THERE’S A NEW W-4 FORM FOR 2020

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW In August, the Internal Revenue Service issued a major revision to the 2020 W-4 form (click here to see the DRAFT version).  The official version has NOT been released yet. By releasing the nearly-finalized version now, the IRS hopes it will give employers and payroll processors extra time to learn

New Salary Threshhold for “Salaried/Exempt” Employees

Employees who make less than $35,568 must now be raised to that level or be reclassified as non-exempt/hourly employees.  If employers reclassify these employees to non-exempt/hourly, the employee would be eligible for overtime pay under a final rule issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The new rate will take effect Jan. 1, 2020. To be exempt from

AB-51 Signed into Law

On October 10, 2019, Governor Gavin Newson signed into law AB 51, which bans the use of mandatory arbitration agreements in employment contracts beginning on January 1, 2020. Previously, an employer was able to require employees and prospective employees to agree to arbitration to resolve almost any and all disputes between the employee and the

7 Reasons to Outsource HR

Most business owners agree that their employees are their most valuable assets. As such, managing human resources has become a critical role in managing a business. Yet for some businesses, the various functions of the HR department are too comprehensive and complex to maintain in-house. That said, in order to HR a senior HR professional

How Long do I have to keep Employee Documents and Records?

Several of our clients have recently asked, “how long do I need to retain documents in someone’s personnel file”? There is no set period of time that applies to all documents.  It is dependent on current laws or statutes.   Below is a table that PlatinumHR has created that shows the various documents, the governing body

California Minimum Wage

Effective Jan. 1, 2019, the statewide minimum wage in California increased from $10.50 to $10.00 for employers with less than 25 employees and from $11 to $12 per hour for employers with more than 25 employees. This also impacts other wage and hour obligations, such as the minimum salary requirement for exempt employees, which increased to

OSHA 300a Log: Do I Need to Post the Form?

The OSHA 300a log is part of a federal requirement concerning safety in the workplace. It is a form that must be filled out by employers and displayed in a visible area. The log records all applicable injuries or illnesses that occur in the workplace.  The types of injuries/illness that must be logged and reported

New I9 Form

USCIS Issues New I-9 Form: Commentary and I-9 Checklist for Employers On July 17, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a revised Form I-9. The new form must be used by September 18, 2017. The revised form has only one substantive change. A new Document on List C was added as an acceptable document
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Negligent Hiring/Negligent Retention

Negligent Hiring/Negligent Retention For more than 100  years, various courts have recognized negligent hiring or negligent retention as an independent basis for a court action.   Negligent hiring occurs when an employer knew or should have known of an employee’s unfitness even before the employee was hired.  In these cases, the employer’s liability is based primarily
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Pre Employment Inquiries

There are several State and Federal Laws which protect certain classes of people from discrimination in the workplace.  Failure to understand and follow these laws can and will lead to lawsuits, costing you thousands of dollars.  Sadly, there are those out there who know just enough about the law to “set you up” for a