J. Schilling, Esq. With the current hype about immigration and the increasingly frequent television press clips of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel rounding up illegal workers at yet another employer worksite, the issue of employment eligibility is clearly on the front burner both politically and in terms of employer liability.1 Moreover, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) announcement that it intends to step up I-9 inspections of employers in 2008,2 coupled with the imposition of higher fines, means that the era of the slap on the hand for hiring violations is over. It is very clear that… For the rest of the article, click here.

PR and the PEO How to Avoid Winding Up as Toast, Too, When a Scandal Hits a Competitor Mike Flagg If you've been keeping up with NAPEO's Public Relations Initiative, you know we preach how important it is to go out and meet the reporters who are writing about workplace issues in your market and the editors who supervise them.      Even at a medium-sized newspaper, you're likely to have at least several ways in—the medical reporters, the labor reporter, the workplace reporter, business reporters, and feature and lifestyle reporters who write about life at work.      It's about being proactive. If you call up the paper and suggest a story idea, you're far likelier to get a respectful hearing if the reporter already knows and trusts you from a mutually beneficial relationship both of you have nurtured over months or years.      But there's another reason besides getting stories—in fact, there are times when you don't want coverage. That is, of course, when… For the rest of the article, click here.

Statehouse Update Government Affairs: A Relationship Business Tim Tucker It's only eight weeks into many state legislative sessions around the country, and NAPEO has already seen significant success in fulfilling the association's proactive 2008 government affairs mission. The key element to an effective effort is forging and maintaining solid relationships with key public policymakers. NAPEO's legislative outreach initiative has been re-tooled to ensure that state legislatures and key regulatory agencies have "champions" who understand and support the PEO industry. The positive legislative outcomes to date are the result of extensive planning and execution of a comprehensive strategy to obtain legal and operational certainty in states across the country. However, the foundation for the success is rooted in the positive relationships with public policymakers…. For the rest of the article, click here.

NAPEO Advisor Age Discrimination Complaints, OSHA Standards William J. Schilling, Esq. Q. A client with 27 worksite employees wants to terminate a worker who has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for age discrimination. What precautions are necessary for such a termination? A. First and foremost, if… For the rest of the article, click here.

Start-up Journal The PEO Life Cycle Expanding Beyond the Traditional Suite of Services for Your PEO Start-Up Daniel S. McHenry This installment of PEO Insider's "Start-Up Journal" will complement the theme of the April 2008 feature as it relates to enhancing the traditional PEO revenue streams via the addition of a recruiting or staffing component to a start-up PEO's suite of services. To frame this discussion, let us change our focus on the client as the source of a PEO's revenue stream and begin to… For the rest of the article, click here.

Global Insights Why Would a Job Seeker Choose a Small Company Over a Large One? S. Oetjen Why indeed? The easy answer is, it depends on the person and the company. More to the point, however, is the question: How can small companies compete with large companies for talent? Are small businesses—PEOs' client base—doomed to take what they can get as the most brilliant employees opt for big companies with big money, big resources, and big benefits?       Not necessarily. But it takes… For the rest of the article, click here.