Immigration Action Alert
Starting January 1, 2012, several new provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011 will go into effect. To help companies around our state abide by the new policies, the Georgia Chamber compiled a summary of the upcoming changes.
E-Verify / Occupational Tax Certificate (Business Licenses)
Before any city or county issues any occupational tax certificate (also known as business licenses), or other license required to operate a business, which may include certificates of occupancy, alcohol licenses and taxi cab licenses, to a private employer, the employer must sign an affidavit stating that the employer either is authorized to use E-verify or is not required to use E-verify.
The requirement stating that the employer is authorized to use E-verify is effective for employers with 500 or more employees on January 1, 2012, for employers with 100 or more employees on July 1, 2012, and for employers with more than 10 employees on July 1, 2013.
After July 1, 2013, if an employer has 10 or fewer employees then they must sign an affidavit stating the provisions do not apply to them. The number of employees is determined as of January 1 of the year the affidavit is submitted. The law is unclear whether the number of employee requirement applies to the number of employees in each particular retail location, city, Georgia or worldwide.
Form affidavits have not yet been created for employers with 100 or more employees and for employers with more than 10 employees. These forms will be available prior to July 1, 2012.
The city or county is required to get one affidavit per business per year.
FUTA Action Alert
Due to the recent economic downturn, several states (including Georgia) had to borrow money from the Federal government to meet their State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) obligations. These states were given two years to pay back their loans. If they did not meet this deadline, employers in would lose part of their FUTA tax credit, which would increase the FUTA tax rate for wages paid in that state.
On December 1st, the U.S. Department of Labor released the FUTA credit reduction rates for 21 states that did not meet their deadline to pay back the loans.
If you have employees in the following states, your payroll company may be drafting and depositing this additional amount on your next payroll - AR-.3%, IN-.6%, NJ-.3%, CA-.3%, KY-.3%, NY-.3%, VI-.3%, CT-.3%, MI-.9%, NC-.3%, VA-.3%, FL-.3%, MN-.3%, OH-.3%, WI-.3%, GA-.3%, MO-.3%, PA-.3%, IL-.3%, NV-.3%, RI-.3%.
If you have any questions, please check with your payroll company.
Menu Labeling Ruling Postponed to 2012
The FDA will not release final regulations to explain
new federal menu-labeling rules for restaurants until sometime next year. The FDA's original goal was to publish final rules by the end of this year and allow six months for restaurants to comply. There's no word from the FDA on when the rules will come out -- or when the rules will take effect. The National Restaurant Association has asked that restaurants have at least a year after rules are published to comply. The law affects restaurants that are part of a chain of 20 or more locations operating under the same brand name.
National Labor Relations Board: New Notice Requirement Pushed Back
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently announced that it is pushing back the date by which employers are required to post the new notice. April 30, 2012 is the new effective date.
The NLRB finalized its notice-posting rule over the summer with an original final rule implementation date of November 14, 2011, which was later moved to January 31, 2012. Under the rule, NLRB requires all employers subject to the National Labor Relations Act to post a notice outlining employees’ rights to organize and bargain collectively and, more importantly, makes failure to post the new employee rights notice an unfair labor practice.
From the moment the regulation was proposed, the National Restaurant Association has questioned the NLRB’s authority to require such a posting and to treat failure to post as an unfair labor practice. The National Restaurant Association and 31 State Restaurant Associations, including Georgia, filed comments objecting to the proposed rule on February 22, 2011, stating that the proposal “would mandate the posting of both misleading information to employees and lead to miscommunication between workers and managers.”
Legal arguments were made through the comments filed by the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, which were also incorporated by reference into regulatory comments. Following the issuance of the Final Rule this summer, several lawsuits were filed against the NLRB to stop the implementation of this requirement. The National Restaurant Association is party to NAM v. NLRB as a member of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. It is believed that the actions of the coalition led to the postponement of the implementation date.
