jump to navigation

U.S Immigration policy: “Silent Raids” – just follow the money August 2, 2010

Posted by Primary HR Outsourcing in Business Management, Human Resources, Insurance, Outsourcing, Payroll, PEO, Staffing, Start ups, workers compensation.
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
2 comments

 

Business owners beware ICE is in the house and has its hand in your till.  Have you seen these headlines and stories?

 “Obama Keeping Heat on Firms That Employ Illegal Workers”,

“ICE brought criminal charges against 135 employers”.

According to department of Home Land Security (DHS) secretary Janet Napolitano, “the agency will focus on renewing a priority on employers who are making money off of these illegal immigrants and giving them jobs that should be going to American workers” she further said What I want to do is deter more employers from intentionally and knowingly hiring illegal workers.” 

As of April 2010, Effective immediately, ICE will focus its resources on the criminal prosecution of employers that knowingly hire illegal workers.

ICE Director John Morton told a Senate committee during his 2009 confirmation hearings that ending unauthorized labor was a key to stopping illegal immigration.

“We cannot make sustained reductions in illegal immigration without deterring employment of unauthorized labor,” he said. “We need to place renewed focus on employers to ensure that they are playing by the rules.”

Mean while the administration has sued Arizona who is attempting to use state [law enforcement] workers to enforce the immigration laws of the country.  And on the other side of that coin this headline from the Associated Press by Julie Hirschfeld Davis:  

“Agency weighs skirting Congress on Immigration”.   The internal draft written by officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services outlines ways that the government could provide “relief” to illegal immigrants – including delaying deportation for some, perhaps indefinitely, or granting green cards to others – in the absence of legislation revamping the system. 

Then there is this accounting by Susan Carroll – Houston Chronicle

“18 arrested in ICE-led raid at Houston flea market” – Witnesses reported that some agents screamed “Don’t run!” in Spanish as people fled the flea market. Feinberg (ICE) said agents were targeting only the suspects identified in the criminal arrest warrants and were not making immigration arrests at the flea market.

Meanwhile elsewhere in the country; The number of workplace arrests (of illegal workers) dropped from 1,100 nationally in 2008 and 410 in 2009, to just 273 so far this fiscal year.  Meanwhile ICE is conducting “silent raids” scouring over employee records of more than 2,900 firms and has levied a record $3 million in civil fines.

Are you confused yet?   Just what is the ICE policy?  As you can see from the information ICE and the administration aren’t interested in arresting illegal immigrants, quite the opposite they are discussing ways to implement policy allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S.  But they want them totally dependent on the government and they are “taxing” businesses to help pay the tab. 

ICE is holding raids in known areas where illegal immigrants are but they aren’t targeting them [illegal immigrants] ICE is targeting the people who are selling the fake documents. 

ICE is also holding “silent raids” or audits at businesses and when they find evidence of incomplete employee files and documents they aren’t collecting the illegal immigrants for deportation, but are issuing civil penalties, a record $3 million so far this year.  And in approximately 5% of the time ICE is arresting the business owner. 

Once again the government has crafted policy and enforcement that taxes businesses and tax payers while creating new dependents for political gain.  It’s all about the money!   

Rick Matthews

P.S. As an employer your liability is increasing at a record pace.  Consider this each year the federal government creates over 150 regulations costing businesses over $100 million in compliance costs.  According to a study by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, owners ranked unreasonable government regulations as the 6th most critical issue facing business.  Learn about the ultimate solution to this and other dangerous trends facing businesses at http://www.primaryhroutsourcing.com

Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace: Is Your Company Sick with Addiction? June 17, 2010

Posted by Primary HR Outsourcing in Business Management, Human Resources, Insurance, Outsourcing, Payroll, PEO, Start ups, workers compensation.
Tags: , , , , , ,
add a comment

Many small businesses think themselves somewhat immune to the problems of drug and alcohol abuse, but believe it or not, it is the companies with less than twenty-five employees that are far more likely to be drug abusers than those of larger firms.  America is rampant with alcohol and drug use—it is natural that these people will be employed someplace, and it is also natural that those employees will purposely get a job where it is difficult to sustain their habit.

This means that if you are not implementing strategies to keep your workforce drug-free, you are seriously putting yourself at risk.  Not only can drug and alcohol cause missed days and lower productivity but impaired abilities from using both on and off the job can lead to accidents and workers comp claims.   

It’s time to get serous, and the first step is learning to recognize what is going on before the biggest problems occur.  Unfortunately, the symptoms of addiction are not always the same.  It’s impossible to list or detect all the possible symptoms, but an awareness of changes in behavior or something being awry is something that you can and should do.

