Are you prepared for a disaster? If your area or business is struck by a hurricane, flood or fire, your level of preparedness can make the difference between surviving and succumbing – both in a personal and in a business sense. To help you prepare, the federal government includes a variety of useful tips and ideas on their Ready Business website, part of the ready.gov emergency planning site.

Write a Plan
A written emergency plan can help everyone to understand what to do if disaster strikes. The plan should include details of how you will communicate with customers and with employees during and after the occurrence. Involving employees in creating the plan will accomplish two goals: employees who contribute to the effort may be more likely to support it and remember what to do, and the plan itself will benefit from the input of front-line employees. They may be in the best position to say what will be needed and how to accomplish it.

When creating your written plan, don’t overlook any special needs employees. Engage them in the process, and ask them what they may need. For example, employees who are unable to walk will need help evacuating, and those who are hearing-impaired will require visual warnings.

Communication is Critical
Communication is one of the most important needs following an emergency. Employees need to know when and how to contact you. For instance:

• Set up a telephone call tree;
• Create a password-protected page on the company website;
• Use an email alert system; 
• Set up a call-in voice recording;
• Establish an out-of-town phone number where employees can leave a message letting you know that they are okay, in case the disaster is far-reaching.

Include the phone number, website address, and other pertinent emergency information on a wallet card employees can carry with them.

Who’s In Charge?
Employees need to know who is providing accurate information following an emergency. Designate staff members who will have that responsibility, and make sure employees know who they are. Top company executives should have all relevant information about employees, customers and vendors.

Let Them Know
Once you have created an emergency preparedness plan, make sure employees know about it. Use your company newsletter or website (or both) to remind them about it often. Of course, employees will want to make sure their own families are safe, and the ready.gov site offers a Family Emergency Plan that can help.  By including that information in your emergency preparedness communications, employees will know you care about them and about their families.

Getting Back to Normal
Once the disaster has passed, it is important to the well-being of you and your employees to resume routines as quickly as you can. By preparing in advance, you have likely made that easier. Ready.gov suggests that you take some measures to help employees in the aftermath of an emergency:

• Encourage adequate food, rest and recreation;
• Provide for time at home to care for family needs;
• Have an open door policy that facilitates seeking needed care;
• Create opportunities for employees to talk about the experience;
• Alleviate fears about family needs by assuring employees you haven’t forgotten them;
• Provide professional counselors; and
• Limit exposure to television, radio and other external stressors once the need for emergency instructions has passed.

Be sure you don’t neglect yourself, either. Leaders tend to experience additional stress after a disaster, and your personal health is important to both your business and your family.

For additional Information, please click here www.ready.gov/business

When an employee is guilty of serious misconduct, an employer’s natural reaction is often anger and disappointment.  In smaller businesses particularly, where there is some sense of “family” or “community,” there is often a sense of betrayal and disloyalty.   Often the employer’s initial response is to discharge the employee.  As an employer, you may feel justified in immediately terminating the offending employee. You may even be justified. But should you make the decision to discharge in the heat of the moment? Not according to employment law experts.  The experts say you need to keep your emotions in check, and follow your established discipline and discharge procedures, which should be clearly defined in written policies and communicated to your staff.  Please note, this is a sensitive and complex area. Employers are strongly encouraged to consult with experienced counsel on these matters before taking action. 

Be Sure to Investigate
Even if the evidence against the employee appears overwhelming, you should still investigate the matter in a businesslike manner.  Clearly advise the employee regarding the allegations of wrongdoing.  Then, allow the employee to provide his or her explanation of the events.  If the employee’s continued presence in the workplace threatens the well-being of your business, e.g., the employee is charged with theft, fighting, other violence, you may wish to suspend the employee subject to discharge and direct the employee to leave the premises.  If the employee is exonerated, then the employee should be paid for the suspension period.  If the employee is discharged he or she will not be paid for the suspension period.

Continue your investigation by collecting any physical evidence available, such as stolen property, drugs, alcohol, weapons, or other contraband.   Interview all eyewitnesses and anyone else who may have information regarding the matter.  Document your investigation in the offending employee’s personnel file.

