‘Tis the season for Holiday Parties You want to get your employees together for a bit of holiday fun — but how can you share some holiday cheer without opening yourself up to potential liabilities. The Do’s and Don’ts for successful & safe company parties: DO – Set a tone of moderation before holiday parties through interoffice memos or meetings, reminding employees to be responsible. DON’T – Require employees to attend as a condition of […]
Cardinal sent out an email alert on November 7, 2014 regarding Oregon Ballot Initiate 91, which decriminalized recreational marijuana. In the alert, we advised reviewing your DRUG TESTING policies and following some suggested best practices. This article focuses on best practices surrounding post-incident drug testing. Before we delve too deep, let us review what usually happens. Often an employee reports that they have been injured and files a workers’ compensation claim. That triggers paperwork, an […]
Ballot Measure 91 Passed. Now What? On November 4, 2014, Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 91, legalizing the non-medical possession and use of marijuana for adults age 21 and older. The law goes into effect July 1, 2015. See Oregon: Recreational Marijuana FAQ
Open Enrollment begins on November 15, 2014 – Open enrollment for individuals begins on November 15, 2014 and is open until February 15, 2015. During open enrollment individuals may buy a health insurance plan from the exchange for the first time or shop around for a different plan. Once purchased, the new plan can go into effect in as little as 30 days. In reviewing the CoverOregon.com website it appears that individuals shopping for private health […]
Employees who are veterans as defined by Oregon law and are scheduled to work on Veterans Day may ask for that day off. They must provide 21 days’ notice of their intent to take the day off and document their status as a qualifying veteran. Upon receipt of the request, an employer must determine whether providing the time off would cause “significant economic or operational disruption,” or whether allowing time off is an “undue hardship” […]
What to expect. Have an Employee Handbook? – You need one!Employee handbooks are the perfect place to outline all of your company policies as well as benefits. This lets employees know what to expect from your company and what you expect from them. Policies covering anything from dress code to social media use can be discussed amongst management and documented in writing; that way when issues do pop up you won’t have to skip a […]
As we get closer to 2015 employers that are close to 100 employees (or those in 2016 that are close to 50 employees) should to decide if they want to be a large or small employer under the Affordable Care Act. If you already offer health insurance many parts of this article will not apply to you. You should however check to be sure that your plan meets the definition of health insurance – Ask […]
A recent headline reads, “Average health insurance rates lower in 2015.” In aggregate this is great news for all Oregonians that utilize the health insurance exchange, CoverOregon. One year is not a trend but after years of double digit increases Oregon businesses would welcome rates stabilizing like workers’ compensation did in the 1990s. Oregon is still benefiting from those changes. A closer examination of the approved rates shows some insurers with increases but others with […]
If you have 100 Full Time employees and Full Time Equivalents in 2015 or 50 Full Time employees and Full Time Equivalents in 2016 you will be subject to the $2000 tax/penalty under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) if you do not provide health insurance. Often the option to pay a tax or provide health insurance is framed as two options-pay or play. Either you pay the $2000 tax or provide health insurance to your […]
Paying an employee salary instead of hourly is just easier, right?! No more dealing with figuring and paying overtime and turning in time cards. Actually, legally some employees that you may want to pay salary may still be entitled to overtime pay and unpaid meal breaks. Interested in paying your employee salary In order to stay compliant by classifying employees correctly, first you’ll need to determine if the employee is exempt or non-exempt. Exempt simply […]