Blog

Heidi Hoke
Business
Development Coordinator

Jenny Foster
HR Manager
Senior Employee Benefits Advisor

Jason Mayer
Risk Manager

EPA Lead Rule - Effective NOW

April 27, 2010

EPA's new "Lead Rule" took effect, April 22, requiring contractors, property managers and others paid to renovate structures built before 1978 to be certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The rule could have a significant impact on dealers with installed sales operations and their contractor customers.

In Brief: 

Requirements for Renovation Contractors: Certification and Training Requirements:

Company Certification: All firms performing renovation, repair or painting work on homes constructed prior to 1978 must become certified by the EPA. This can be accomplished by applying to EPA or to the State, if it has an EPA-authorized renovation program, and paying a fee.  Six states have been authorized by EPA to run their own program (Kansas, Rhode Island, Mississippi, North Carolina, Iowa and Wisconsin).

Individual Certification: In addition, firms must have one or more "Certified Renovators" assigned to jobs where lead-based paint is disturbed. To become certified, a renovator must successfully complete an EPA or State-approved training course conducted by an EPA or State-accredited training provider.

Training: All renovation workers must be trained. Renovation workers can be trained on-the-job by a Certified Renovator to use lead safe work practices, or they can become Certified Renovators themselves.
  
Exemption from the RRP Rule; "Opt-out" provision
The training, certification and work practice requirements currently do not apply where the firm obtains a signed statement from the owner that all of the following conditions are met:

• The renovation will occur in the owner's residence;
• No child under age 6 resides there;
• No woman who is pregnant resides there;
• The housing is not a child-occupied facility; and,
• The owner acknowledges that the renovation firm will not be required to use the work practices contained in the rule. 

Note: EPA is considering removing the "opt-out" provision, which NLBMDA has formally opposed.  EPA has not yet made a determination so the rule is being implemented today with the opt-out provision intact until a determination is made. 

Firms Engaged in Renovation Work
Dealers and contractors engaged in renovation work on homes constructed prior to 1978 that are not yet certified and do not have certified renovators are encouraged to start the process for securing both as soon as possible.  Certification of firms currently takes EPA six weeks or more to process and approve. 

Firm Certification/Renovator Training Information
Firms/contractors seeking certification please click here for more information. 

Firms/contractors seeking Certified Renovator training please click here for a list of EPA-approved trainers.  

Please click here to view the full EPA brochure, "Steps to Lead Safe Renovation, Repair and Painting." 

Two New Tax Benefits Aid Employers Who Hire and Retain Unemployed Workers

April 27, 2010

Employers who hire unemployed workers this year (after Feb. 3, 2010, and before Jan. 1, 2011) may qualify for a 6.2 percent payroll-tax incentive, in effect exempting them from their share of Social Security taxes on wages paid to these workers after March 18, 2010. This reduced tax withholding will have no effect on the employee's future Social Security benefits, and employers would still need to withhold the employee's 6.2 percent share of Social Security taxes, as well as income taxes. The employer and employee's shares of Medicare taxes would also still apply to these wages.

In addition, for each worker retained for at least a year, businesses may claim an additional general business tax credit, up to $1,000 per worker, when they file their 2011 income tax returns.

"These tax breaks offer a much-needed boost to employers willing to expand their payrolls, and businesses and nonprofits should keep these benefits in mind as they plan for the year ahead," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.
The two tax benefits are especially helpful to employers who are adding positions to their payrolls. New hires filling existing positions also qualify but only if the workers they are replacing left voluntarily or for cause. Family members and other relatives do not qualify.

In addition, the new law requires that the employer get a statement from each eligible new hire certifying that he or she was unemployed during the 60 days before beginning work or, alternatively, worked fewer than a total of 40 hours for someone else during the 60-day period. The IRS is currently developing a form employees can use to make the required statement.

Businesses, agricultural employers, tax-exempt organizations and public colleges and universities all qualify to claim the payroll tax benefit for eligible newly hired employees. Household employers cannot claim this new tax benefit.

Employers claim the payroll tax benefit on the federal employment tax return they file, usually quarterly, with the IRS. Eligible employers will be able to claim the new tax incentive on their revised employment tax form for the second quarter of 2010. Revised forms and further details on these two new tax provisions will be posted on IRS.gov during the next few weeks.

In a related article, published April 7, 2010, The IRS released a new form that will help employers claim the special payroll tax exemption that applies to many newly-hired workers during 2010, created by the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act signed by President Obama on March 18.

New Form W-11, HIRE Act Employee Affidavit, is now posted on IRS.gov, along with answers to frequently-asked questions about the payroll tax exemption and the related new hire retention credit. The new law requires that employers get a statement from each eligible new hire, certifying under penalties of perjury, that he or she was unemployed during the 60 days before beginning work or, alternatively, worked fewer than a total of 40 hours for anyone during the 60-day period. Employers can use Form W-11 to meet this requirement.

Most eligible employers then use Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, to claim the payroll tax exemption for eligible new hires. This form, revised for use beginning with the second calendar quarter of 2010, is currently posted as a draft form on IRS.gov and will be released next month as a final along with the form's instructions.

Source IR-2010-33, March 18, 2010, and IR-2010-43, April 7, 2010 Internal Revenue Service Newswire, WTA

Social Media in the Workplace

April 26, 2010

More than 50% of executives under age 40 are actively engaged in social media!
91% of decision makers are taking part!

Are you doing all you can to leverage social networking as a marketing tool to reach your clients?

Are you doing all you can to PROTECT your organization from social networking gone wrong?

74% of employees believe it’s easy to damage a company’s reputation through social media!

Take an active approach and ensure you have a solid social media policy in your employee handbook or written policies today!

Vacations are Great!

April 26, 2010

Hello everyone! I just came back from a week long vacation to San Francisco. I brought my work computer and had every intention of "blogging" while I was there, but ended up having too much fun... and at times was just exhausted and wanted to do nothing but rest.

The exhausted part comes from walking up and down the hills of the city. What a wonderful place to explore.

Here is a pictorial of my adventures!

We went to the Fisherman's Wharf.

Here is a classic Street Car in the Castro District. It only cost $2 one way.

The"Gates of China Town" were just a block away from our hotel. Lots of good deals, I bought my boys tee shirts for a few dollars.

We spent an entire day biking - 7 hours! Rented bikes from Blazing Saddles at Fisherman's Wharf; rode along the waterfront to the Golden Gate Bridge.

After riding across the bridge and back, we rode to the Golden Gate Park and as we were cruising through neighborhoods, found the Velo Rouge Cafe.

After a week gone I am happy to be home!

Take care,

Heidi Hoke