All employers are required to document that each newly hired worker is authorized to work in the United States. Each new employee must complete a Form I-9 and furnish acceptable documentation. The employer is responsible for ensuring that the form is completed properly and prior to the date of hire. This change was effective 2-2-09 but has now been extended to 4-3-09.
Employers must examine evidence of identity and employment authorization and record the required information in Section 2 of the form. The employer is required to retain a copy of this form.
For a copy of the NEW form and detailed instructions including acceptable documentation go to: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9_IFR_02-02-09.pdf
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Prepare For The Future Turnarond In The Economy NOW
One of my favorite authors is Patrick Lencioni. We have used his Five Dysfunctions Of A Team as a text to improve our MHBT Construction and Bond Team. Here's his latest email on preparing now for the turnaround in the economy. For your own free subscription go to: http://www.tablegroup.com/.
All The Best For A Great 2009,
TPE3
January 2009
The “Down Economy” Bandwagon
It seems like we’ve been preparing for this current recession for the past two or three years, constantly predicting it and staving it off as long as we could, all the while listening to the media tell us that it was just around the corner. And now that it is here—and it is here—we’re witnessing a new media-inspired cottage industry building up around the “down economy” and the bad times that are upon us and that lie ahead.
Every news story seems to have the addendum “in a bad economy” attached to it. I suspect that soon there will be a new “Recession Barbie” doll on toy store shelves, complete with a frown on her face and a copy of the job listings from the newspaper in her hands.
Well, so far I’ve resisted jumping onto the “down economy” bandwagon, not wanting to contribute to any self-fulfilling prophecy or culture of victimization that can make a bad situation worse. But after numerous requests, I’ve agreed to share my own perspectives about how leaders can survive and even thrive during difficult times.
The first thing we have to do is ask ourselves a fundamental question: do we believe things will get better? If we don’t, if we believe this is the definitive end to any upside in the economy and that it’s all downhill from here, then I’m afraid I have no good advice. Aside from moving somewhere that does have an economic upside.
But most of us would admit that this, too, will rebound. Maybe not the same way it has in the past. After all, there are some fundamental problems that we haven’t yet faced. But even in the absence of that, there is a good chance that we will experience an economic upturn sometime in the not-too-too-distant future. And if that is the case, our call to action is clear: use this time to invest in your organization’s future, especially when the investment is not a financial one.
The best place for an investment right now is in the general health of an organization. I’m talking mostly about improving the functioning of the executive team, and their clarification of and recommitment to the organization’s values and purpose. Doing this will require a little time and energy, but very little money. And it will yield significant returns now, and even more when the economy rebounds. How?
A wise executive team will take this opportunity during slow times to build greater trust and behavioral cohesiveness. This will benefit the organization by minimizing politics and infighting, that are common during difficult times, and it will allow the team to make better decisions about which programs and employees need to be retained and which shouldn’t. All of this will allow the organization to emerge stronger than ever when the economy turns around, and with a meaningful advantage over competitors.
That’s because most of those competitors will probably flail during down times, frantically searching for a tactical way to swim upstream and defy the current, leading to even more frustration and angst than is necessary. In the end they’ll simply be more weary and scarred and unprepared.
Of course, like so much of the advice that people are repositioning these days for a “down economy”, none of this is really new. Even during good times leaders should be investing in the health of their teams. But with so many shiny opportunities in front of them, they often fail to slow down and do what it is best for the long term. Now that there are fewer and fewer of those shiny opportunities, there is no good excuse. And that may turn out to be a good thing.
Yours,
Patrick Lencioni
All The Best For A Great 2009,
TPE3
January 2009
The “Down Economy” Bandwagon
It seems like we’ve been preparing for this current recession for the past two or three years, constantly predicting it and staving it off as long as we could, all the while listening to the media tell us that it was just around the corner. And now that it is here—and it is here—we’re witnessing a new media-inspired cottage industry building up around the “down economy” and the bad times that are upon us and that lie ahead.
Every news story seems to have the addendum “in a bad economy” attached to it. I suspect that soon there will be a new “Recession Barbie” doll on toy store shelves, complete with a frown on her face and a copy of the job listings from the newspaper in her hands.
Well, so far I’ve resisted jumping onto the “down economy” bandwagon, not wanting to contribute to any self-fulfilling prophecy or culture of victimization that can make a bad situation worse. But after numerous requests, I’ve agreed to share my own perspectives about how leaders can survive and even thrive during difficult times.
The first thing we have to do is ask ourselves a fundamental question: do we believe things will get better? If we don’t, if we believe this is the definitive end to any upside in the economy and that it’s all downhill from here, then I’m afraid I have no good advice. Aside from moving somewhere that does have an economic upside.
But most of us would admit that this, too, will rebound. Maybe not the same way it has in the past. After all, there are some fundamental problems that we haven’t yet faced. But even in the absence of that, there is a good chance that we will experience an economic upturn sometime in the not-too-too-distant future. And if that is the case, our call to action is clear: use this time to invest in your organization’s future, especially when the investment is not a financial one.