Pay attention to big changes in behavior especially, including frequent changes in temporary behavior or a bigger long-term change like sudden frequent occurrences of mishaps on the job or missed days of work.  Some people may act out, get irritated easily, or talk faster.  Others may lose energy, slur their words, or lose coordination. 

Of course, someone who smokes marijuana or is addicted to alcohol may give themselves away just by the way they smell, but it is not always so clear-cut.  I highly recommend implementing a drug testing program to protect your company.

First, you will need to develop a clear and concise policy.  Having a strong policy in the first place will discourage many users from even applying for a job and will save money over time with decreased costs on treatment, compensation claims, and productivity. 

The policy should be as clear as possible.  It should go into detail about why the measures are taken and what is expected of employees as well as what will absolutely not be tolerated.  Also outline actions that will be taken whenever someone is found to be in violation.

After your policy is instituted, you need to develop a drug testing program, which can be put together with the help of an outside human resources management firm if you do not have the experience for this in-house.  In many ways, the program will act merely as a deterrent, and in cases where the policy is breached, it can serve as evidence. 

Testing can occur before new candidates are brought on to the team, after an accident occurs, randomly after an employee with a prior violation is back to work, or on regular basis for everyone.  You can also retain the right in your policy to test any time you see reason for suspicion.  Make sure you check with local laws to find out what is allowed in your area as far as testing procedures go.

Do not get too discouraged if you get a lot of positive tests when the program first launches.  This is natural and, unfortunately, to be expected.  Over time this will change as future candidates catch word about your policy, and within a couple years you will have a consistent work environment and a very low rate of positive tests. 

It is a winning battle as well as one worth ensuing, and by taking on experts who have done it all before you can get all the guidance you need.

Until next time

I am always at your service,

Rick Matthews

We help business owners increase profits, solve employment problems, reduce employer liabilities and protect valuable assets thru outsourcing.  www.primaryhroutsourcing.com

DHS Shifts Worksite Enforcement Strategy to Employers, Not Illegal Workers May 3, 2010

Posted by Primary HR Outsourcing in Business Management, Human Resources, Outsourcing, Payroll, PEO, Staffing, workers compensation.
Tags: , , , , , ,
1 comment so far

A few years ago while on a business trip at a convention I was asked an interesting question by a friend who owns a company. 

“What happens if I have undocumented workers working at my company?”

Back then as was often the case with owners of small businesses they have a position to fill, it requires manual labor, isn’t a glamorous position, or there isn’t profit enough to pay higher wages and the company doesn’t get any applications from potential employees eligible to work in the U.S.  So they hire the people who are willing and able so they can keep their doors open and produce the product.  

It turns out my friend employed workers who lived in the U.S. but didn’t have proper documentation to work in the U.S.  They had been working for some time and appeared to be the only option for my friend as he’d attempted to hire citizens but no one responded.  Or so the story goes. 

As I mentioned this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence the fact is his competitor down the street was doing the same thing. 

So back to the question; this was the time before the DHS (Department of Homeland Security), back then being found with form I9 violations (undocumented workers) would result in administrative fines.  I explained this and my friend quickly calculated the exposure and said “I can handle that I’ll just put the money in an account and keep on working”.   I told my friend that although that was a tactic it wasn’t the best course of action and that the laws certainly would be changing and that he should take steps now to hire documented workers.   We finished our conversation and parted.  The next day we both flew back to our homes, it would be a little over a year before we would see each other again.

During the following year the laws changed as expected and the DHS was now tasked to address immigration and worker eligibility.  Along with the change were stiffer fines and consequences that included jail time for violations of the act. 

I saw my friend again at the convention the following year, when I asked him how it was going he told me he fired all the undocumented workers.  I asked what changed his mind and his response was.  “The DHS raided my competitors business, it was all over the news both paper and TV, when I saw that I knew I didn’t want to be that guy, the next morning I told my undocumented workers they had to go.   I’m glad I did because the next week there was an article in the paper the owner of the [my competitions] business was being charged with criminal charges for hiring “illegal workers” they took his business and his home.  That really scared me”.

My friend was lucky he took care of the issue before it took care of him.  Take a look at your workforce if you have undocumented workers you need to take action and correct the issue.  If you need a bit more motivation then simply look at the actions proposed by the DHS secretary Janet Napolitano, “the agency will focus on renewing a priority on employers who are making money off of these illegal immigrants and giving them jobs that should be going to American workers” she further said What I want to do is deter more employers from intentionally and knowingly hiring illegal workers.” 

As of April 2010, Effective immediately, ICE will focus its resources on the criminal prosecution of employers that knowingly hire illegal workers.

Do your friends a favor and let them know the issues so they too can protect their business.  

