On July 10, 2009, new amendments to the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Law went into effect. The law imposes severe monetary and injunctive penalties if a covered employer misrepresents any employee as an independent contractor or provides false, incomplete or misleading information concerning its total number of employees.
 
Under these changes, the employer:  a) will be deemed guilty of a fourth degree crime; b) will be subject to the Law’s existing monetary penalties which impose a penalty of up to $5,000.00 both for an initial violation exceeding 10 days and for each subsequent 10 day violation; and (c) will be subject to a stop-work order issued by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) Workers’ Compensation Division within 72 hours after determining that any such violation has occurred. 

On May 7, 2009, legislation was enacted creating the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility (MCTM) tax – a new employer-paid payroll tax – as part of a bailout plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which manages buses, trains, bridges, and tunnels in New York City and surrounding areas.

• you’re required to withhold New York State income tax from wages; and
• your payroll expense exceeds $2500 in any calendar quarter

The tax rate is 0.34% of an employer’s total payroll expense for employees employed within the MCTD (i.e. $0.34 per $100 of wages).  An employer that is required to deduct and withhold NY State income tax from employees’ wages and has a payroll expense of exceeding $2,500 in any calendar quarter is required to pay the MCTM tax.  The United Nations, federal government, and interstate agencies or public corporations created pursuant to an agreement between two or more states or with Canada are excluded.

• For quarterly filers, the first payment is due with the third quarterly withholding payment on October 31, 2009, and is to include all tax owed since March 1.
• For EFT filers, the first payment is due with the first withholding payment due on or after October 31, 2009, and is also to include all tax owed since March 1.

NJSA Annual Conference

The New Jersey Staffing Alliance, as a service to its members and the NJ staffing industry, solicited responses to a survey in order to gain insight on recent market conditions that the industry has faced this year, and the near-term prospects of improvement as the economy begins to strengthen. The information has been compiled on an anonymous basis. Please click here for your copy of this survey.

Significant results of the survey included:

• The staffing segments that have had the greatest downward price pressures over the past 12 months are: Direct Hire, Temporary Staffing – Light Industrial, and Temporary Staffing – IT.
• The staffing segments with the highest percentage believing that business will improve by October 1, 2009 were: Temporary Staffing – Clerical/Admin and Temporary Staffing – Light Industrial.
• When asked to forecast when pricing would begin to improve, a majority of most segments believed strengthening would happen by early 2010… some segments by January 1, 2010 and others by April 1, 2010.

Detailed staffing segment analysis are in the Survey Report Summary.

If you’d like NJSA to survey other subjects concerning New Jersey’s staffing industry, please send your suggestions to patk@njsa.com.  Remember that NJSA does have to comply with legal guidelines regarding what it can and cannot survey.

According to a quarterly report conducted by CareerBuilder.com, as the U.S. economy shows early signs of stabilization and employers grow more willing to have conversations about their hiring needs, staffing firms are expected to see an uptick in demand in key functional areas in the third quarter. The report tracks current and projected use of staffing firms by employers and job candidates, is pointing to more activity in healthcare, technical and contract hiring for staffing firms. The study included over 5,200 hiring managers and over 9,000 workers.

“As the U.S. works toward a healthier financial picture, the outlook for the staffing industry is holding steady overall with encouraging movement in some areas,” said Todd McCormick, president of the Recruiter Business Unit and Canadian operations at CareerBuilder. “While remaining cautious in their hiring pace, employers are more optimistic about their use of staffing firms in the fall as they seek out talent to fill interim and long-term positions.”

Here’s your opportunity to have your business voice heard. In November 2009 the citizens of New Jersey and the Staffing Industry have the opportunity to be heard. We have an election for Governor and the entire State Assembly. This vote will set the stage for the next two years of our life in New Jersey! We really don’t have an option to “ignore it” since “the government” is increasingly intruding on our business and all levels of government appear to be mortgaging our children’s future for quick, short term solutions.

NJSA’s Legislative Committee and Staffing NJ PAC are doing something about it!

