Sexual Harassment

The Professional Employer has a important article on sexual harassment.  Here’s an excerpt:

“You have to take a hard line against sexual harassment before it occurs. Verbally informing your employees about your company’s position on sexual harassment is a good start. But ultimately a written sexual harassment policy is the most effective thing you can do to protect your employees and your business.

Many small businesses neglect to adopt written sexual harassment policies because they think they are not “large enough” to require such a document. But NO business is immune from sexual harassment or from the litigation that follows. That reason alone should convince you to create a written policy sooner, rather than later.”

Good Outsourcing, Bad Outsourcing

I’m a big advocate for outsourcing. In fact, I think small businesses should outsource just about every non-core business function. However, I am NOT an advocate for outsourcing American jobs to foreign countries. Yes, I do understand we operate in a global economy and many corporations must make difficult choices to compete in the global arena. However I believe American business owners should consider offshore outsourcing a last resort!

There are many outsourcing opportunities right here in our own back yard. Of course we do have those pesky human rights organizations and that bureaucratic red-tape to deal with, but isn’t that to ensure business is done humanely and with integrity? Call me an idealist, but if you’re willing to do business without a conscience just to increase your bottom line then I’m not interested in your product or service.

Here’s a (SHORT) list of major corporations who either directly or through subsidiaries outsource some part of their business to foreign countries. I’m not calling for a boycott but I am requesting you to please write letters, send emails or call these companies to encourage them to bring American jobs home.

	COMPANY		OUTSOURCING LOCATION
	Allstate Insurance		Chennai
	Amazon		Bangalore, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune & Manila
	American Family Insurance		Chennai
	AOL		Bangalore
	American Express		Mumbai
	AT&T		Chennai
	Bank Of America		Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai
	BB&T		Chennai, Bangalore, and Pune
	Best Buy		Mumbai
	Caterpillar		Bangalore
	Citibank		Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai
	CNBC		India
	CNN		Pormona
	Compaq		Chennai and Hyderabad
	Countrywide		Mumbai.
	DELL		Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai and Hyderabad
	D-Link		Mumbai
	Dish-Network		Ahmedabad
	Dun & Bradstreet		Chennai
	Ebay		Delhi
	Fidelity Investments		Gurgaon
	Ford		Chennai
	GE Capital Service		Bangalore, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, and Kolkota
	Hewlett Packard		Bangalore and Chennai
	Honeywell		Bangalore
	IBM		Bangalore
	Intuit		Bangalore, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune & Manila
	JP Morgan		Mumbai
	John Deere		Chennai, Bangalore, and Pune
	Lexis Nexis		Chennai
	Microsoft		Pune
	Morgan Stanley		Mumbai
	Nationwide Insurance		Chennai
	Nextel		Trivandrum
	Oracle		Bangalore
	Palm		Chennai and Hyderabad
	PayPal		Bangalore, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune & Manila
	Pfizer		Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, and Delhi
	Phillips		Bangalore
	Progressive Insurance		Chennai
	Sprint		Chennai, Delhi, and New Delhi
	Sun Microsystems		Pune
	T-Mobile		New Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune
	Texas Instruments		Bangalore
	The History Channel		India
	Yahoo		Bangalore

For a more comprehensive listing Click HERE.

Avoid Legal Fees

Human Resource firms help small businesses avoid getting entangled with expensive employment litigation. For those brave souls who choose NOT to outsource to an HR professional, consider this SHORT list of legal fees that you’ll face when your employment issues go to court:

PROFESSIONAL COSTS
Professional costs are anything that pertains to the time and effort of a law firm. These can be their hourly rates in the courtroom, research, time spent compiling documents, and other time spent on your case.

DISBURSEMENTS
Disbursements are costs that are outside of the law firm. These costs will include things such as expert witnesses, a doctor’s report, or lodging a document with the court.

HOURLY RATES
Each lawyer will charge a different rate. A typical hourly rate can vary between $50 and $1000 an hour. There are many factors that determine a particular firm’s hourly rate. Some of these factors are the attorney’s experience level, the location of the practice, the specialization of their expertise, and sometimes the complexity of the case. While some lawyer’s fees may be higher than another, that is not always a bad thing. Sometimes lawyers with more experience will be able to handle your case in less time, and/or have a better prediction about how many hours it will take them.

PARALEGAL RATES
You should also be aware that you will often have to pay an hourly rate for paralegal’s assistance. This can often be billed at $50-200 an hour. This is for time spent on legal research, document construction, and other preparations.

COURT COSTS
Court costs fall under the disbursements category of attorney’s fees, and you will be responsible for paying these fees. These are fees charged by the courthouse. You will be expected to pay for filing fees, and for lodging a document with the court.

Payroll Tax Basics

Payroll taxes are due either semi-weekly or monthly depending on the size of your payroll. The IRS will dictate the schedule. If your total payroll won’t come to $2,500 for the quarter, you can file quarterly.
You may consider using a payroll software program to handle your payroll needs. If your company is growing you might opt for an Employment & Payroll service. Employment & Payroll agencies specialize in handling all of your payroll needs.

About.com offers some basic information on the following subjects that every business owner must know regarding payroll taxes.
- Statutory Payroll Tax Deductions
- Voluntary Payroll Deductions
- Employer Payroll Tax Responsibilities
- Employer Payroll Taxes
- FICA Taxes
- Reporting Payroll Taxes

If you have the time, have a rudimentary understanding of tax law and work with extreme accuracy then consider using a payroll software program.
If not, consider outsourcing to an employment/payroll professional.