The best place for an investment right now is in the general health of an organization. I’m talking mostly about improving the functioning of the executive team, and their clarification of and recommitment to the organization’s values and purpose. Doing this will require a little time and energy, but very little money. And it will yield significant returns now, and even more when the economy rebounds. How?
A wise executive team will take this opportunity during slow times to build greater trust and behavioral cohesiveness. This will benefit the organization by minimizing politics and infighting, that are common during difficult times, and it will allow the team to make better decisions about which programs and employees need to be retained and which shouldn’t. All of this will allow the organization to emerge stronger than ever when the economy turns around, and with a meaningful advantage over competitors.
That’s because most of those competitors will probably flail during down times, frantically searching for a tactical way to swim upstream and defy the current, leading to even more frustration and angst than is necessary. In the end they’ll simply be more weary and scarred and unprepared.
Of course, like so much of the advice that people are repositioning these days for a “down economy”, none of this is really new. Even during good times leaders should be investing in the health of their teams. But with so many shiny opportunities in front of them, they often fail to slow down and do what it is best for the long term. Now that there are fewer and fewer of those shiny opportunities, there is no good excuse. And that may turn out to be a good thing.
Yours,
Patrick Lencioni
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Art Of Laying People Off
One of my favorite bloggers is Guy Kawasaki (http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2008/11/the-art-of-layi.html). This post is from his blog How To Change The World and from his new book, Reality Check. This seems particularly appropriate in these times. Read on & learn . . .
The Art of Laying People Off
Guy Kawasaki of How to Change the World November 18th, 2008 - 11:47 PM
I hope that you never have to lay off or fire people, but the reality is that you will as you advance in your career. If you are scoffing (“Guy, you are clueless: We’ll never downsize, because we’re growing so fast, and I’ll never make a bad hire”), then you’re my intended reader.
The Art of Laying People Off
Guy Kawasaki of How to Change the World November 18th, 2008 - 11:47 PM
I hope that you never have to lay off or fire people, but the reality is that you will as you advance in your career. If you are scoffing (“Guy, you are clueless: We’ll never downsize, because we’re growing so fast, and I’ll never make a bad hire”), then you’re my intended reader.
- Take responsibility. Ultimately, it is the CEO’s decision to make the cuts, so don’t blame it on the board of directors, market conditions, competition, or whatever else. In effect, she should simply say, “I made the decision. This is what we’re going to do.” If you don’t have the courage to do this, don’t be a CEO. Now, more than ever, the company will need a leader, and leaders accept responsibility.
- Cut deep and cut once. Management usually believes that
things will get better soon, so it cuts the smallest number of people in anticipation of a miracle. Most of the time, the miracle doesn’t materialize, and the company ends up making multiple cuts. Given the choice, you should cut too deeply and risk the high-quality problem of having to rehire. Multiple cuts are terrible for the morale of the employees who have not been laid off. - Move fast. One hour after your management team discusses the need to lay off employees, the entire company will know that something is happening. Once people “know” a layoff is coming, productivity drops like a rock. You’re either laying people off or you’re not—you should avoid the state of “considering” a layoff.
- Clean house. A layoff is an opportunity to terminate marginal employees without having to differentiate between poor performers and positions that you’re eliminating. It’s good for the marginal employee because he’s not tainted with getting fired. Finally, it’s good for the employees who remain because they will see that you know who’s performing and who isn’t.
- Whack Teddy. Most executives have hired a friend, a friend of a friend, or a relative as a favor. When a layoff happens, employees will be looking to see what happens to Teddy. “Did he survive the cut or did he go? Is it cronyism or competence that counts at the company?” Make sure that Ted is dead.
- Share the pain. When people around you are losing their jobs, you can share the pain, too. Cut your pay. In fact, the higher the employee, the bigger the percentage of pay reduction. Take a smaller office. Turn in the company car. Reassign your personal assistant to a revenue-generating position. Fly coach. Stay in motels. Sell the boxseat tickets to the ball game. Give your 30-inch flat-panel display to a programmer who could use it to debug faster. Do something, however symbolic.
- Show consistency. I cannot understand how companies can claim that they have to cut costs and then provide severance packages of six months to a year of salary. You would think that if they wanted to conserve cash, they’d give tiny severance packages. Typically, there are three lines of reasoning for generous severance packages: Cutting head count, even with severance packages, is cheaper than keeping the employee around indefinitely, and we don’t want any lawsuits; We have lots of cash, so our balance sheet is strong, but we need to cut heads to make our profit-and-loss statement look better, and Wall Street (or your investors) is expecting dramatic actions, so we need to do this to show the analysts that we’ve got what it takes to be a leader.
None of these reasons makes sense. If you need to do a layoff to cut costs (and conserve cash), then provide minimal severance packages, cut costs as much as you can, conserve as much cash as you can, and deal with your guilt in other ways. If nothing else, it’s a consistent story. - Don’t ask for pity. Sometimes managers go to great lengths to show the person they’re laying off (or firing) how hard it is on them. This reminds me of the old definition of chutzpah: A boy murders his parents and then asks the court for leniency because he’s an orphan. The person who suffers is the one being terminated, not the manager.
