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Most managers dread the thought of terminating an employee for cause. When the decision is made that a company and an employee must go separate ways, then a Separation Agreement is advisable. It acts as a "written handshake" between the two parties, and can prevent misunderstandings down the line.

Is a Separation Agreement required?
No. The typical scenario for a Separation Agreement involves an for cause termination where the company is willing to pay some form of severance compensation to the employee. In these cases, a Separation Agreement is recommended but not required.

Is severance pay required?
U.S. law only requires pay through the last day of work. However, further commitments by the company to provide severance pay may be found in a company severance policy or in an individual employee’s employment contract. In these limited cases, the severance pay must be paid. In other cases, severance payments are optional.

What are the standard provisions of a Separation Agreement?
There will be some standard legal verbiage and some key provisions in almost every Separation Agreement. It is important for the Agreement to review the identity of the involved parties, the fact of the termination, the terms of any severance, the release of claims, the right of the employee to consult an attorney, confidentiality requirements regarding the terms, and some boilerplate language about the applicable law and enforceability of the agreement. The two key provisions are the severance pay, if any, and the release of claims.

The terms of severance would include the amount (if any), the timing for the payment, and a statement that applicable tax withholding will be deducted. If certain benefits are being given in addition to or in lieu of a cash severance payment, the terms and conditions of these benefits need to be specified in the Separation Agreement.

The release of claims is the most lengthy and legalistic-sounding part of a Separation Agreement. For example, in the State of California, the provision must include a reference to Section 1542 of the California Civil Code and a reference to a specific waiver of the protections of Section 1542. The purpose is to plug as many ambiguities as possible that might otherwise undermine the enforceability of the release.

There is a close connection between the severance and release provisions of a standard Separation Agreement. In fact, in order for a release of claims to be binding on the employee, the employee must receive some severance payment or other benefit in addition to the employee’s accrued vacation, COBRA coverage and any other legal rights. In exchange for any severance given above and beyond these rights, the company has a right to expect that it won’t be sued later.

Does the age of the employee make a difference?
Yes, special requirements apply to terminated employees who are age 40 or older. In order for a release to be valid, employees age 40 and over must be allowed 21 days to decide before an offer can expire, and must be allowed an additional 7 days after signing to revoke the Separation Agreement. An employee in this age category may voluntarily sign earlier than the full 21 days, in which case the 7-day revocation period will begin on that earlier date of signing.

Are there additional provisions to consider?
Yes, Separation Agreements can be customized based on the circumstances of each situation. Here are some of the questions to consider:

• Is the termination part of a workforce reduction?
• Is there a concern about the employee making disparaging remarks about the company?
• Will the employee want the company to give a standardized response when a reference check comes in?
• Is there company information or equipment the employee needs to return?
• Do invention and intellectual property rights of the company need to be established or reiterated to the employee?
• Are there some stock option vesting questions to be addressed?

If the answer is "yes" to any of these questions, corresponding provisions should be added to the Separation Agreement.

Clarifying the Next Steps
The "written handshake" helps to ease the pain of both the terminated employee and the employer. Clarifying crucial next steps as the company and the employee go separate ways is important – get it in writing to prevent misunderstandings.

This service is provided free of charge for clients of Workforce Solutions, Inc. If you are terminating and employee for cause, remember you must contact the Workforce HR Legal Department for advisement in handling the termination of any employee for cause. If the employee is terminating by choice, you may consult with our HR Legal Department as needed.

The H1N1 flu vaccine is now being shipped to each state and will soon be made available to the public.

Priority Populations

The H1N1 flu can pose a serious threat to certain people. The Center  for Disease Control (CDC) has identified certain groups to get the vaccine first, with other less risky groups to follow as the vaccine is made more available. Those who should get the vaccine right away are:

· Pregnant women

· Caregivers for children younger than 6 months

· Health care and emergency medical personnel

· Children and young adults from ages 6 months to 24 years

· People ages 25 through 64 who have other health conditions that might increase their risk for flu-related complications

Getting the Vaccine

Workforce Solutions, Inc. and UMR, have worked with a lot of different partners to make it easy for you to get the vaccination.

Public Health Clinics

You can get your vaccination for free at your local public health clinic

Doctors’ Offices

You can go to your doctor’s office or local clinic. The vaccination is free. There are no co-pays, deductibles or co-insurance fees.

