Category: For your information

We are all navigating these uncharted waters together. Currently, many organizations and their employees are facing unprecedented levels of uncertainty and anxiety.  Because of this, employees will be looking to their leaders to help reduce some of the ambiguity in their work.  Leaders should consider the following steps to provide support to their employees and help them continue to be successful in their roles.

Ensure your employees understand the plan leadership has for the organization. 

Understandably, plans for next steps may feel constantly in flux, which may cause leaders to be less open about the future of the organization with their employees.  However, transparency is key in times of uncertainty.  Even if next steps aren’t clear or concrete, be as transparent with your employees as you can about the plans for the organization. This will build and sustain trust with your employees, while also giving them the knowledge they need to help ease some of their concerns.   

Be consistent with communication.

When an organization is experiencing rapid change, internal communication often takes a back seat, but it’s during times like these when communication becomes more critical.  When communicating with your organization, be consistent. Ensure that all employees are included in appropriate communications. Think about the best way to communicate changes to employees – whether through companywide emails or through discussions with team leaders.  Communicate in a way that is best for your employees, and make sure all employees have the information they need.  If messaging isn’t consistent across the organization, this can lead to more confusion and rumors throughout the organization.

Provide clear expectations.

Things are changing rapidly within many organizations.  Roles may be changing as workforces are reduced.  New processes may be in place with more employees working from home.  Priorities are likely shifting as things change within the current climate.  Because of this, it’s important to ensure your employees understand what is expected of them in their roles.  This will help reduce some of the uncertainty they are experiencing, while ensuring they are able to prioritize their work in alignment with the needs of the organization.

Encourage and be open to feedback.

During times of change, it’s important to be open to feedback from your employees.   They may see problems with new processes that were not anticipated by leadership. Or they may have novel ideas to solve current problems.  By deliberately creating an open avenue of feedback to leadership, organizations can fine tune the changes that are being made.  And by encouraging feedback, leaders are more likely to hear the concerns their employees have.  Leaders should make sure they take the time to respond to employee feedback and address concerns to further build trust and show support to their employees.

In a continuous effort to support small and medium-sized businesses amid the COVID-19 crisis, Insperity® Recruiting Services will offer fee-inclusive and flat-rate options for recruiting services, as well as outplacement services for employees due to layoffs until at least June 30, 2020.

Workforce Optimization^® and Workforce Synchronization^TM clients, which are part of Insperity’s full-service HR offering, receive recruiting services at no additional cost but are responsible for external costs such as advertising fees; skills-based, cognitive and personality assessments; and background checks.

Workforce Acceleration^TM and Workforce Administration^TM clients will pay a flat rate of $1,000 for each direct hire requisition for all tiers.  The entire fee will be due at placement. Clients will pay for outside vendor costs, such as advertising, assessments and background checks.  A Service Activation Agreement will be required to begin an engagement.

Prospects and retail business:

Prospects and Recruiting Services Only (RSO) retail clients will pay a flat fee of $2,500 for each requisition for all tiers. A non-refundable fee of $500 is due at the initiation of the requisition and the $2,000 balance is due when the candidate is hired.  Clients will pay for certain outside vendor costs, such as background checks. A Service Activation Agreement will be required to begin an engagement.

If you are interested in using Insperity Recruiting Services at this time, please contact your customer success specialist.

Reducing workplace misconduct is critical to an organization’s success. Inappropriate behaviors can have damaging effects within an organization by reducing employee engagement and morale, impacting productivity and leading to loss of talented performers. 

As a result of the #MeToo movement, workplace misconduct also affects external perceptions of an organization. Companies once seen positively by the public have suffered brand damage through claims of sexual harassment and misconduct.  To reduce these risks in your organization, it’s important to consider ways to create an anti-harassment culture within your workplace.

Conducting anti-harassment training is integral and may be required by the states where you operate.  It’s important to create processes within your organization that support reinforcement and continued learning.   Follow-up activities help ingrain training concepts into your corporate culture by reiterating their importance and understanding by your employees.  By creating a culture where employees recognize inappropriate behaviors and feel safe bringing them to leadership’s attention, you can address these behaviors quickly and reduce damaging effects.

Here are a few ways to ingrain anti-harassment training into your organization’s culture.

