Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/92325
Errors continued and inside sales. The penalty for failure to pay overtime is very expensive. Another major problem that can be expensive is paying an employee as an "independent contractor. " It is a huge problem and the IRS is looking specifi- cally for employers who violate these regulations. The US Department of Labor has regulations that define what constitutes an employer-employee rela- tionship. They are printed in the Fair Labor Standards Act. There are also rules that define who can be called an "inde- pendent contractor" that are published by the IRS. Those rules are called the 20 Factor Test. You can find them easily on the Internet or at the IRS website. To pay a person as an independent contractor, you must be able to meet the 20-Factor Test. If the individual is paid as a con- tractor and should have been paid as an employee, then you will have back pay- ment for unpaid employer taxes, bene- fits, overtime and anything else the indi- vidual should have been paid during the time he/she was misclassified, along with the penalty. It is widely known that many employ- ers avoid the employer taxes and bene- fits by putting employees on "indepen- dent contractor" status. Because the US Government is desperately seeking more revenue, it is aggressively address- ing issues such as misclassification of employees. This is an area when it is dan- gerous to think that you can have a "free lunch. " Failing to Check Out Job Applicants One in four job applicants lie about their background. The most frequent lie touch Stone Agers are still using, along with some suggested replacements you will hear the youngest generation of employees use. Use This/Lose This Here are a few terms that out-of- is about education and applicants also lie about their criminal record. Employee theft is at an all-time high. Two-thirds of all inventory loss is inter- nal. The problem has grown as the econ- omy has worsened, especially in com- panies that sell products that can be pawned, re-sold, or sold as scrap (cop- per wire). These are enough reasons to be sure you check the record of every person you hire. The following two resources are free. • Go to this site to see if your employee is on the sex offender reg- istry of any state in the United States: http://www.nsopw.gov/Core/Offender SearchCriteria.aspx. It is the sex offend- er registry maintained by the US Department of Justice and it is a free site. • Go to this site to see if the name of the educational institution your job applicant listed is on the accredited list (www.chea.org/search/search.asp) and put in the name of the college your applicant listed. Non-accredited schools may be nothing more than a post office box, where a person pays a fee and receives a beautiful degree. Some describe themselves as "online schools that grant degrees based on life experi- ence. " What they really are is a print shop that prepares a degree for a fee. About 25 percent of resumes have an outright lie in the education section. Although these two record checks are free, checking criminal records is not. It may cost a few bucks, but the omission can cost millions. Offending Decision Makers If you spend a little time with the New Millennium generation, you will quickly learn that they have definite attitudes Lose This Gals Wheelchair Bound Foreigner Black Young Lady Stewardess/Steward Any Slang Word to describe National Origin 46 FEDA News & Views Use This Women Wheelchair User International African American or People of Color Woman Flight Attendant American, Mexican, Italian, Chinese (name the country) Honey, Sweetie, Darling, Dear Do not use terms of endearment at work; save them for your personal relationships. about the "Stone Agers and Older Boomers. " In many occupations, includ- ing distribution and sales, they are usu- ally referring to men with grey hair. In years past, sales reps have been a frater- nity. They had great relationships with buyers, and with other decision makers, that evaporated when the big box stores moved in and manufacturing moved overseas. The decision-maker may now be a young, well-educated female who is offended by false flattery or being addressed as "sweetheart" or "honey. " All that talk about being "politically correct so you won't be sued" makes her cringe because she knows that being political- ly correct should be about respect, not lawsuits. Although she may be respect- fully silent, her memory is sharp and she will record every condescending act and word spoken to her, when she selects vendors. A 30-year-old buyer, with $20 million in buying authority, excluded a sales rep whose lunchtime continued on page 63