Iowa Lawyer & Attorney : Sullivan & Ward Law Firm : Iowa Law Blog

Employee retirement plans, including 401(k)s and pensions plans, are benefits offered by many businesses.  It's important if your business offers such a benefit that the plan comply with all the laws governing the plan.  However, mistakes can be made, therefore the IRS has published a 401(k) fix-it guide.  Although named a 401(k) fix-it guide, many of the corrections are applicable to other types of employee benefit plans.  The guide lists the eleven most common mistakes made by businesses and then offers tips on finding the mistake, fixing the mistake, and avoiding the mistake in the future.  Most errors can be self-corrected.  If you have questions consult with your plan administrator or attorney.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

The Question of the Week posted this week got me thinking about the classification of temporary employees. Temporary workers are workers that are employed by a staffing agency which supplies workers to the client company. Temporary workers report to the client, but receive pay and benefits from the staffing agency. Temporary workers, therefore, are considered to be the employee of the staffing agency rather than the client company.

The risk of having a temp become an employee of the client company arises when the client company retains a certain amount of control over the temp. If that happens, the client company may face liability for a wide variety of employment related issues including discrimination and wage and hour violations.

How can the client company reduce the risk of having a temp become classified as an employee? The suggestions listed below are taken from “Get Smart When Using Temporary Employees” and a 2004 Iowa case, Willms v. Associated Materials Inc.

• Allow the staffing agency to communicate the rate of pay and hours to the temp;
• Require the staffing agency to perform drug testing or background checks;
• Request the staffing agency perform periodic visits to the job site;
• Differentiate the temp uniforms, badges, parking spaces, break rooms, etc. from the permanent employees’;
• Allow the staffing agency to make hiring and firing decisions as well as take disciplinary action;
• Limit the time period a temp works at the site;
• Refer to the temp as a worker who is assigned rather than an employee who is hired;
• Always have your attorney review your agreement with the agency.

In short, treat temporary employees different than your permanent employees. A client company may not be able to completely eliminate the risks of having temporary workers classified as employees, but by using some of the suggestions above the risk will be reduced.

Photo on flickr by DCvision2006

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

“Forced to be Fit,” which some may have caught on the CBS Evening News last night, tells the story of the Benton County, Arkansas’ fight against fat. This isn’t your traditional fight against fat e.g. America’s Biggest Loser or Lighten Up Iowa. In this story the pressure to lose weight comes from the employer. Research shows that obese employees cost employers more in health insurance and worker’s compensation. Some employers are transferring this extra cost to the employee, while others are providing incentives to the employees for losing weight. Others have only gone so far as to provide fitness facilities to encourage weight loss.

It's clear that this issue will become more prevalent in the future.  Currently, obesity itself is not a protected class.  However, in certain limited circumstances, it may be considered a disability under the American with Disability Act.  Therefore, it's important to tred carefully when dealing with employees that are considered obese.

Photo on flickr by fanboy30

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks