It's good to pay attention to IRS tax code, especially this law change - you ready for this?
"End Reserved Employee Parking by March 31 or Owe 2018 Taxes"

Here is the article from SHRM:
By Stephen Miller, CEBS March 25, 2019

Employers have until March 31 to reduce or eliminate parking spots reserved for employees, or they'll owe 2018 taxes on those spots, which are considered an employee benefit.
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as of 2018, "the costs of providing qualified parking to employees as a tax-free fringe benefit is not deductible by for-profit employers and is subject to a 21 percent tax for tax-exempt organization employers" as an unrelated business income tax expense, wrote Scott Galbreath, an attorney with law firm Murphy Austin in Sacramento, Calif.
In December 2018, the IRS issued Notice 2018-99 alerting employers to reclassify by March 31 some or all employee parking spots as open spots. The reclassification is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2018. Reclassifying parking spots "could save significant taxes for the 2018 tax year, but time is running out," Galbreath noted.
To avoid retroactive and future taxes on parking benefits, employers should "change the method that made the parking reserved exclusively for employees, such as signage or limited access," Galbreath advised, adding, "This should be done before the meter expires at the end of this month."

Parking Requirements

The December 2018 guidance also clarified how employers can calculate the tax on qualified parking benefits.
For parking expenses to qualify as a business deduction, more than half the available space must be used by the general public during the business's normal operating hours. "Empty, unreserved spaces available to the general public and not used by employees are also counted as used by the general public," wrote Susan Mehlman, leader of the compensation and benefits practice at law firm Moss Adams in Seattle. The term "general public" includes customers, clients, visitors and people delivering goods or services to the business, she noted. "It doesn't include employees, partners or independent contractors of the business."
If more than 50 percent of the total parking spots are available to the general public, "the remaining total parking expenses are deductible under Section 274(e)(7)" of the tax code, she explained.
Once the parking spaces are re-characterized, employers should determine how much of the parking costs are taxable. "This includes determining how many spaces are reserved or primarily used (more than 50 percent of the time) for the general public, which are deductible by for-profit employers and not taxable to exempt employers," Galbreath wrote.

If no spaces are reserved for employees or the general public, "an allocation based on the typical use of the parking on a normal day between employee use and general public use must be determined," he pointed out.
Employers should consider eliminating reserved parking, "even those spots provided to reward employees for a limited amount of time," such as for the employee of the month, said David Fuller, an attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of McDermott, Will and Emery.

The news that all small businesses in California need to be aware of has to do with the signing of SB 1343 at the end of September 2018.

Sexual Harassment training for supervisor & employees used to be for a business sized 50 employees or more...get ready, those numbers have DROPPED!

If you have 5 employees (including seasonal and temporary), then you must have them all participate in Sexual Harassment training within 2019, and be completed before 1/1/2020.

Here's another ARTICLE for your review of the specifics.

Don't wait, get educated and get started!

Hard to believe that I've missed sharing with you since November 2017, especially with so many HR things going on!

One of the most important is how Independent Contractors are clarified.  Please look at this link below and become familiar with the information.

www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_independentcontractor.htm

Honor your hard work, honor your business, and get Clear with your HR!

Greeting Cali business owners, and their super office/business managers!

I know you have TONS going on right now just running your day-to-day business, so I'm going to ask you to STOP for a second and read this article from SHRM which explains the new laws that may affect your business starting January 1, 2018

GO HERE:​

Ask yourself:

• Will my job application be compliant?
• Do I have an offer letter to help with conditional hires?
• Am I asking the right questions in interviews?

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Soul searching in business is no different than what we do for our personal lives.

OK.....

So, I found that what the right thing to do for my business, and my moral compass, and, because giving makes me happy, every month I will donate my time and services to help or educate 'you' in the HR world!

The Giving Calendar:

August - San Diego Continuing Education , HR basics for new business owners
September - Beyond the Sky Solutions, Vendor table at 4th annual caregiver convention
October - (open!)
November - Free I9 Seminar with the USCIS 
December - (open!)

How can we work together to make business life better?

The discussion starts here: [email protected]  858 336 7347

Growing up, the concept of "doing good works," for our neighbors and community was often discussed and practiced alongside my grandmother.   So now, years later, it's thoroughly a part of who I am, so much so, that when opportunities to help comes along, the answer is, "YES!"

Just recently, this past August, I was honored to present to a group of would-be business owners at the San Diego Continuing Education campus - and, BOY, was it fun! There isn't anything much better for a presenter when you and your audience completely gel.