• Encourage post-training reflection
  • Post-training reflection increases the impact of any training course.  Following anti-harassment training, encourage your employees to reflect on what they learned.  What were the key takeaways from the training? What information was new and surprising to them? This exercise helps learners better absorb the concepts of the training and increases future recall. 
  • Leverage this reflection period to challenge employees to consider practical applications of what they learned.  Ask them to think through how to react if they observe harassing behavior in the workplace. Have they seen this behavior in the past, and how did they react?  This exercise helps solidify what they learned and how to react appropriately in the future.
• Hold employee discussion groups
  • Learning doesn’t stop just because a training course is over. Reinforce the topics addressed. Consider holding discussion groups with employees three to five months after training. Discussions can be led by an HR representative or a team leader to emphasize what was learned in the training course and continue the conversation.
  • Discussion leaders should ask questions like, “What behaviors should we watch for?” and, “What steps should you take if you see these behaviors?”. Take time to clarify or answer questions from employees. These conversations can help leaders build trust with employees and show their commitment to a harassment-free work environment.
• Ensure organizational leaders and HR representatives are available and approachable
  • Your leaders and HR representatives are the front line in ensuring a safe work environment. To build trust with your employees and make them feel safe about airing concerns, ensure that your HR representatives and leaders connect with employees on a regular basis. They should be open to questions and demonstrate to employees that they are willing to listen to employees’ needs.
  • Organizational leaders should also be encouraged to check in with their team members on a regular basis to ensure questions are answered. Building trust with employees increases the probability that they will feel comfortable sharing their concerns and bringing situations to the business’s attention.

Are your employees required to complete Anti-harassment training? Not sure? Contact one of our HR Professionals to find out.

The 2019 Year-End Guide provides important tax compliance information, processing and year-end deadlines, information on how to handle year-end adjustments, holidays schedules and more. If you have not yet reviewed it, click here to access.

You should also take this time to verify your company and tax set up information in iSolved. You can use the below information to guide you as you review.

1. Review company information

Visit your Client Summary page under Client Management to validate the following:

• LEGAL NAME
  • Name matches the legal company name registered with tax agencies
  • FEIN matches the legal FEIN registered with tax agencies
  • Address matches the legal company address registered with tax agencies

• CONTACTS
  • Tax filing contact listed (see screenshot below)
  • Name is listed as you wish it to be reflected on tax forms and tax filings
  • Email address correct
  • Phone number correct

2. Review tax setup information

On the Client Summary page, run the Tax List report in the Reports box (shown below).

On the Tax List report, review the following items:

• Federal and state tax ID numbers
• State filing frequencies and rates

This information can also be viewed using the Tax ID & Rate Verification Report in the Reporting menu > My Reports page, seen below.

You must have a registered ID number with all appropriate state and federal agencies in order to file. Agencies do not accept “Applied For” ID numbers for filing and payments. Submitting your filings with an “Applied For” ID could cause delay and agency penalties and fees.

3. Review employee identification information

Visit the Employee Management menu > Employee Summary page and review all employee information including name, address and social security number for accuracy.

4. Other important reminders

• Most states review and update employers’ unemployment insurance rates effective Jan. 1 for the new year. You should receive a new rate notice in late 2019 or early 2020 from each state you are registered in. These unemployment rates and tax filing frequencies are mailed to the taxpayer, and it’s imperative these tax-related communications are forwarded to your Insperity payroll specialist as soon as you receive them. We require this information to ensure your taxes are paid accurately and timely in 2020.
  
  
• Fourth quarter and annual tax filings will be available on the Return Archive page of the  Reporting menu in iSolved on Feb. 14, 2020, as referenced in the screenshot(s) below.
  

  

  
  

  

• If you have chosen to receive your W-2s electronically, they will be available to you and employees who signed up for them on Jan. 20, 2019.
  
• Review the 2019 Year-End Guide for processing deadlines for all payroll adjustments and 2019 payroll entries. 2019 corrections needed after the stated processing deadlines will not begin until after Feb. 1, 2020, and additional charges may be applied.

Please contact your dedicated payroll specialist today if you have any questions or concerns regarding the information above.

Click here to download Insperity’s 2019 year-end guide. This handy reference tool was created to provide critical information that we hope you will find useful in preparing for the remainder of the year and overall readiness for W-2’s, such as:

• Tax compliance information
• Processing and year-end deadlines
• Year-end adjustments guidance
• Holiday schedules
• Fringe benefits processing checklist
• Additional tax resources
• And much more!