Evaluate Your Company’s History with Similar Infractions
If the investigation clearly shows that the accused employee is guilty of the infraction alleged, determine whether employees who committed similar offenses in the past have been discharged or whether some lesser penalty was imposed.  Even if you have discharged employees for the same infraction in the past, consider whether there are other factors that might mitigate the discharge, as discharge is the “capital punishment” of the workplace.  Consider the employee’s long term work record, whether the employee is under any particular personal stress that might be relevant, etc. 

Limit Your Exposure to Discrimination Charges
Before making your final decision, consider whether the employee is in a “protected class” which might give the employee some basis for asserting a claim of discrimination based upon race, gender, age, religion, national origin, union activity, etc.  Even though you may work hard to avoid discriminatory activity in your business, a manager, fellow employee, or someone else may have done something that could suggest discrimination.  On the one hand, you do not want to be intimidated by threats of baseless claims and suits alleging discrimination.  On the other hand, you must make an informed business decision as to whether there is any reasonable basis for a claim that the employee might seek to assert.  Offending employees, of course, rarely recognize their own wrongdoing and often seek to blame someone else for their acts or omissions.

In determining whether there is any risk of a discrimination claim, look at the employee’s personnel file, interview the employee’s supervisor, and explore any other evidence available. 

Examine Your Business-Wide Practices
You should also look carefully at your business-wide practices.  Is there any neutral practice, e.g., a pen and paper test, educational requirements, etc., which might have a disparate impact on a protected group of employees?  Also, consider whether you are at risk for any claims for unequal pay for men and women, failure to pay overtime pay, etc.  Disgruntled employees may seek to dig something up that is companywide and not unique to them in order to retaliate for the discharge.  If you think there is any risk of exposure, you should consult with a labor and employment attorney to review your documentation and determine your next steps.

Weigh Your Decision Carefully
In the end, you may decide that termination is warranted. When employees are guilty of workplace violence, theft, drug use, bringing weapons to work, and other acts that threaten the wellbeing of your workplace and other employees, the only effective solution may be to remove the employee from the workplace.  However, firing first and asking questions later may create far more problems than it solves.   While you may feel vindicated in the short term, in the long term you may have a lot to lose. Even in cases where company work rules clearly allow immediate dismissal in the event of a specific infraction, discipline and/or discharge should only be imposed after a careful investigation and consideration of all the circumstances.

If the Employee is Innocent
If you find that the employee is innocent of the infraction, the employee should be returned to the workforce as quickly as possible, and paid for the time missed. In the event of complete exoneration, all references to a disciplinary action should be removed from personnel files.  

By following a dispassionate course even when you really want to discharge an offending employee, by taking the extra time to reconsider and investigate, you ensure fair treatment for your employees and, in the long run, you avoid costly mistakes.

If you are a small business owner, whether you hire people as independent contractors or as employees will impact how much taxes you pay and the amount of taxes you withhold from their paychecks. Additionally, it will affect how much additional cost your business must bear, what documents and information they must provide to you, and what tax documents you must give to them.

The following are the top ten tips every business owner should know about hiring people as independent contractors versus hiring them as employees.

1. Three characteristics are used by the IRS to determine the relationship between businesses and workers: Behavioral Control, Financial Control, and the Type of Relationship.
2. Behavioral Control covers facts that show whether the business has a right to direct or control how the work is done through instructions, training or other means.
3. Financial Control covers facts that show whether the business has a right to direct or control the financial and business aspects of the worker's job.
4. The Type of Relationship factor relates to how the workers and the business owner perceive their relationship.
5. If you have the right to control or direct not only what is to be done, but also how it is to be done, then your workers are most likely employees.
6. If you can direct or control only the result of the work done -- and not the means and methods of accomplishing the result -- then your workers are probably independent contractors.
7. Employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors can end up with substantial tax bills. Additionally, they can face penalties for failing to pay employment taxes and for failing to file required tax forms.
8. Workers can avoid higher tax bills and lost benefits if they know their proper status.
9. Both employers and workers can ask the IRS to make a determination on whether a specific individual is an independent contractor or an employee by filing a Form SS-8 – Determination of Worker Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding – with the IRS.
10. You can learn more about the critical determination of a worker’s status as an Independent Contractor or Employee at IRS.gov by selecting the Small Business link.  Additional resources include IRS Publication 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide, Publication 1779, Independent Contractor or Employee, and Publication 1976, Do You Qualify for Relief under Section 530? These publications and Form SS-8 are available on the IRS Web site or by calling the IRS at 800-829-3676 (800-TAX-FORM).