#team jenn

[seekeroftheway]

Oh, I was supposed to be studying art history? I thought you said "get into a Jennifer Aniston/Angelina Jolie debate with my mom on facebook".

[teamjenncorp]

Let's Hear It For Krystal!

Krystal Henderson is our new administrative all-star! We are so excited to have her on the team.   Her family hails from Memphis, TN, but she was born and raised in good ol’ LA. Her family has quite a few sets of twins;  as luck would have it, she had a pair herself!  So, that makes three TJC employees with twins now: Krystal, Lindsay, and Hagen.  Wottup?

Krystal went to Susan Miller Dorsey High and originally dreamed of becoming a lawyer when she discovered that Robert Kardashian (OJ Simpson’s lawyer) had graduated from there;  but she soon discovered that lawyer blood wasn’t running through her veins. That's good, because lawyer blood doesn't flow in TJC veins either.

Instead she focused more on the business of running an office and now she loves it!  Organization is her speciality.  Krystal is currently engaged to DJ/Producer DJ Matrix! Therefore, we know she will enjoy all the jamming out that happens in the Team Jenn office. Krystal likes hip hop dance classes and Zumba – so Rosie and Jill will certainly be recruiting her soon.   She and her family love to go to movies and travel.  

  Krystal is pushing for an offshore TJC office that she can elect to travel to and work from,  and has a Teacup Terrier on her bucket list.  We'll see.

[teamjenncorp]

Handle Your Hiring the Right Way

Attention small business owners! Are you still wondering about when to classify someone you hire as a contractor or an employee? Answer this short quiz below to find out how you should be handling your hiring! Trust us, the law is paying attention and so should you.

Employers! Ask yourself these questions regarding someone you're hiring as a freelancer:

Do they exert any degree of control on the overall relationship?  Or do you entirely control them and their work?  Even if they don't SHOW evidence of controlling the relationship, it's ok if they COULD.

Do they have their own office?

Do they have their own equipment?

Are you going to pay them more than $35/hour?

Will they bill you for a PROJECT? Or at a day rate? (as opposed to hourly billing, which indicates a "staff" relationship)

Do they have business cards and a web site or even a Linked-in profile that shows they are operating a business and understand "self employment"?

Do they have a business license? 

Or can they show you evidence that they carry their own General Liability Business insurance?  (You WANT that, or you have to cover them btw.)

If those answers are predominantly "NO", or if it's not perfectly clear, then err on the conservative side. Put the person on as "temporary full time staff".  

If you answered mostly YES then proceed and get a W9 and an ICA done before you pay them.  You should NOT pay them a nickel until you have a signed ICA.  On those ICA docs, make sure they have dates that are not open ended. Each contractor should be "short term" or defined term.

Things that make us comfortable classifying an "individual"  as a contractor or freelancer:

They are an LLC or an S Corp = the W9 they fill out has a taxpayer ID that is not their SSN

 They have their own staff, or can subcontract the work we give them out to another worker if they get overloaded

They have lots of other clients and it's super obvious

They provide a high level of skill to us, in a specialized field, and that's made clear by a high level of pay they receive

They give US the contract with a SOW piece and thereby show "control" of the working relationship

LAST, but very important: if the role they fill is a "usual and necessary" job, they must go on staff.  For example, if you hire an Art Director at at ad agency, they should go on staff every single time because that's a standard position at an agency.  Producers, by the way, CAN be independent contractors because it's not a constant position at a lot of agencies, and sometimes goes with the production company more than the agency.  

We can't "coach" people on how to be business owners and look right.  The state employment department is now calling these people we send 1099s to, and they are interviewing them.  They ask those questions above – and if their answers are not perfect, they reclassify the worker as an employee and charge back employment taxes, plus penalties and interest.  Further, if just one worker is misclassified, the state may ask to see all records for all workers paid, both employees and contractors, and they ask for three years of records!!!!

The risk is very high now, so we're heightening our attention to best possible practices!!  

[teamjenncorp]

We're Scared. Read This!

As you all know (we hope), we assist employers in making sure they are implementing significant policies to avoid discrimination and wrongful discharge claims.

Failing to properly draft, implement, disseminate and administer these key policies can lead to discrimination and wrongful discharge awards in the millions (gulp!) of dollars. 

We're nervous enough to be trying to help all our clients be very clear with their policies.  If we contact you about your handbook, it's because we have a good reason to: employees are a very protected group of folks, and a good handbook is the best protection for employers.  It doesn't just protect you from a lawsuit, it should help you communicate with employees on a daily basis in a way that prevents confusion.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and plaintiff's attorney are aggressively focusing on employer handbooks and policies in pursuing claims of discrimination and wrongful discharge. Human resources professionals and managers, like us, and like YOU, are being deposed and quizzed on the following:

1.  What the policies and procedures really mean: were you clear?  Are your staff confused?

2.  How are they distributed to employees: can you PROVE that your employees GOT the policy and understood it? Know where to find answers?

3.  Whether employees know how to make an internal complaint and if the policies are applied consistently across your staff.  

Call us if this if something that makes your hair stand on end.

[yerawizardsarry]

13 minutes until Big Brother!!

[explicitaffairs]

♥♥♥

[teamjenncorp]

Business License Tax

To all TJC clients in Culver City and Los Angeles: Your business license tax is due by 2/28. You will have gotten a thing in the mail by now. It's green, and about 4" x 5" and ugly.

It says "2010 Business Tax Renewal: Delinquent after March 1st" in the upper left corner. Send it to us and we'll handle it. If you don't send it to us, we'll figure out how to handle it. If you think you need help, we'll handle it....