Showing posts with label Employment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Employment. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Employment Forms for 2008
For 2008, the Georgia employment forms remain the same. However, the IRS W-4 and the Immigration I-9 have changed. All four forms are available through the DeCarrera Law, LLC website in the forms section.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
New Jobs For Georgia
Sy-Klone International is moving all of its manufacturing operations to Perry, Georgia. Sy-Klone will occupy the former HAG Steel plant and invest about $7 million into the plant. The operations will provide about 50 jobs once it is fully operational. The Macon Telegraph
HNI Corporation announced last week that it was closing its manufacturing facility in Virginia and consolidating operations at the Cedartown, Georgia, facility in 2008. The Cedartown HON Company, which manufactures office furniture, anticipates the move will add 175 local jobs. Rome News Tribune
Sumitomo Chemical and Toyo Ink Group are creating a joint venture in Griffin, Georgia, adding another 50 jobs in the process. The joint venture will make products for the automotive industry after constructing a 90,000 sq. foot facility. Atlanta Business Chronicle
HNI Corporation announced last week that it was closing its manufacturing facility in Virginia and consolidating operations at the Cedartown, Georgia, facility in 2008. The Cedartown HON Company, which manufactures office furniture, anticipates the move will add 175 local jobs. Rome News Tribune
Sumitomo Chemical and Toyo Ink Group are creating a joint venture in Griffin, Georgia, adding another 50 jobs in the process. The joint venture will make products for the automotive industry after constructing a 90,000 sq. foot facility. Atlanta Business Chronicle
Monday, October 8, 2007
Immigration Policies and Work-Site Enforcement
Today must be focus on illegal immigration day as both the "local newspaper" and the Savannah Morning News both have articles relating to immigration enforcement. The Savannah Morning News reports that immigration policies are hurting law enforcement investigations. The AJC says that immigration work-site enforcement has changed, resulting in nearly zero noncriminal fines to businesses employing illegal immigrants. Instead, Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been focusing on criminal cases where employers are "knowingly break the law by encouraging or participating in immigrant smuggling, abusing workers, not paying taxes or document fraud."
Thursday, September 27, 2007
State Rep. to Sponsor Bill For Unpaid Family Leave
State Rep. Margaret Kaiser (D-Atlanta) said she will sponsor a bil that would provide up to 24 hours of unpaid leave per year for workers to deal with their families' medical and educational needs. This would include such tasks as taking children to doctors appointments, registering the children for school, or attending parent-teacher conferences.
For more on this proposed legislation: "local newspaper"
For more on this proposed legislation: "local newspaper"
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Some of This and That...
There's a lot of news making headlines in the legal and business communities today, so here it is in a nutshell.
Alpharetta: Alpharetta, Georgia, based Cratos Capital Partners LLC is opening an office in Chicago. This is the first office Cratos will open in the Midwest; Bradley Byrd was named director to oversee business development in the Midwest. The Atlanta Business Chronicle has a short story on it.
Atlanta:
According to Jim Galloway, expect the Georgia legislature, the NRA, and the Brady Center to go at it again soon. The issue is over whether employees should have the right to keep firearms in cars parked on company premises during work hours. Expect good entertainment when the issue hits the floor. See the Political Insider.
Atlanta City Councilman C.T. Martin has proposed an amendment to city indecency ordinances. The new ordinance would target young men with saggy pants and women who show a thong under their pants, wear jogging bras in public, or show "even the wisp" of a bra strap. The "local newspaper" and Yahoo! News have the story.
The Atlanta Regional Commission is seeking control of the money raised through the proposed one cent sales tax currently under consideration by the state legislature. The proposed tax is predicted to raise $1.1 billion in the affected 10-county metro area by the year 2030. The Atlanta Business Chronicle and the "local newspaper" have the story on the ARC
Augusta:
The Augusta Commission approved a new $20 million trade, exhibit and event center for conventions and trade shows. This comes two years after the voters approved it. Once opened, it is expected to provide $1.4 million to the city in tax revenues and have about a $25 million impact on the local economy. To help fund the center, the city hotels will be charging an extra $1 hotel occupancy fee.
Former Burke County Magistrate Court deputy clerk Nicole Hammock has been charged with racketerring and stealing more than $21,000 from the county as people paid fines, fees, and court costs. The Augusta Chronicle has the full story.
