In honor of the 4th of July holiday let’s take a moment to celebrate our rights as citizens here in the United States and also discuss what rights employees have the workplace.
1) Employees have the right (confirmed by a number of state and federal laws) to not be discriminated against or harrasssed in the hiring process and in the workplace.
2) Employees have the right to be paid for work completed and to have meal and rest periods as appropriate (the Fair Labor Standards Act and individual state law defines wage payment along with meal and rest periods).
3) Unless under contract employees have the right to leave employment that does not suit them (employers also have the right to fire employees “at will” in most states except when under contract or because of discrimination or retaliation).
4) Employees do not have the right to paid holidays, sick time or vacation pay under federal Law (FLSA). Some states do provide for paid time off. Check out the your state’s Department of Labor website more information on paid leave laws. Employees do have the rights to unpaid leave under Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and some state laws.
5) Employees have the right to reasonable accomodations for disabilities under the Americans With Disablity Act (ADA).
Happy 4th of July to all employees and employers! 
Most open enrollment periods for benefits programs happen in the fall so use the summer months to get a head start. After researching what health care reform requirements will impact you, schedule a meeting with your insurance broker. Draw on the agent’s expertise to walk through your benefits plans, plan by plan, and make changes where necessary (such as to the dependent age coverage limitations, which are increasing to age 26). Be sure that the broker and insurance carrier work together to present you with revised plan documents, as necessary. KPA offers a free webinar and white paper on How Healthcare Reform Impacts Dealerships.
Healthcare Reform Intersects with 1099 Forms
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010Many changes related to healthcare reform go into effect today, September 23, 2010, with more changes coming throughout 2011 and 2012. One of the lesser known provisions of healthcare reform is a new requirement regarding submittal of 1099 forms. Effective January 2012, the provision will require any business that purchases more than $600 worth of goods or services from another business to submit a 1099 tax form to the Internal Revenue Service.
The Senate considered amending this provision as part of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010, which passed just this week. Neither amendments by Sens. Mike Johanns, R-Nebraska, and Bill Nelson, D-Florida, were able to achieve enough votes to move forward.
The IRS is requesting public comment on how it can best implement the new law. Under the proposed regulations, businesses would have to report their payments to goods and other property, and payments to most corporations on Form 1099. Currently, most payments to corporations are currently exempt from this requirement. Purchases with debit cards and credit cards will remain exempt from this requirement because those are already reported by banks and other payment processors, the IRS said in a statement. The public can submit comments by:
•E-mail, with “Notice 2010-51″ in the subject line (Notice.Comments@irscounsel.treas.gov)
•Posting a letter to: Internal Revenue Service, CC:PA:LPD:PR ( Notice 2010-51), Room 5203, P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044; and
•Hand-delivering a comment letter to CC:PA:LPD:PR (Notice 2010-51), Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The deadline for comments is Sept. 29, 2010.
Tags: 1099 forms, benefit, form 1099, healthcare reform, internal revenue service, IRS, requesting public comment
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