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June Hot Topics:
  1. The Importance of the Follow-Up Question
    By Alden Reynoso, VP Recruiting and Client Services, Human Resources Professional Group
  2. Prudent Tips on Tip Withholding
    Contributed By Fred Patterson, lll, District Sales Manager, AmCheck
  3. California and the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
    Contributed By Eric Sheetz, Commercial Insurance Broker


The Importance of the Follow-Up Question
By Alden Reynoso, VP Recruiting and Client Services, Human Resources Professional Group


I recently had a hiring manager complain to me that the well-qualified candidate she just interviewed came across as too rehearsed and that while she may know what the candidate's accomplishments were, she did not understand specifically how he got there. The item missing from this manager's interview toolbox was the Follow Up Question.

First, a primer on generating interview questions: Interview questions should be objective and focused on the skills, knowledge and abilities required to perform in the job. In general, when drafting interview questions, it is better to aim for open-ended questions over those that can be answered with a yes/no. Open-ended questions are also generally more effective at pulling out key skills and abilities in a way that does not "lead" the candidate to the "correct" response. Consider the examples below regarding a candidate's ability to delegate to a team:

  • Open-Ended Interview Question
  • "Please describe a project you oversaw that required effort by many members of your staff." This is a question designed to get the candidate talking about applicable past experiences. (It is also a very predictable one that your candidate will likely have rehearsed an answer for.)
  • Closed-Ended Interview Questions
  • ''Do you consider yourself to be an effective delegator?'' This question is phrased in such a way that the candidate might give a one-word or otherwise uninformative answer.
The goal for the interview is to understand in detail the candidate's past accomplishments. Hence, in addition to using open-ended questions, hiring managers might want to consider being prepared with a couple of follow-up questions to force candidates to discuss what their skills and experiences really are. For example, in regards to the candidate's experience with effective delegating of "Who did you ask to participate and why did you choose them?" "What assignments did each member of the team have?" "What specific steps did you take to make sure the project stayed on course?" "Did you make any mistakes in the way you delegated? What would you do differently next time?"

For some hiring managers, the job interview is just as stressful for them as it is for the candidate. Using follow-up questions can take some of the pressure off and make it easier to control the flow of the interview. Hiring managers can develop a list of questions regarding specific experiences related to the areas most important for the job at hand and then follow up with questions to probe beyond the candidate's rehearsed answer or otherwise fill in any gaps in the candidate's reply.


For more information or questions, contact Alden Reynoso, VP Recruitment and Client Services, Human Resources Professional Group. Alden may be reached at areynoso@hrpg.com, or (760) 730-9531.


Prudent Tips on Tip Withholding
Contributed By Fred Patterson of AmCheck Payroll Services


If your employees regularly receive tips, it is important to comply with the withholding requirements and pay your company's fair share of employment taxes. Expensive penalties can be assessed on both employers and employees if the tip reporting rules are not followed.

Here is a brief summary of some of the requirements for federal income tax and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) withholding, as well as filing.

Income Tax Withholding
You're required to withhold federal income tax on an employee's cash tips of $20 or more per month. The employee is generally supposed to report the tips to you by the tenth day of the month following the month of receipt. Your company can elect to treat tips as supplemental wages. The tips can be reported in the regular payroll amount or subject to withholding at a flat rate of 25 percent.

FICA Withholding
If the employee's cash tips do not exceed $20 in a calendar quarter, there is no FICA tax liability. However, any excess is subject to FICA. The same general rules apply to tips as wages. For instance, the Social Security portion of the tax applies to an annual "wage base" $113,700 for 2013 (up from $110,100 in 2012). The 1.45 percent Medicare portion of the tax applies to all wages.

The employee's share of Social Security tax is 6.2 percent and the Medicare portion is 1.45 percent. The same is true for the employer share of these two taxes.
If you run a food or beverage establishment, you may be able to defray part of the cost of FICA through a special tax credit. Ask your payroll tax adviser if you are eligible for the 45B Credit, named for the section of the tax code it comes from.

Note: Reported tips are also subject to federal unemployment tax (FUTA). There are no income limits.
These withholding rules require the employer to collect income tax and FICA on reported tips unless the employee provides the necessary funds. If you can't deduct the full amount from the employee's regular wages - and the employee doesn't otherwise provide the funds -- the tax must be paid directly with the employee's tax return. If you can collect only part of the amount due, apply what you collected first to FICA.

Filing Requirement
A business is generally required to file Form 8027, Employer's Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips, for each establishment if:
  • Food or beverage is provided for consumption on the premises.
  • Tipping is a customary practice.
  • More than ten full-time employees are employed on a typical business day. The term "employee" isn't limited to waiters and waitresses. It comprises everyone on the payroll, from cooks to dishwashers to musicians.
Caution: Employees who don't follow these tip reporting rules may be hit with a penalty equal to 50 percent of the FICA tax due in addition to paying the employer's share of the tax.


For more information or questions regarding your payroll processes, please contact Fred Patterson III, District Sales Manager for AmCheck, a payroll solutions firm with offices throughout the United States. Fred may be reached at fred.patterson@amcheck.com or (619) 595-7900.



California and the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Contributed By Eric Sheetz, Commercial Insurance Broker


A growing part of the country sits back to see California's rollout due to the size of the state and the fact it has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents - nearly 20%!

In order to reach out to those who qualify for the Affordable Care Act, local community health centers have reached out to workers to help low income Latinos to aid them in understanding the program and how they can benefit from the new medical system.

"The Obamacare war in the trenches will be especially important in Los Angeles County where the majority of Latinos who qualify for government subsidized health care coverage live." (Tony Castro, VOXXI)

The Latino population accounts for nearly half of the 2.6 million California eligible for Obamacare.

"We are trying to make sure the community doesn't have a lot of anxiety about it," says Olga Duran, program director at Valley Community Clinic in North Hollywood, which typifies the local health facilities engaged in the campaign.

"We let them know, especially because so many of our population are low income, that they are still eligible for Health Way LA. And for those who are undocumented, we will still provide care. It's the unknowns that always cause a little bit of angst." That army of outreach workers has been fanning out for weeks to farmers' markets, job fairs and grocery stores across California to inform Latinos about the historic Affordable Health Care Act, which has become the cornerstone of the Obama presidency.

"There's a lot of misinformation," says Xavier Morales, executive director for the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California which has been focusing special attention on the state's Imperial Valley. "We want people to understand the opportunity it brings."

Since the Oct. 1 rollout of Obamacare, more than 43,000 people have already been signed up in the California's health-insurance exchange where the Obama administration has sent almost $1 billion in exchange grants.

"This is a good start, but the pace of enrollment will have to accelerate for California to meet its goals," says Gerald Kominski, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. "I hope they have eliminated the glitches."

Stay informed and up to speed on this trying time as the ACA has an impact on us all, especially small businesses.


For more information or questions about choosing a broker or your business insurance, please contact Eric Sheetz, Property and Casualty Insurance Broker. You may contact him at ESheetz@ehrenfeldinsurance.com or (760) 809-8510.

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