• On August 26th from 4:30pm – 6:30pm they are hosting for you a FREE reception in Morris Plains with the State Republican leadership in the Assembly, Alex De Croce and Jay Webber… hear what they have to say and ask the hard questions!
• Staffing NJ PAC will once again be contributing to as many candidates as we can who  will care about the Staffing Industry. We will have a voice with candidates in this year’s election – limited only by the level of donations from Staffing Industry Managers, Leaders and Owners like YOU!!
• Staffing NJ PAC is also launching over the next few months a “Get Out and VOTE” campaign to increase voter participation at Staffing Firms in New Jersey! We need to have the Staffing Industry represented on Election Day! Think what 80,000 votes could do?

New York Governor David Patterson signed into law legislation requiring employers to notify employees in writing at the time of hire of their regular and overtime hourly wage rates, and to obtain a written acknowledgement of receipt of such notice. The new requirements take effect October 26, 2009.
 
However, as a result of discussions with representatives from the New York Staffing Association, it was noted that staffing firm pay rates for particular employees vary by assignment and therefore it may not be possible for the staffing firm to determine a pay rate with precision at the time of hiring. It was agreed that application of the law to staffing firms needed clarification and the New York Department of Labor plan to provide such guidance through regulation or other administrative means “so that temporary employment agencies who in good faith lack the specific information they must disclose under this legislation will have a means of appropriate legal compliance applicable to their situation.”
 
Appropriate guidance for staffing firms will be provided prior to the October 26 effective date of the legislation.

1. The candidate says he doesn’t believe his company will give him a counteroffer.
2. The candidate says he will have to consider the counter if it is given to him.
3. The candidate’s motive to move (‘I don’t like our policies here’) could still be ‘worked out’ by his employer when he leaves.
4. The time it takes for a candidate to return your call is longer than normal.
5. The candidate agrees to accept the offer, then asks for ‘one more thing’ after he gets what he’s asking for.
6. The feelings of the candidate’s spouse are never considered during this process. 
7. Your client doesn’t think meeting with him after he accepted the offer is important.
8. The candidate was never really sure about making a move to begin with.
9. The candidate has accepted a counteroffer before with his current employer.
10. The candidate will not commit to turning down a counteroffer with you when you are extending the offer.
11. The candidate verbally expresses concern about ‘what will happen if I make a move and the economy gets worse?’

By

Carl Capato

A recent study conducted by the University of Massachusetts at Boston confirms that companies who hire people with disabilities achieve a higher placement in the public’s collective esteem than employers who either may not hire people with disabilities or don’t bring attention to their hiring policies with respect to people with disabilities. Among surveyed consumers: 92 percent felt more favorable toward companies that hire people with disabilities; 87 percent said they would give their business to companies that hire people with disabilities; the employment of people with disabilities ranked third as an indicator of a company’s commitment to social justice; and 98 percent of respondents who had been served by a worker with a disability reported that they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the service they received. According to Working Together, a group of businesses in Maine who collaborate to meet their goal of hiring more people with disabilities, and who reported the results of the U. Mass. Study referenced above, http://www.expandingmainesworkforce.com/benefits.html,

there are real, bottom-line benefits for companies who look to the often untapped resource of job seekers with disabilities to fill staffing vacancies.  These include:

Increased Market Share:  According to recent census data, nearly one in five Americans has a disability.  This population has a total annual income in excess of a trillion dollars, and a discretionary income estimated at $200 billion.  People with disabilities prefer businesses that are sensitive to their needs and that represent their population, and companies have found that it makes good business sense to have a workforce that is representative of the communities they serve.  According to research conducted by Simmons Market Research Bureau, 48 percent of people with disabilities are the principle shoppers for their families.  They have influence over not only their own spending decisions, but those made by other family members as well.

An increase in individual income taxes passed by the state Legislature last month will also affect many New Jersey businesses, since many business owners pay personal income taxes on their business profits. The state increased the income tax from 6.37 percent to 8 percent for income between $400,000 and $500,000; from 8.97 percent to 10.25 percent for income between $500,000 and $1 million; and from 8.97 percent to 10.75 percent for income exceeding $1 million. The increases are set to expire after one year. The state increased taxes on upper-income earners as part of its effort to close a budget gap worsened by the recession. Nationally, nearly one-third of all business taxes are paid through the individual income tax, because many companies are organized as “S corporations” – limited liability companies or partnerships whose business profits are taxed as the personal income of the company’s owners.