Retail Pharmacies

Most major retail pharmacies will offer the vaccinations at no cost to you. Just show your medical ID card and identification, such as a driver’s license.

You should contact your public health clinic, local pharmacy or doctor ahead of time to be sure they have the H1N1 vaccine and enough supplies to give you the vaccination.

Visit UMR.com

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions—you’ll find answers to common questions about the H1N1 flu and the vaccine

Tips to Prepare You and Your Family for Flu Season

Links to the CDC and U.S. Health and Human Services Websites—for the most up-to-date information on the flu

Are your employee not motivate — and enthusiastic about — their jobs, here are three ways to get more from them:

Shine the spotlight on them

In general, the more frequently employers reward workers, the more those workers will aim to please.

The key is making sure rewards fit the size of employees’ accomplishments — and that the rewards vary.

Example: Don’t always give away the same $10 gift cards. Instead, hold a public recognition ceremony or send out a company-wide e-mail praising the employee. Be sure to focus on what the employee did that saved others time, boosted profits or otherwise helped the company.

Offer decision-making power

Another good way to show employees they’re appreciated and make them feel valuable: Encourage supervisors to allow employees to make small financial decisions.

Example: Let employees choose which new desk chairs everyone will get or which prizes will be given away at the next employee appreciation meeting.

Solicit employee ideas

Welcoming ideas from employees about new benefits is a great way to get them plugged into your programs.

Sure, a few suggestions are bound to leave you scratching your head. But if you can use just one, it’s worthwhile.

This article was contributed by John Braithwaite.

Dan Briody of msn.com recently wrote a great article on how to make your web advertising more effective.  As the internet is such a relatively inexpensive way to promote your products and is quickly rendering other forms of marketing obsolete, I thought that he offered a valuable tip on how to get your website to pop up on a search engine more often than your competitors.  He says,

“Realistically, the chance of a potential customer randomly stumbling across your site is, well, one in a trillion. That’s why Internet marketers talk about search engine optimization, which is simply a fancy term for ways to increase your company’s chances of being found by search engines.  Fortunately, it’s not as hard as you think. Search engines are not complicated. They like two things: 1) content, and lots of it, the fresher the better; and 2) links, either to or from your Website.

First, I want to talk about content. Your Web site may have flash animation, the finest design and a really great shopping cart. But if it sits there for years, unchanging, offering the same 12 static pages, the only search terms that will bring it up are “boring Web sites that add no value to anyone.” So start updating your content, and keep updating it if you want search engines (and customers) to find you!

Search engines look for dynamic, active sites. They want content that changes frequently and builds on itself. They want blogs, commentary, feeds, polls and user-generated content. A blog is the easiest way to start generating relevant content. Be sure to blog about things your customers care about. For example, if you run a real-estate firm, blog about mortgage rates and refinancing options. If you run a restaurant, blog about food. Offer advice, link to interesting articles, record a podcast, film a video.”

Our Workforce HR team receives HR questions from our clients on a daily basis and gives practical answers that can be applied by any HR pro in the same situation. Today’s question: What does the Fair Labor Standards Act say about rounding Employees’ hours up or down?

Question:

We just made the switch to a new timekeeping system for our nonexempt staff, and we’ll be rounding off hours worked, for pay purposes. Is there a rule about how to go about doing that?

Answer:

There is a rule, and it’s a bit complicated, says Workforce Solutions’ Employment Law attorney Jonathan Driggs.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), you’re allowed to round off workers hours as long as the rounding doesn’t always favor the employer. In other words, over the course of time, the rounding should average out.

Specifically, the FLSA permits rounding employees’ hours “starting and stopping times to the nearest five minutes, or to the nearest one-tenth or quarter of an hour.”

A suggested approach: Round up and down based on a set increment. So, for instance, if a worker reports in at 7:38, start pay at 7:45. But if a worker comes on at 7:37, start pay at 7:30.

If you have further questions about how Workforce Solutions can help with your HR Questions, please contact us 866.637.3900

This article was written by Mary Duke: Payroll Supervisor, Workforce Solutions, Inc.

Advantages

- It saves time by giving you easy access to your pay without waiting in line to cash or deposit a check.

- You will receive your pay on pay day, even if you are away from the office.

- Banks are required to credit your account by the beginning of the workday. The funds are available to you immediately.

- Direct deposits are not lost, destroyed, or stolen like paper checks.