You will receive additional notifications in November and December covering the following:

• Tax rate and filing changes
• State minimum wage increases
• Relevant tax updates or changes for 2020

Please note the critical deadlines below:

• By Dec. 13, 2019:
  • Submit all wage corrections and adjustments
  • Identify and process any end-of-year payrolls, such as bonus and fringe benefits
  • Enter any manual checks and/or voided checks that need to be recorded in 2019
• By Dec. 31, 2019:
  • Process third-party sick pay information
  • Audit all employee data related to SSN, name and mailing address, and make any necessary updates

Again, please review the guide closely and let your payroll specialist know if you have any questions.

Are you putting your business at risk by not staying compliant with federal laws as you grow?

Has your business recently hit any of the milestone employee counts of 15, 20, 50 or 100?  While you focus on growing your business, a federal compliance liability may stall that growth. 

Keeping up with applicable laws and federal regulations in addition to state and local mandates can be a full-time job.  And if you are a federal contractor or have federal government contracts, there are additional laws and regulations, dependent on the number of employees you have.

Employers with 15 or fewer employees must comply with approximately 50 federal laws and regulations.  As employee numbers increase, so do the number of applicable laws and regulations.  By the time you have 50 employees, that number has grown significantly and now includes the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).   However, this number doesn’t account for state and local laws you also must comply with, either. 

Why is this important? Failure to comply with the federal, state and local HR laws specific to your business size can result in fines and leave you susceptible to litigation that can significantly affect your bottom line.

You don’t have to go through the compliance maze alone. Insperity’s HR Services team offers these resources:

• Article: The Employment Laws Every Growing Organization Should Know About
• HR On-Demand: Ask the Pro; call or submit a ticket to our HR Pros
• Example: Employee growth and federal regulations are addressed on our Q&A Stream

In addition to the HR Resource Center, check out Insperity’s blog, HR In a Growing Company. This post covers what regulations you should be aware of as your organization grows and essential HR functions you should have in place.

You can always contact one of our certified HR professionals through the HR Support Center.

NOTE: The website link is also accessible under the Quick Links section on the Client Landing Page in iSolved, as seen below.

Accessing quarterly reports

In accordance with your agreement and Form 8655 (Reporting Agent Authorization), please accept this notification as confirmation that your 2019 third quarter payroll tax returns and payments have been filed on your behalf by Insperity Payroll Services.

Third quarter report packages will be available on Nov. 15, 2019 and include all tax returns that were filed by Insperity. To access your quarterly report packages, navigate to Return Archive from the Reporting menu.

You can filter the list using the drop-down menus at the top of the screen, as seen below.

Ongoing tax communication

You should send all payroll related tax communication that you receive to your Insperity payroll specialist for review. Insperity does not receive direct communication regarding your tax accounts from state and federal agencies, and these notices may contain important pieces of tax information needed for correct and timely tax payments and filings. Incorrect and/or missing information may result in penalties and interest assessed by the tax agency. Insperity is not responsible for any penalties and interest that are charged.  

“Applied-for” tax accounts

It is important that you provide tax account identification numbers for all active tax agencies to your Insperity payroll specialist. If you have registered for a tax account number with an agency, but have not yet received it, that tax will show up with a Missing Tax ID warning on your Exceptions report during payroll processing. It is important to review this report during regular payroll processing to ensure that Insperity has all necessary tax accounts information.  If you have any questions or need further assistance with items on your Exceptions report, please contact your Insperity payroll specialist for assistance.

Insperity and Mylo, a Lockton company, share an important vision: to provide comprehensive and affordable insurance solutions to small businesses. For this reason, Insperity has partnered with Mylo to provide insurance solutions for Insperity’s Workforce Acceleration clients. With open enrollment around the corner, we encourage you to consider the following benefits that come with utilizing Mylo:

• Mylo & Insperity teams work in tandem
   
  As your broker, Mylo will work with Insperity to configure employee benefits in the Workforce Acceleration payroll solution powered by iSolved. This reduces client involvement as a middle man between their broker and their Workforce Acceleration implementation and support team.
   
• Workflow integration with iSolved
   
  Workflow integration between Mylo and iSolved creates efficiencies in managing benefit plans, eligibility rules and employee enrollment processes. Online benefits enrollment eliminates the need for paper, and payroll deductions are calculated automatically. For applicable large employers, iSolved calculates employee eligibility for benefits, which can help employers remain compliant with ACA regulations.
   
• Customized enrollment webinars for employees
   
  Mylo conducts Open Enrollment webinars that cover employee benefit plans and cost information. Employees can ask questions about different options to ensure they are enrolling in the plan that works best for them.
   
