News and Views from New Jersey Staffing Alliance » New Jersey, Staffing, Jobs

Christie Warns of Tax Hike for Unemployment Fund

By New Jersey Staffing Association | Published: February 1, 2010

Last week Governor Christie warned New Jersey businesses that they can expect an increase of up to $1,000 per employee in their unemployment tax starting July 1 unless the federal government helps the state replenish the fund. Business taxes are increased by law when the fund’s balance dips below a certain level as measured every March. Christie says the fund will be $1.6 billion in debt by March.

The Governor said his administration will ask the federal government to forgive the debt, but he said the state can’t afford to pump money into the fund to stop the tax increase. New Jersey faces a deficit of more than $9 billion for the 2011 budget year, which begins in July. Christie said that over $3.6 billion has been raided from the fund over the past decade.

Posted in Legislative, New Jersey Job Market, New Jersey Recruiting Tips | Tagged Christie, New Jersey, NJ, Tax, Unemployment | Comments closed

Proposed Changes to NJ Unemployment Compensation Law

By New Jersey Staffing Association | Published: December 14, 2009

On October 5, 2009, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“NJDOL”) issued a proposed amendment to the regulations governing the New Jersey Unemployment Compensation Law. Specifically, the NJDOL is seeking to amend the existing definition of “misconduct” set forth in N.J.A.C. 12:17-10.2(a) for purposes of determining when a claimant may be disqualified from receiving benefits when they have engaged in such “misconduct” in connection with their work.

Under the existing regulation, misconduct “must be improper, intentional, connected with one’s work, malicious, and within the individual’s control, and is either a deliberate violation of the employer’s rules or a disregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect of an employee.” Under the NJDOL’s proposed amended regulation, however, “misconduct” would now be defined as “an act of wanton or willful disregard of the employer’s interest, a deliberate violation of the employer’s rules, a disregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect of his employee, or negligence in such degree or recurrence as to manifest culpability, wrongful intent, or evil design, or show an intentional and substantial disregard of the employer’s interest or of the employee’s duties and obligations to the employer.”

Consequently, among other things, employers would also appear to be able to establish “misconduct” more easily based upon a new negligence standard. To date, the proposed amended regulation has not yet been adopted. However, written comments were required to be submitted to the NJDOL by December 4, 2009, and we anticipate that the NJDOL will ultimately adopt a regulation modifying the definition of such “misconduct” in some form.

Posted in Legislative, Uncategorized | Tagged Compensation, Laws, NJ, Unemployment | Comments closed

Eye On Trenton

By New Jersey Staffing Association | Published: December 7, 2009

Staffing NJ PAC contributed to the campaigns of the following Assembly representatives who were reelected: Jay Webber, Joe Cryan, Nellie Pou, Joe Malone, Upendra Chivukula, and Michael Doherty.

Voters could decide whether to prevent governors and legislators from dipping into state funds meant to benefit workers. The Assembly Labor Committee unanimously approved ACR134 which would prevent the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund from being diverted to other budget expenses. From 1989 to 2005, governors and legislators from both parties diverted more than $5 billion from employee funds…$4.8 billion alone from the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund…to use the money for other purposes.

Employers have been especially hard hit by diversions from the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which is replenished through a tax increase triggered when the amount in the account falls below a certain level. The low level in the fund caused a tax hike on employers this year. The measure will provide stability to employers and assurance to employees who rely on the funds for benefits. Additionally, it would prohibit diversions from the accounts used to support Paid Family Leave and Temporary Disability Insurance.

Posted in Legislative, Uncategorized | Tagged Insurance, New Jersey, Unemployment Trust Fund | Comments closed

Recent Changes to New Jersey's Workers' Compensation Laws

By New Jersey Staffing Association | Published: November 23, 2009

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.

The stop-work order will require the employer to immediately cease all business operations at every worksite where the violation occurred, and will remain in effect until after a further determination is made that the employer is in full compliance with these requirements and has paid all such penalties. However, an employer has the right to seek a hearing to contest a stop-work order within 10 days of being issued, and after which a decision will be rendered within 48 hours.

Posted in Legislative | Tagged Changes, Laws, New Jersey, Workers' Compensation | Comments closed

New Employer-Paid NY Payroll Tax

By New Jersey Staffing Association | Published: November 16, 2009

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.

The MCTM tax is imposed on employers engaged in business within the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD). The MCTD is comprised of 12 counties served by the MTA, which includes New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester counties.

The tax applies to you if:

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.

Employers are required to pay the MCTM tax quarterly, at the same time as quarterly wage reports are due. However, employers that are required to report and remit withholding tax via EFT must pay the MCTM tax at the same time they remit withholding payments. The MCTM tax will apply to wages paid on or after March 1, 2009, for most employers.

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.

The MCTM tax will be administered by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for the MTA. Preliminary information is available on the DTF website at www.tax.state.ny.us/sbc/mta.htm.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Employer, NY, Payroll, Taxes | Comments closed

New Jersey Staffing Alliance Annual Conference

By New Jersey Staffing Association | Published: October 12, 2009

NJSA Annual Conference

Outperform the Storm

October 29, 2009

Sheraton Edison Hotel

EARLY BIRD RATE EXTENDED UNTIL OCTOBER 15

Keynote presenter Neil Lebovits of The Dynamic Sale will present a workshop for temporary placement professionals entitled “Territory Management: Less Is More…Laser Prospecting.” This workshop will show you how to create better sales results by cutting back on your target list.

The best training at the best price…click here for your registration brochure. Attendees at the April Executive Leadership Conference get a $50 discount off one registration.

Posted in NJ Recruiting Events | Tagged Recruiting professional tips, recruiting tactics | Comments closed

New Jersey Staffing Survey Results Reflect Changing Market

By New Jersey Staffing Association | Published: September 29, 2009

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.

Posted in New Jersey Job Market | Comments closed

When Will New Jersey Employers Start Hiring?

By New Jersey Staffing Association | Published: September 15, 2009

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.”

Posted in New Jersey Job Market, Uncategorized | Tagged Employers, Hiring, Jobs, New Jersey | Comments closed

Changes in Leadership Could Impact New Jersey's Staffing Industry

By New Jersey Staffing Association | Published: August 24, 2009

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?