The IRS announced beginning January 1, 2016 that the business standard mileage rate will be 54 cents per mile. This rate is down from the 2015 rate of 57.5 cents-per-mile. Contact Cardinal Services to let us know what mileage rate you’d like to offer your employees in 2016 so we can be sure to make the change effective for travel on or after January 1st. Note: The standard mileage rate for operating a passenger car […]
Dear HR, We have interested applicants do an approximate 2 hour working interview to confirm if we would like to hire them. Decided not to hire a recent interviewee – Is working interview pay mandatory? Answer: All applicants must be compensated at least minimum wage for ‘working interviews’ whether they are hired or not. BOLI: “The law has defined ’employed’ to be anytime an employee is ‘suffered or permitted to work.’ Work time is […]
Dear HR, Our company has an annual Christmas party during the holiday season. One of our employees does not celebrate the holidays so in an attempt to accommodate and since it is really more of a year-end employee thank you dinner we were thinking of renamed as such. Is there an issue with calling it a Christmas party? Answer: It’s great that you have decided to reward your employees with a year-end employee thank you […]
With 2016 quickly approaching, now is a good time to put together your policy in response to the new Oregon sick leave law which goes into effect on January 1, 2016. Certainly do not wait until the holidays then scramble to put a plan in place between Christmas and New Year’s Eve!
Dear HR, An employee has had a death in their family, however rather than the employee communicating directly – their spouse has informed us that we need to give said employee time off work and pick up work property at their home in order to relieve the employee of “on call” duties. Although we accommodated the request – we have had previous conversations with the spouse about inserting themselves into employee’s work business and that […]
Dear HR, I would like to address the issue of employees using cell phones and internet on work time. Do you have any suggestions on rules or verbiage to include? Answer: We would advise adding cell phone and internet use policies and expectations to your employee handbook including outlining: Electronic Assets Usage – with specific guidelines on appropriate work related internet and email use Social Media – outlining how and when your brand should […]
Dear HR, I recently terminated an employee. I personally loaned the employee $500, of which $300 is still owed. Can I deduct the balance owed from the final paycheck? Answer: An Employer may make a deduction from a final paycheck for a cash loan to an employee ONLY IF the employee has voluntarily signed a loan agreement, and the loan was for the employee’s sole benefit. The deduction may not exceed 25{0c2d428c3cefef4a77c472786cabf3d957ca1c1fde265c02f19cd1ec2d7db907} of the employee’s disposable […]
To Ask, or Not to Ask – Soon There Will be No Question! New “Ban the Box” Law Prohibits Asking an Applicants to Reveal Their Criminal History The new “Ban the Box” law (Oregon HB 3025) will take effect on January 1, 2016. What exactly is the “Ban the Box” law, and what will this mean for employers? The “Ban the Box” law restricts the timing of when an employer may ask about […]
Oregon’s minimum wage will hold at $9.25-per-hour in 2016. Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian announced that the 2016 Oregon minimum wage will remain unchanged. The wage is re-calculated each year due to a state law passed by voters in 2002 that ties it to inflation, which for this year, was almost unchanged. Watch out for scare tactics: Employers may receive marketing materiel indicating they may be out of compliance. This is an attempt to scare employers […]
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued proposed rules on the salary test for employees that are exempt from overtime requirements. Exempt employees must be paid regardless of how much or how little work they performed in a day. The current minimum salary of an exempt employee is at least $455 per week. There are other requirements for an employee to be exempt such as the type of work. A good resource is […]