What is direct deposit?

Direct deposit is the electronic funds transfer of your paycheck into your checking or savings account at the financial institution (bank, credit union or savings and loan) of your choice. You can have your paycheck go to several different financial institutions and/or 6 different accounts. You can deposit fixed dollar amounts, percentages, and/or your entire net pay. Direct Deposit is very efficient.

Is direct Deposit safe?

Yes, direct deposit is very safe, secure, confidential and your funds cannot be lost.

Who can help me with my enrollment form if I have questions?

Your payroll contact at your work location will be able to provide you with the enrollment form and help you complete it. You can also contact Workforce Solutions, Inc. for the form and help; or you can have your bank help you complete the form.

What is a routing Transit Number and why is it needed to process my Direct Deposit?

The routing/transit number is assigned by the American Banking Association to identify your bank. We recommend you determine the Routing/Transit number from your check rather than a deposit slip. Often, banks use internal routing numbers on the deposit slips. Our direct deposit enrollment form provides a space for you to enter that number. We also prefer you attach a voided check so the numbers entered on the form can be verified.

Can my Direct Deposit be sent to another person’s account, such as a spouse or parent?

Yes, you can have your pay deposited into another person’s account.

How soon will my Direct Deposit begin after I enroll?

This depends upon the time of month when you enroll. We need the enrollment form in our office at least 5 days before your next pay date.

Will I still get a pay stub?

Workforce Solutions, Inc. encourages their clients to go paperless. When the client is paperless the pay stub is available online for the employee to look at and print. If your employer is not one of our paperless clients the employee is provided with a copy of their pay stub.

What if I change banks?

You must notify your payroll office to cancel your deposit(s) to the closed account. Then you must complete a new enrollment form for your new bank. If you forget to inform us of changes to your direct deposit it will be returned to us and we will contact you about how to proceed.

Companies face a lot of staffing decisions in a rough economy — which are often complicated by tough legal questions. For clarification, the Department of Labor (DOL) recently released a fact sheet on legally trimming exempt employees’ salaries and schedules.

Reducing salaries and hours for exempt employees can easily lead to FLSA violations. Here are the DOL’s answers to some of trickiest questions about legal staffing strategies during a slowdown:

1. Can we require exempt employees to take unpaid days off?

Only if it’s for a full week, the DOL says. Exempt employees must be paid for any week in which they perform any work — other than when a full day of pay is deducted because the employee took off for personal reasons.

But when the day off is the employer’s decision, pay can’t be deducted.

2. Can exempt employees volunteer to take time off without pay?

Employers can’t force exempt employees to take unpaid days off — but when it’s 100% voluntary, the DOL counts that as a “day off for personal reasons” and pay can be deducted in full-day increments.

3. Can we require exempt employees to use vacation time?

Yes, companies can deduct from an exempt employee’s leave bank for absences, even when it’s for less than a full day and the absence was mandated by the employer.

The tricky part: Exempt employees need to be paid a full salary in weeks in which they perform any work (except when a full day of pay is deducted when the employee is absent for personal reasons) — which means if someone’s leave bank is empty, pay cannot be deducted.

4. Can we just reduce exempt employees’ regular salary?

Yes — as long as salaries aren’t regularly changed to get around the salary basis requirement. What’s the difference? According to the DOL:

Allowable pay deductions involve “a prospective reduction in the predetermined pay to reflect long-term business needs,” rather than a “short-term, day-to-day or week-to-week deduction” based on how many hours employees work.

If you are thinking about trimming your Exempt Employee’s Salaries, then please contact Workforce Solutions, Inc to speak with our in-house legal counsel. This is a free service provided for clients of Workforce Solutions, Inc.

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives held a hearing on a bill that would make offering paid sick leave mandatory for employers.

If passed, the Healthy Families Act (HFA) would require any company with 15 or more employees to offer full-time workers seven paid sick days a year. Part-time employees would get a prorated amount based on how much they work.

Like the FMLA, the HFA would let employees take time to care for themselves or a family member. The leave would be legally protected — meaning employees could sue if they feel they’ve been retaliated against for using it.

The HFA is less strict than the FMLA, however. “Family member” includes any blood relative and anyone whose relationship with the employee is “the equivalent of a family relationship.” Any physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition could result in a protected absence.

What about current paid leave policies?