And, here 'we' are 6 weeks later, and getting ready to support Beyond the Sky Solutions and their 4th Annual Conference - Strengthening the Hearts, Minds & Bodies of Female Caregivers (click on the picture to get there!)

Thank you in advance for your support of this event, and, if you're a charitable or educational group - let me know how I can continue to be in THE SPIRIT OF GIVING, HR STYLE!

TMI - we've all heard it, used it, reacted to it - an unnecessary sharing of very personal information.  As in, "I really didn't need to know that!"

TMI in the HR world is different because it IS about HR Information overload.

Even if you've been in the HR world a while, the abundance, no, AVALANCHE of available material of do's, don'ts, policy/procedure/people/regulations, and a healthy dose of acronyms for different laws, will make your head spin - and yes, you will be overloaded!

What happens when people get overloaded?  
​
​They turn off.

Or they run!




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​
​The ultimate rhetorical question to the business owner or super office manager:
How do you start setting up your HR and not be terrified and overwhelmed?

And, that, my friend, is WHY I do what I do.

Let's sit down, have a chat, and figure it out together!

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Holy bad-business-fines batman!  Yup, this is what came down for a local Chula Vista restaurant for under paying employees, under reporting employees, and NOT having adequate worker's comp insurance.

I can only imagine the business owner is saying, "If only I had listened to (insert expert here)"

I'd love to be your expert, Miss/Mrs/Mr Business Owner - and it won't cost you $274,000.00

Here's the article (just hover for the link)
www.businessinsurance.com/article/20170817/NEWS08/912315257/California-restaurant-La-Querencia-Chula-Vista-cited-for-wage-theft-workers-comp

Parental Leave

​SB 63 just passed a hurdle in Sacramento, and you need to pay attention if you own a small business.

"SB 63 prohibits an employer from refusing to allow an employee with more than 12 months of service with the employer, who has at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period, and who works at a worksite in which the employer employs at least 20 employees within 75 miles, to take up to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement. The bill also prohibits an employer from refusing to maintain and pay for coverage under a group health plan for an employee who takes this leave.
CalChamber has identified SB 63 as a job killer because the legislation targets and could significantly harm small employers in California with as few as 20 employees by adding to the existing burden under which they already struggle. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. vetoed a similar, but narrower, proposal just last year."

More simply, if you have 20 employees, you may be required to give up to 7 months off for their parental leave....

Can you afford this?

​Read the rest below

​Forbes is an excellent resource for business - and, thank goodness we are not trying to invent the interview "wheel"! (click on the picture for the link to their article)

Below are 25 questions that you can try out in your next job interview (just ask a few of them that really hit HOME for you) - or if you are the interviewer, practice them on yourself.  
How would you answer these?

25 Great Questions To Ask At The Job Interview
1. What is the history of this role? Is it a new position, or was there someone in the job before?
2. What would you say is the overall purpose of the job?
3. How does this position help your department achieve its goals?
4. How does your department fit into the organization overall?
5. Who are the other members of the department (by position) and how would we all interact?
6. Who are the internal customers for this position (by job title) and how would I support them if I were in this role?
7. What are the major metrics or yardsticks for the person in this position?
8. What are you hoping for your new hire to accomplish in the first three months on the job?
9. How do you envision your new hire stepping into the role? Will they jump in and ask a lot of questions to learn the job, or do you expect them to follow a week-by-week or day-by-day training plan, or something else?
10. What do you see as the major goals for the person in this role over the next year?
11. How do you anticipate interacting with your new hire -- do you have a weekly one-on-one meeting, or do you mostly rely on email, or something else?
12. How does your department communicate? Do you meet as a group, or communicate another way?
13. What are the working hours, and your expectations for overtime?
14. What sorts of technology will your new employee use in the job?
15. What kinds of writing will your new person do?
16. You are interviewing me, an external candidate. Often job openings are filled from within the company. What made you think about interviewing external candidates like me this time?
17. What are the items you'd most like to see your new employee take care of and check off your list right away?
18. How will the arrival of your new employee make your life easier?
19. How do people typically dress for work in your department? Does that vary depending on their level of customer contact, or other factors?
20. What are your thoughts on working from home -- for example when there's bad weather, or in general?
21. What are your expectations around arrival and departure times, and taking work home?
22. What would you say is the most fun or creative part of the job?
23. How did you get to the company, and to your current position?
24. What are the company's senior leaders like? What do they care about and talk about most?
25. When are you hoping for your new hire to start?

Whichever side of the table you're on, be ready, and enjoy the process as best you can.