Until next time

Always at your service,

Rick Matthews

 We help business owners increase profits, solve employment problems, reduce employer liabilities and protect valuable assets thru outsourcing.  www.primaryhroutsourcing.com

I’m often asked, “What is it you do?” April 20, 2010

Posted by Primary HR Outsourcing in Benefits, business, Business Management, Human Resources, Insurance, Outsourcing, Payroll, PEO, Staffing.
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
5 comments

I’m often asked, “What is it you do?”

We help business owners prosper.  

Business owners wish to improve employee productivity, lower employment related liability, decrease the time and resources spent on keeping up with government regulation and increasing profitability.  We help them do this by deploying outsourcing strategies that solve problems in the areas of workers compensation, payroll, benefits administration, and human resources.   

We’ve helped business owners in the oil and gas, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, landscaping, mining, retail, restaurant, janitorial, technology and b2b industries.  Fact is we’ve helped hundreds of businesses lower employment related liabilities, decrease the time spent on human resource matters, help lower labor costs and increase profitability. 

The best way to explain this business and why I have such a passion about helping business owners prosper and reduce the liability associated with employees is to tell you my story.  I imagine you’ll find I’m a lot like you.  

I began my career in a management program for a cafeteria chain.  In a relatively short time I was promoted through the ranks to the position of Manager & Vice President .  My responsibility was strictly operational.  I made sure customers were satisfied, employees trained, the store was clean, and that we had enough great quality food to serve.  Everything I did was about the operation or the “business of the business.”    

I also hired employees, trained them on the policies and procedures necessary for them to do their job, conducted safety meetings and ensured the staff was focused on providing excellent service.   At the end of each pay period I made sure the time for the staff was communicated to the home office. 

The home office was responsible for producing the payroll, purchasing workers compensation for over 100 stores (about 5000 employees), they also took care of all the reporting requirements and provided benefits.  In fact, the best way to sum it up is, the home office was responsible for the “business of employment.”    This was before HR outsourcing became an option for businesses, but it was the way I spent the first ten years of my carrier. 

In 1990 I started my own company, a painting company focused on painting large homes in Washington State.  This time, however, I didn’t have a “home office” taking care of the business of employment.   Well, the truth is my kitchen was the home office. 

After working ten to twelve hours a day, I’d come home, prepare the quotes for the homes I visited so I’d have work the next week.  After I hooked up with a couple of builders, I’d have to provide them quotes for their new homes and progress reports for the draws.  Once I had new business proposals taken care of, then I’d work on payroll, payroll taxes, workers’ compensation reports for the insurance company, scheduling and all the other stuff.  Although I had a strong administrative talent (according to the US Air Force)  I was no administrator.  Too many times I missed deadlines for filing taxes, and late fees for all the taxing entities add up quick.  That’s when it hit me; being able to focus on the business and have someone else handle the business of employment is “priceless.” 

In 1992 I was introduced to the business of HR outsourcing.  Immediately I was drawn to the business.  I knew first hand the benefits of having someone else deal with all the regulations and responsibilities related to employment.  

No longer would business owners have to deal with payroll processing, tax assessing, tax collecting and tax reporting.  Just the fact that the reporting was off the back of business owners was a huge value. 

No longer would businesses have to make large down payments for workers compensation policies.  No more waiting on the insurance agent who would wait until the last moment before the deadline to present a quote that increased the cost of the insurance program and sucked profit out of the business.  No more work comp audits and the inevitable bill that followed.

No longer did business owners have to labor over court orders for child support, or deal with garnishments.  No more having to send out checks to multiple jurisdictions after each payroll.

Finally a business focused on the business of employment, one where questions about anything employment related could be asked without racking up an expensive bill.   So in 1999, I started what is now Primary HR Outsourcing, committed to helping businesses prosper.  We help business owners reduce the liability associated with employees, reduce the time devoted to employment related matters, lower labor costs and increase profitability.  Over the past 18 years in this industry and the previous  11 years as a business owner, I’ve talked with hundreds and hundreds of business owners in almost every industry of every size and of every experience level.  The story is mostly the same, more and more regulation from the government is making it more difficult to prosper.  In every case, however, where we worked with a business, we have had a positive impact on their bottom line, provided more time for them to do what they wanted to do and made their life simpler.  And that is “priceless.” 

I enjoy getting to know business owners and I hope I’ll have a chance to get to know you too.  If you would like to know more about the services we provide or simply have questions about any issue involving the business of employment, I’ll be more than happy to discuss it with you.  I can be reached by phone at 888-658-4675 or email info@pbs-hr.com. 

I am at your service,

Rick

Rick Matthews

P.S.  I’ve had to solve the same issues you face every day.  I too have employees and know firsthand the issues we face as business owners.  I’ve found solutions that truly work for us they may work for you too.  When we talk, you’ll find I am a resource, I answer questions you have and introduce you to solutions that work for us and other business owners.  You decide if it’s the right solution for you.  See more at www.primaryhroutsourcing.com