• Online Enrollment
   
  The Insperity Workforce Acceleration team and Mylo will work together to ensure initial and ongoing enrollments can be completed online. This removes the administrative burden from the client for collecting paper enrollments.
   
• Employee contact center
   
  Mylo’s employee help center is staffed by benefits experts from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. CT. Client employees can get answers to questions about their benefit plans, freeing employers to focus on other priorities. Mylo’s access to iSolved assists clients and employees with questions about their benefit plans
   
• Automated carrier integrations
   
  To ensure employee enrollment information is sent to carriers on a timely basis, iSolved offers automated carrier integration, alleviating the need for the client to update the carrier website with employee enrollments or changes.
   
• Mylo account management
   
  Every client is assigned a dedicated account manager with Mylo who is available for questions or issues related to benefit plans. iSolved access allows Mylo visibility into enrollment records to better answer questions from clients and their employees.
   
• Quarterly Invoice reconciliation
   
  Mylo conducts a quarterly carrier invoice reconciliation process to identify discrepancies between carrier records and enrollment records in iSolved.

 Here are five ways that your customer success specialist (“CSS”) makes certain you get the most from your partnership with Insperity.

1. Continuously building strong relationships
   Your CSS reaches out (via phone and/or email) to you throughout the year to learn more about you and your business in order to:
   • Build trust.  We want to know your business, and we want you to know Insperity. We recognize the importance of maintaining solid partnerships over time.
   • Address current challenges. No matter your experiences, your CSS wants to understand what challenges your company is going through in order to help assist you in eliminating roadblocks.
   • Ensure system satisfaction. One of your CSS’s primary goals is making sure  you are satisfied and getting the  most value from  iSolved® HCM and any  other systems you use  with Insperity.
   • Identify changes. Your CSS wants to understand past, current and potential changes within your organization to be able to share the best possible recommendations for your business success.
      
2. Advocating for you
   Your CSS is your business advocate and your voice with other groups and departments within Insperity, from process improvement to the selection of appropriate subject matter experts for product training or education.
    
3. Easing transitions
   We recognize that change isn’t easy, especially when it involves a new point of contact, such as your payroll or benefits specialist. Your CSS proactively schedules a meeting with any new specialists to provide details about your business to make the transition successful.
    
4. Contracts, billing and renewals
   Your CSS provides assistance with questions about your contract, billing statements and upcoming renewals. The CSS can also help with questions about FEIN changes, mergers and acquisitions, contract changes and new product inquiries. The CSS’s goal is to support you in making the best decisions for your business.
    
5. Client escalations
   Your CSS provides assistance when unforeseen issues and escalations arise. The CSS works closely with our internal teams (i.e. payroll support, benefits administration) to ensure a resolution as quickly as possible.

We’d love to hear from you. Don’t hesitate to reach out today should you have questions regarding the information above or about any of Insperity’s products and services.

You can find your CSS’s contact information in iSolved by navigating to CLIENT MANAGEMENT >> Client Landing Page >> MY ACCOUNT REPS, as referenced in the screenshots provided below.  

Paid sick leave, FMLA leave and paid family and medical leave are all types of paid or unpaid time off that have distinct policies and, where enacted, laws.

If your business is located in any of the following states, counties or municipalities, it’s crucial that you remain compliant with frequently changing Paid Leave and Paid Sick requirements.   

STATES	COUNTIES	MUNICIPALITIES
Arizona
California
		Berkeley, CA
		Emeryville, CA
		Los Angeles, CA
		Oakland, CA
		San Diego, CA
		San Francisco, CA
		Santa Monica, CA
Connecticut
		Chicago, IL
	Cook County, IL
Maryland
	Montgomery County, MD
Massachusetts
Michigan
		Minneapolis, MN
		St. Paul, MN
New Jersey
		NYC, NY
	Westchester County, NY
Oregon
		Portland, OR
		Philadelphia, PA
Rhode Island
Vermont
Washington
		Seattle, WA
		Tacoma, WA
Washington DC

Insperity offers tools and resources that can help your business remain aware of the current Paid Sick and Paid Leave regulations. You can work with one of our certified HR professionals to review or create a policy that is compliant with state and federal leave laws as they apply to your organization. Get started today by contacting an HR professional through the HR Support Center.

Even if you don’t need to create a policy, your dedicated payroll specialist is available to assist in proper setup of  your accruals.