The bill says employers won’t need to change anything if they already give employees sick leave that’s at least equivalent to what’s required by HFA. But employers would be prohibited from eliminating leave they already offer in an attempt to offset the mandatory sick days.

That means companies won’t be able to reduce vacation time to offset the costs of additional sick time. And some experts interpet the provision to mean companies offering a general PTO bank would need to add seven sick days in addition to what’s already available.

What to expect

Attorney Mike Aitken, speaking at a recent Society for Human Resources Management conference in Washington, D.C., said he expects Congress to take a vote on the bill this spring.

The HFA was introduced in the Senate a few years ago and failed to move. But that was before President Obama — a vocal supporter of the bill — and an increased Congressional Democrat majority arrived in Washington.

So far, no states have made sick leave mandatory — measures have failed in California, Ohio, New Jersey and Washington. Three cities — San Francisco, Milwaukee and Washington, D.C. — have passed mandatory sick leave laws.

Workforce Solutions, Inc. keeps all of our clients up to date on the latest HR Law changes and ensures that our clients are in compliance. Stay tuned for more information on this subject

An Employee Handbook is one of the essential services that Workforce Solutions provides to our clients. Beyond the legal basics of an employee handbook, we make sure to implement the best practices to avoid employee relations problems and as a defense in or to litigation. This aspect of the employee handbook may be more art than science, and there are varying schools of thought about the best way to use the handbook as a defensive tool. In any event, our clients benefit from an up-to-date handbook that protects both Workforce Solutions, Inc. and our clients from employment litigation.

Our Employee Handbooks are broken down into three basic sections. The first section of an employee handbook should discuss general considerations, the second section discusses the unique issues to the Workforce Solutions, Inc. and Client relationship, and the final section addresses specific policies and provisions common to most handbooks.

Here are some  points to remember when creating your Employee Handbook:

• Make it Readable and Understandable
• Keep it Current
• Contract Disclaimer Language
• At-Will Statement
• Open Door Policy
• EEO Policy
• Disability Accommodation Policy
• Harassment Policy
• FMLA and Other Leave Policies
• Introductory Period
• Vacation Pay
• Drug Testing
• Smoking
• Attendance
• Pay Schedule, Deductions, and Errors in Pay
• Electronic Device Policies
• Intellectual Property
• Computer Access and Monitoring Policies
• Non-Fraternization Policy
• Conflicts of Interest
• Workplace Violence Policy
• Standards of Conduct
• Discipline and Discharge

Proof that an employee received the handbook often is critical when legal disputes arise. A handbook acknowledgment form should include language that the employee received the handbook, read it or will read it, and agrees to comply with the policies set fort in it. The acknowledgment should also include that at-will statement and reminder that the handbook is not an employment contract. A new handbook acknowledgment form should be signed any time the handbook is reissued in whole or in part.

As a client of Workforce Solutions, Inc. we are happy to review and or make changes to your employee handbook at anytime. Please contact your Client Services Representative for help with review of your Employee Handbook.

This article was written by Josh Vinecke, Chase Bank

There are a few simple steps that businesses can take to verify whether the currency they are presented with is genuine.

1. Feel the texture of the bill. Paper money is printed on cotton rag and has a distinctive feel. (This can also be verified with a counterfeit detection pen. The ink from the pen shows as a light yellow if the paper is valid or as a dark color if the paper is invalid)
2. Compare the bill with another of the same denomination and series. Look for differences rather than similarities (1 difference could mean counterfeit)
3. Use a UV lamp. Each bill has a watermark face and a colored strip that glows under UV light. (100:Pink, 50:Yellow, 20:Green, 10:Orange, 5:Blue) Often counterfeiters will wash a good bill and reprint a higher denomination over the top. Make sure the bill you are verifying has the correct color strip and watermark image (this may also be verified by holding the bill up to the light although the color is more difficult to determine).
4. U.S. currency is printed with a raised magnetic ink. Run your finger nail across the bill. You should be able to feel the distinctive ridge marks. Keep in mind that the magnetism of U.S. currency is very low. This method of detecting counterfeits is generally only useful when using a currency counter or a powerful magnet such as Neodymium.
5. Use a magnifying glass to examine micro printing. Often counterfeits will contain blurry micro printing or none at all.

Also consider the age of the note. The average U.S. note passes through the Federal Reserve once every five months. Every time a note with an outdated series passes through the Federal Reserve it is shredded and replaced with one of the current series.