New I-9 Form and Handbook Published

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued a new I-9 Form and revised "Handbook for Employers." Employers should start using the new forms immediately and must do so not later than December 26, 2007 or be subject to fines and penalties. You can download the new Form and Handbook from FiveL Company's website. The following is a summary of some of the key changes in the new form.

The list of acceptable documents in List A has been modified as follows:

The following documents have been removed and are no longer acceptable:

• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561)
• Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570)
• Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-151)
• Unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327)
• Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571)

The following document was added to List A and is now acceptable:

• Unexpired Employment Authorization Document (I-766)
• All Employment Authorization Documents with photographs have been consolidated as one item in List A (I-688, I-688A, I-688B and I-766)

Another key change is in the instructions providing that if an employer verifies Social Security numbers (SSN) using the government's E-Verify system then the employee is obligated to provide his or her SSN for I-9 reporting purposes.

Hot Hits!! Education Corner

Public Presentations

Tuesday, December 4th, "Did I Just Hear You Say What I Think You Meant?" presented during the 4th Annual MD SHRM State Conference, College Park, MD. This program was also recently presented during the national SHRM Diversity conference in Philadelphia.

Wednesday, December 12th, "HR Jeopardy(TM): An Employment Law, Legislative and Regulatory Update" presented for the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, 12:00 - 1:30 p.m., Westminster, MD.

NEXT WEBCAST! No webcast is offered in December. Register for the January 23rd Webcast, "When All Else Fails: Terminating the Employment Relationship" from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. EST. Did you miss the October or November webcasts? They are archived and you can access them from the website as well! All webcasts are pre-approved by HRCI for 1.0 Strategic credit!

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December's Client Training Programs

"HR and the Law for Managers"

"Proactive Practices for Affirmative Action Compliance"

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IRS Focuses on Worker Classification Practices

On November 6th the Internal Revenue Service announced a new program in which 29 states have agreed to work with the agency and share tax and other audit records with the intent of, among other things, identifying employers who are misclassifying employees as independent contractors. On July 24th, Ms. Walters testified on behalf of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) during a U.S. Congressional Joint Subcommittee hearing on the challenges employers face when trying to classify a worker as an independent contractor v. employee and the myriad definitions that currently exist under federal and state laws and regulations. In the last several months a number of states have passed laws making the misclassification of a worker a crime and imposing civil and criminal penalties! For more information on how to distinguish and properly classify a worker as an employee or independent contractor, contact FiveL Company today.

Legal Liability in Workplace Bullying?

It seems to me the issue of Workplace Bullying is getting more attention as time goes by. Results of an August 2007 poll conducted by Zogby and published by the Workplace Bullying Institute indicate that:

• 37% of the U.S. workers surveyed indicated they were currently or had been subjected to workplace bullying including verbal abuse, job sabotage, abuse of authority and more;
• 49% indicated they had witnesses such behavior or been subjected to it;
• 62% reported that their employer took no action when bullying was reported;
• 72% reported that the bully was a manager or supervisor.

It would be the rare employer that would condone such behavior. But why would such behavior go unaddressed? Perhaps because in the process of prioritizing where managers spend their time, employee relations issues fall to the wayside. What employers should consider is that such conduct is increasingly becoming the basis of litigation. While such conduct may not constitute unlawful harassment if it is not based on an individual's membership in a protected class such as age, race, religion, gender, nationality etc., it may be perceived by the victim as unlawful and/or may serve as the basis for any one or more tort claims, such as intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The topic has also gotten the attention of some state legislatures that are drafting workplace bullying legislation that would hold employers responsible when such behaviors are reported and no action is taken.

Tips? When planning your 2008 training programs such as Diversity, Workplace Inclusion and/or Workplace Harassment Prevention consider providing information and programs that address effective communication, conflict management and recognizing individual differences. While traditional diversity training may not appeal to some, when such programs focus on perception, communication styles and individual human differences employees often appreciate and recognize the point and the message. Also consider supplemental programs for your management team members to remind them of the steps they should take (like calling HR!) when they receive reports of inappropriate behavior, whether they think it is serious or not.

If you would like an outline or information on related programs such as, "Maintaining an Inclusive Workplace" or "Workplace Ethics & Respect" call or email FiveL Company today!

Thank You & Happy Holidays!

Thanks to each and every one of the more than 2,200 recipients of this E-newsletter. I extend to you my best wishes for a very warm and wonderful holiday season and the best of New Year's to come!