Dunwoody: The Ashford Alliance Community Association inquired to DeKalb County when it saw a sign go up for a pawn shop at the intersection of Ashford Dunwoody and Johnson Ferry. They determined that the area was zoned C-1, while pawn shops have to be in C-2, in areas such as Buford Highway or Peachtree Industrial. That area is undergoing quite a bit of change as a new Bat and Ball Pub is set to go into that shopping cneter, a new Pizza Corner restaurant is set to open across the street, and a mixed-use project is replacing public housing. The Dunwoody Crier has more information.
Norcross: Advanced Disposal Services is trying to build a transfer station on Button Gwinnett Drive, their third attempt to build a transfer station in Gwinnett County. This time, OFS, a fiber-optics company, is fighting the transfer station, saying that it could sink their plans for the area's redevelopment. The Gwinnett Daily Post has the story.
Georgia:
Pecan farmers are happy thus far with the expected pecan crop, although they are worried about any big storms or hurricanes that could damage the trees or blow the fruit off the trees. The hot and dry weather has even helped them avoid many of the problems relating to disease and insects. The story is at Gainesville Times.
The Small Business Administration announced that federal disaster loans are available to small businesses and small agricultural cooperatives located in Georgia, except Chattahoochee and Muscogee counties. The SBA notice declaring most of Georgia as an economic injury disaster is available (PDF). Information about the loans and other disaster relief is available from the SBA website.
Beazer Homes USA, Inc. recently delayed its fiscal third-quarter filing because it discovered "accounting irregularities." This delay puts into issue whether that is a default under many of the bonds and other loans worth about $1.38 billion. The company filed in U.S. District Court to stop creditors from forcing the company to repay this amount under the default provisions. The Columbus Ledger and Atlanta Business Chronicle have more.
When HomeBanc laid off more than 900 workers when it declared bankruptcy, it came as a surprise to many of those workers and made them very unhappy. Now, three of them have joined in a class-action lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, where the HomeBanc bankruptcy proceeding is taking place. The workers are claiming that the layoff violated employee rights under the Woerk Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act which requires 60 days advance written notice before conducting widespread layoffs. Workers from American Home Mortgage Investment Corp filed a similar lawsuit on August 9 when their company went into bankruptcy. More available from Columbus Ledger.
Elsewhere:
New York has passed a new law that prevents knockoff music acts from impersonating the real thing. This new law does not prevent "tribute" or "salute" bands, nor those that have at least one member of the recording group in it. See the Daily Report for more information.
Countrywide Home Loans promised to repurchase some loans it sold to investors if the homeowners got into financial difficulty. But Countrywide is in a dubious financial situation right now; Bank of America agreed to invest $2 billion into the troubled company. More available from the New York Times
In the past nine months, about 120 mortgage lenders have closed or declared bankruptcy. About 40,000 workers have lost jobs since the beginning of the year. See Yahoo! News.
Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan, and Wachovia each borrowed $500 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, just days after the rate and collateral standards were lowered. New York Times
Alpharetta: Alpharetta, Georgia, based Cratos Capital Partners LLC is opening an office in Chicago. This is the first office Cratos will open in the Midwest; Bradley Byrd was named director to oversee business development in the Midwest. The Atlanta Business Chronicle has a short story on it.
Atlanta:
According to Jim Galloway, expect the Georgia legislature, the NRA, and the Brady Center to go at it again soon. The issue is over whether employees should have the right to keep firearms in cars parked on company premises during work hours. Expect good entertainment when the issue hits the floor. See the Political Insider.
Atlanta City Councilman C.T. Martin has proposed an amendment to city indecency ordinances. The new ordinance would target young men with saggy pants and women who show a thong under their pants, wear jogging bras in public, or show "even the wisp" of a bra strap. The "local newspaper" and Yahoo! News have the story.
The Atlanta Regional Commission is seeking control of the money raised through the proposed one cent sales tax currently under consideration by the state legislature. The proposed tax is predicted to raise $1.1 billion in the affected 10-county metro area by the year 2030. The Atlanta Business Chronicle and the "local newspaper" have the story on the ARC
Augusta:
The Augusta Commission approved a new $20 million trade, exhibit and event center for conventions and trade shows. This comes two years after the voters approved it. Once opened, it is expected to provide $1.4 million to the city in tax revenues and have about a $25 million impact on the local economy. To help fund the center, the city hotels will be charging an extra $1 hotel occupancy fee.
Former Burke County Magistrate Court deputy clerk Nicole Hammock has been charged with racketerring and stealing more than $21,000 from the county as people paid fines, fees, and court costs. The Augusta Chronicle has the full story.
Dunwoody: The Ashford Alliance Community Association inquired to DeKalb County when it saw a sign go up for a pawn shop at the intersection of Ashford Dunwoody and Johnson Ferry. They determined that the area was zoned C-1, while pawn shops have to be in C-2, in areas such as Buford Highway or Peachtree Industrial. That area is undergoing quite a bit of change as a new Bat and Ball Pub is set to go into that shopping cneter, a new Pizza Corner restaurant is set to open across the street, and a mixed-use project is replacing public housing. The Dunwoody Crier has more information.
Norcross: Advanced Disposal Services is trying to build a transfer station on Button Gwinnett Drive, their third attempt to build a transfer station in Gwinnett County. This time, OFS, a fiber-optics company, is fighting the transfer station, saying that it could sink their plans for the area's redevelopment. The Gwinnett Daily Post has the story.
Georgia:
Pecan farmers are happy thus far with the expected pecan crop, although they are worried about any big storms or hurricanes that could damage the trees or blow the fruit off the trees. The hot and dry weather has even helped them avoid many of the problems relating to disease and insects. The story is at Gainesville Times.
The Small Business Administration announced that federal disaster loans are available to small businesses and small agricultural cooperatives located in Georgia, except Chattahoochee and Muscogee counties. The SBA notice declaring most of Georgia as an economic injury disaster is available (PDF). Information about the loans and other disaster relief is available from the SBA website.
Beazer Homes USA, Inc. recently delayed its fiscal third-quarter filing because it discovered "accounting irregularities." This delay puts into issue whether that is a default under many of the bonds and other loans worth about $1.38 billion. The company filed in U.S. District Court to stop creditors from forcing the company to repay this amount under the default provisions. The Columbus Ledger and Atlanta Business Chronicle have more.
When HomeBanc laid off more than 900 workers when it declared bankruptcy, it came as a surprise to many of those workers and made them very unhappy. Now, three of them have joined in a class-action lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, where the HomeBanc bankruptcy proceeding is taking place. The workers are claiming that the layoff violated employee rights under the Woerk Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act which requires 60 days advance written notice before conducting widespread layoffs. Workers from American Home Mortgage Investment Corp filed a similar lawsuit on August 9 when their company went into bankruptcy. More available from Columbus Ledger.
Elsewhere:
New York has passed a new law that prevents knockoff music acts from impersonating the real thing. This new law does not prevent "tribute" or "salute" bands, nor those that have at least one member of the recording group in it. See the Daily Report for more information.
Countrywide Home Loans promised to repurchase some loans it sold to investors if the homeowners got into financial difficulty. But Countrywide is in a dubious financial situation right now; Bank of America agreed to invest $2 billion into the troubled company. More available from the New York Times
In the past nine months, about 120 mortgage lenders have closed or declared bankruptcy. About 40,000 workers have lost jobs since the beginning of the year. See Yahoo! News.
Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan, and Wachovia each borrowed $500 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, just days after the rate and collateral standards were lowered. New York Times
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Cobb County Backing Off
Cobb County is now backing down from earlier proposals to ban or severely limit day laborers. (See Daily Report and Marietta Daily Journal for current coverage; past coverage includes Cobb County Limits Adults in Households and Cobb County Reconsiders Day Laborer Ordinance) Cobb County spokesman Robert Quigley says that the county will wait to see how future legal decisions may conflict with any future ordinances as well as federal immigration law.
Monday, July 23, 2007
New Minimum Wage Goes Into Effect Tomorrow
This is the reminder for Georgia business owners and employees that tomorrow, July 24, the new federal minimum wage goes into effect. The new minimum wage is $5.85 per hour.
This new rate applies to employees of (a) companies that do over $500,000 in business a year, (b) companies that are engaged in interstate commerece, (c) companies that produce goods for commerce (including transportation, communications, or those that regularly use the mails or telephones for interstate communications), (d) federal, state, or local goverment agencies, hospitals, and schools, and (e) generally domestic workers.
The new rate does not apply to (a) farmworkers on small farms, (b) certain seasonal and recreational establishments, (c) executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees, (d) casual babysitters, (e) companions for the lderly, (f) workers with disabilities, (g) federal criminal investigators, (h) fishermen, (i) newspaper deliverers, (j) newspaper employees of limited circulation newspapers, or (k) switchboard operators.
