New IRS Audit Policies May Focus on HR Departments
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that it will be focusing attention on issues that involve many HR departments. For some HR professionals this will likely be their first experience with an IRS audit. This article explains these developments and suggests actions that will help HR be prepared to handle IRS inquiries. The issues concern the reporting of, and withholding on, payments to foreign persons and the documentation of those persons’ status.
Read the full article linked below.
W. Garnett & Associates, HR Consultant
1-888-884-3910
Employers, HR Audits Improve a Firm’s Operations
human resource audit is a procedure to measure the degree of compliance an organisation has with the existing legal obligations and labour laws. It also suggests corrective actions which may be necessary. Generally, it tends to be broad in nature since no one can measure the attitude of human beings, and also their problems are not confined to the HR department alone.
Link to the full article below.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/692145
W. Garnett & Associates, HR Consultant
1-888-884-3910
United States: U.S. Government Begins Crackdown On I-9 Compliance
Under federal law, all employers (regardless of size) are required to use Form I-9 to verify the identity and work eligibility of all new employees (including U.S. citizens) at the time the employees are hired. Completed I-9 forms must be maintained by the employer, in hard-copy or electronic format, for three years after the employee’s date of hire, or for a year after the employee’s termination date, whichever is later. Completed forms are not submitted to the government, but must be retained by the employer throughout this period.
Read the full article below.
http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=83654&email_access=on
W. Garnett & Associates, HR Consultant
1-888-884-3910
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Recently Published an Updated List of Common Plan Mistakes Found During IRS Employee Plans Team Audits
The EPTA materials are important tools that plan administrators may use to conduct self-audits of plan compliance.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently published an updated list of common plan mistakes found during IRS Employee Plans Team Audits (EPTA) and an internal controls questionnaire used by EPTA auditors. Although the EPTA Program focuses on retirement plans with at least 2,500 participants, the published materials give all plan administrators valuable insights into the IRS’s audit process and what the IRS believes plan sponsors can do to avoid common errors in plan administration….
Read the article linked below.
http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=83872
W. Garnett & Associates, HR Consultant
1-888-884-3910
How to Deal Personal Conversations at the Office Should be Private
A co-worker of mine, a 20-year-old recovering alcoholic, on occasion counsels fellow alcoholics over the phone at work. She is in the cube across aisle and I hear her counseling sessions clearly.
The text of the full article is linked below.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/22/AR2009072202274.html
W. Garnett & Associates, HR Consultant
1-888-884-3910
War On You: Breaking Alternative News
“There was so much focus on the wizards of Wall Street and the brilliant entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley, but very, very little attention paid to how the average worker was doing. I think the recession has gotten the nation to realize that things are really bad for millions and millions of average workers.”
You can read the full article linked below.
http://waronyou.com/topics/tales-of-how-big-corporations-are-screwing-americans-over/
W. Garnett & Associates, HR Consultant
1-888-884-3910
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Focus on Employers in Immigration Crackdown
What employers are being targeted by ICE? Hard to tell except you need to ask yourself this question – What businesses will be a target due to the number of employees they hire for low level positions?
More than 650 businesses have been given “Notice of Inspections” around the country. It’s hard to tell which employers have been notified but soon enough we will see which one’s have been targeted. It is imperative for all businesses to make sure that their Form I-9’s are done and stored in a place that is seperate from other employee information and easy to pull out if you need to.
Full article below.
W. Garnett & Associates, HR Consultant
888-884-3910
White House Crack Down on I-9 Audits Across the Country!
Articles across the country are focusing on the White House’s vigilance on immigration compliance for this administration. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, said that it had begun an audit of 652 U.S. companies to verify whether their employees were eligible to work.
While some agents will be inspecting border fences, others will be auditing employers across the country for the hiring of illegal aliens?
Read more at the link below.
http://www.visalaw.com/blog_i9/2009/07/are-i-9-audits-just-virtual-raids.html
W. Garnett & Associates, HR Consultant
888-884-3910
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