- Provide support. Usually, the people getting laid off aren’t at fault. More likely, it was the fault of top management—the same top management with golden parachutes. Hence, you have a moral obligation to provide services like job counseling, résumé-writing assistance, and job-search help. There are firms that specialize in helping employees during “transitions,” so use them.
- Don’t let people self-select. We had a joke at Apple during the dark days of the late eighties that went like this: We would announce that employees who want to quit should come to a big meeting. Those who want to stay at the company should not attend. Then we would let the people go who didn’t attend the meeting and keep the ones who wanted to quit—because the latter were smart enough to know that we were in bad shape or that they had better opportunities elsewhere. The point is that if you let people choose to get laid off or retire, you might lose your best people. Deciding whom to lay off is a proactive decision: Select the go-forward team to ensure that you never have to lay people off again. Do not leave this to chance.
- Show people the door. With few exceptions, all you should do is let people finish the day, maybe the week. (My theory is that Friday is the best day to do a layoff because it lets people have a weekend to decompress.) Showing people the door seems inhumane, but it’s better for both the people leaving and the people remaining.
- Move forward. Let people say good-bye and then get going. This is when leadership counts. In bad times, you separate the men from the boys and the women from the girls. After the layoff, this is what the remaining employees will be wondering about:
Guilt: “Why did I survive the cut and my colleagues didn’t?”
Future of my job: “Will I survive the next round if there are more cuts?”
Future of the company: “Will the company survive at all?”
So you set—or reemphasize—goals, explain what everyone needs to do to get there, and get going, because the best way to move beyond a layoff is to get back to work. - Immediately after a layoff, you might want to retreat to your office, turn off the phones, stop answering e-mails, and avoid everyone. These are the worst actions to take. This is the time for you to motivate by walking around. Employees need to see you, talk to you, and get your help and advice. They don’t want to think their leader is cowering in some foxhole. The brave face that you put on may be a charade, but it’s an important charade.
Reprinted by permission from Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition. In other words, I asked myself if it was okay. If you liked this chapter, there are ninety-three more where this came from.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Employers Beware:
California Wage and Hour Laws Apply To Any Employees Traveling to California to Perform Work in the State!
According to an article written by Thomas H. Petrides (310.552.5077, thomas.petrides@klgates.com) and Henry T. Goldman (617.951.9156, henry.goldman@klgates.com) of K&L Gates, the price tag on conferences and business trips in California just went up. In addition to airfare and pricey hotels, a recent federal appeals court decision held that non-California employees who work in California , even for as little as one day, must be paid in accordance with California law. This is an important decision for two reasons. First, California law on overtime and related wage and hour requirements is very different from federal law and the law of most other states. Second, employers who do not comply with California law may later face class actions that seek to accumulate these seemingly small violations of the law, but which can add up to be quite expensive. This alert analyzes the Sullivan v. Oracle decision and examines some of the key elements of California labor laws out-of-state that employers should consider.
To view the complete alert online, click here: http://www.klgates.com/newsstand/Detail.aspx?publication=5129
According to an article written by Thomas H. Petrides (310.552.5077, thomas.petrides@klgates.com) and Henry T. Goldman (617.951.9156, henry.goldman@klgates.com) of K&L Gates, the price tag on conferences and business trips in California just went up. In addition to airfare and pricey hotels, a recent federal appeals court decision held that non-California employees who work in California , even for as little as one day, must be paid in accordance with California law. This is an important decision for two reasons. First, California law on overtime and related wage and hour requirements is very different from federal law and the law of most other states. Second, employers who do not comply with California law may later face class actions that seek to accumulate these seemingly small violations of the law, but which can add up to be quite expensive. This alert analyzes the Sullivan v. Oracle decision and examines some of the key elements of California labor laws out-of-state that employers should consider.
To view the complete alert online, click here: http://www.klgates.com/newsstand/Detail.aspx?publication=5129
Sunday, January 11, 2009
WC Subcontractor Forms Must Be Filed with TDI
A recent article on the Independent Insurance Agents Of Texas site said that a contractor received a nasty surprise on his workers' compensation audit. He executed DWC-83s on all subcontractors throughout the year and presented them to the auditor after the policy expired. Unfortunately, the workers' compensation law requires these forms to be filed with the TDI Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) and the carrier within 10 days of execution. If they are not filed, then the carrier is not required to accept them and can charge a premium for the subcontractor's employees. Form DWC-83 applies to residential and small commercial contractors and is used to elect or reject coverage for employees of the hiring contractor's subcontractors. For large commercial contractors and other employers that hire independent subcontractors, form DWC-81 is used to elect coverage and also must be filed with the DWC and the carrier. Form DWC-85 is used to reject coverage, but this form does not have to be filed with the DWC or the carrier at the time of execution, but filing with the carrier is recommended. Give us a call for more information.
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