The new minimum wage poster is available at the Federal Department of Labor website.
This new rate applies to employees of (a) companies that do over $500,000 in business a year, (b) companies that are engaged in interstate commerece, (c) companies that produce goods for commerce (including transportation, communications, or those that regularly use the mails or telephones for interstate communications), (d) federal, state, or local goverment agencies, hospitals, and schools, and (e) generally domestic workers.
The new rate does not apply to (a) farmworkers on small farms, (b) certain seasonal and recreational establishments, (c) executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees, (d) casual babysitters, (e) companions for the lderly, (f) workers with disabilities, (g) federal criminal investigators, (h) fishermen, (i) newspaper deliverers, (j) newspaper employees of limited circulation newspapers, or (k) switchboard operators.
The new minimum wage poster is available at the Federal Department of Labor website.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Federal and State Withholding
How much should a business withhold from an employee's paycheck?
The new employee should fill out the employment forms found on the DeCarrera Law, LLC website. The W-4 and the G-4 are the federal and state forms that you will pay particular attention to when determining how much money to withhold from the employee's paycheck. On each form, the employee will indicate whether he or she is married and the number of allowances he or she has. (Side note: If the employee is having a difficult time figuring out the number of allowances, direct the employee to the IRS Withholding Calculator.)You will use this information from the tax guides to figure out the amount of withholding.
The company should automatically withhold 6.2% of taxable wages until the employee earns $97,500 for the calendar year for Social Security taxes. The company will withhold an additional 1.45% of taxable wages for Medicare. There is no limit on the earnings of the employee for the Medicare taxes.
To determine the Federal Withholding, the company will use the W-4. If the company did not receive a W-4 from the employee, then the company will withhold as if the form said "Single, no allowances." At the end of this IRS Employer's Tax Guide are the withholding tables. The company will use the table that corresponds with the marital status and the payroll period (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, annual, daily) the company uses. Once on the correct table, find the gross wages in the left column. Go across until you reach the column with the correct number of employee allowances. The amount in that block is the amount of withholding.
The company will use the same method for determing state withholding. The state withholding tables can be found on the Georgia Department of Revenue website.
All amounts withheld shall be submitted to the IRS on behalf of the employee.
If you have any questions, please contact me or your CPA.
The new employee should fill out the employment forms found on the DeCarrera Law, LLC website. The W-4 and the G-4 are the federal and state forms that you will pay particular attention to when determining how much money to withhold from the employee's paycheck. On each form, the employee will indicate whether he or she is married and the number of allowances he or she has. (Side note: If the employee is having a difficult time figuring out the number of allowances, direct the employee to the IRS Withholding Calculator.)You will use this information from the tax guides to figure out the amount of withholding.
The company should automatically withhold 6.2% of taxable wages until the employee earns $97,500 for the calendar year for Social Security taxes. The company will withhold an additional 1.45% of taxable wages for Medicare. There is no limit on the earnings of the employee for the Medicare taxes.
To determine the Federal Withholding, the company will use the W-4. If the company did not receive a W-4 from the employee, then the company will withhold as if the form said "Single, no allowances." At the end of this IRS Employer's Tax Guide are the withholding tables. The company will use the table that corresponds with the marital status and the payroll period (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, annual, daily) the company uses. Once on the correct table, find the gross wages in the left column. Go across until you reach the column with the correct number of employee allowances. The amount in that block is the amount of withholding.
The company will use the same method for determing state withholding. The state withholding tables can be found on the Georgia Department of Revenue website.
All amounts withheld shall be submitted to the IRS on behalf of the employee.
If you have any questions, please contact me or your CPA.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Minimum Wage Goes Up
For the first time since 1997, the federal minimum wage will go up on July 24, 2007. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 will increase the federal minimum wage to $5.85 on July 24. On the one year anniversary, July 24, 2008, the minimum wage will increase to $6.55. And on the two year anniversary, July 24, 2009, the minimum wage will increase to $7.25.
The Federal minimum wage laws are more strigent than Georgia's laws. Thus, Georgia employers will have to raise the hourly rate of minimum-wage employees to at least $5.85 an hour.
The Federal minimum wage laws are more strigent than Georgia's laws. Thus, Georgia employers will have to raise the hourly rate of minimum-wage employees to at least $5.85 an hour.
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