California’s People & Productivity Symposium
is Almost Here
Check out this registration discount offer!

Have you registered for Employers Group’s California’s People & Productivity Symposium on July 19th? This day-long event at Irvine’s Hyatt Regency celebrates our 110th year of helping California employers manage their people. The Symposium will bring together HR professionals and chief executives from around the state to hear from leading authorities on how organizations today can create the best environment to increase their company’s productivity.

What You Will Learn:

• Fostering a workplace where strong leaders rise
• Shaping a creative and productive work environment
• Building collaboration within your company
• Creating winning opportunities for aspiring managers
• Maximizing workforce development opportunities using state resources
• Motivating and empowering: Lennar Homes’ experience
• Optimizing the older workforce
• Understanding internal partnership roles and responsibilities
• Getting the maximum return from your workforce investment
• Championing change and growth for yourself and others

For more information on the program and to register, please visit our website.

Complete the “Best Workplace” survey (see below) and SAVE $50 off the registration fees!

Best Workplaces Competition

Here's an excellent opportunity to help you raise your company's visibility with other companies and with your employees and applicants.

As part of it's 110th Anniversary, Employers Group is sponsoring a "Best Workplaces" contest where winners will be recognized at our upcoming July 19th Symposium. This is a great opportunity for your company to shine among California's top companies.

The areas covered in the contest include:

• Work-Life Balance
• Employee Voice & Workplace Culture
• Community Involvement
• Pay Practices
• Benefits
• Training & Opportunity for Advancement
• Diversity

To be considered, please complete your application/questionnaire by June 30th.

To start the process, click here.

You may also request a ready-to-print questionnaire by clicking here.

Your involvement in this process is a great way to benchmark your commitment to your employees and, if selected as a finalist, you will have a great opportunity to put your organization in front of your peers, vendors, associates and potential workforce.

For more information or to reply in person, please contact Juan Garcia at 213.765.3969 or via email at jgarcia@employersgroup.com

Sometimes the Company Picnic Ain’t No Picnic

Employers Group’s Consulting Helpline receives a number of calls this time of year regarding company picnics and employer liability. Common questions include: “If an employee is injured, is the injury covered under workers’ compensation?” and “What’s the liability if the company serves alcohol?”

Sexual harassment, workplace violence and discrimination claims are also areas of concern. Employers who sponsor summer picnics and recreational events must be mindful of the potential problems and legal responsibilities.

To help minimize risk and these types of legal issues, here are some suggestions:

• Hold the event during non-working hours, and do not conduct company business at the event.
• Do not require attendance; make it voluntary. Be heedful of employees’ rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which provides that an employer must reasonably accommodate the religious beliefs and practices of an employee, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship.
• Do not coerce or pressure employees in any way to participate in any activities.
• Do not serve liquor. However, if you must serve alcohol:
  • Issue a clear policy statement before the party that drinking to excess, sexual harassment and violence are unacceptable behaviors.
  • Do not serve liquor purchased with company funds.
  • Identify under age employees (and guests) and develop procedures that will prevent them from drinking, such as color-coded wristbands.
  • Limit the number of drinks served to each guest; provide a limited number of drink tickets; hire a professional bartender who will serve measured amounts and cut off individuals who drink too much; designate a time to close the bar, and enforce it.
  • Serve food throughout the event. High protein foods especially help retard alcohol absorption.
  • Ensure that intoxicated guests do not drive; arrange for other transportation such as designated drivers, taxi or limousine service for those who may have had too much to drink.
• Post “Notice to Employees,” California Labor Code Section 3600, regarding off duty recreational, social and athletic activities and provide employees with copies of the company’s written policies regarding these issues.
• Remind supervisors and managers that an injury is covered under workers’ compensation if the injury arises out of and in the course of employment. Thus, injuries sustained by employees who are required, coerced or pressured to attend the company function would likely be covered.

New Survey Data Shows High Turnover Costs for 2006!
Is your company doing everything to retain IT & engineering professionals?

This is one of a few surveys with local and national salaries for IT and engineering personnel. Yes, there are other more expensive surveys, but as a member of Employers Group, you can participate and receive the full report at no cost!

Participate & also receive customized market analysis reports at no charge!
A Custom Market Analysis Report: These customized reports chart pay levels based on industry, employment size or region. Regularly, such reports would command fees ranging from $150 to $300.

The survey displays data for most of California’s major metropolitan areas:
Northern California, Metro Los Angeles, and San Diego County. No other survey can provide the level of detail that you get with our survey. Consider this: Similar surveys command fees upwards of $1,500; with your participation, you guarantee your company of having one of the best sources of local and national salaries for IT and Engineers at no cost. The IT and Engineering Compensation Survey taps over 130 IT, and 50 Engineering classifications.

CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE
Hurry! The Deadline to Participate is June 30th!

UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE?
CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER
Order today and Save Over 10%!

If you have any questions about this survey or any of our other research services, please call us at 213.765.3935 or e-mail us at surveys@employersgroup.com.

How to help employees with commuting expenses

Q: Is it possible to reimburse employees for their commuting expenses?

A: As the cost of gasoline has risen, some employers have considered helping their employees with the expense of the daily commute. Although employees are responsible for paying their own commuting expenses, there are ways that employers can help.

The following benefits can be non-taxable transportation fringe benefits:

1. Transportation in a vanpool
2. Transit passes
3. Qualified parking

An employer may provide an employee with any one or more of these three benefits.

Q: Do all vanpools qualify for this benefit?

A: No. A vanpool, or "commuter highway vehicle" must have a seating capacity of at least 6 six adults (not including the driver) and at least 80% of the mileage use must be for purposes of transporting employees in connection with travel between their homes and places of employment. For these commuting trips, the number of employees transported must be at least one-half of the adult seating capacity of the vehicle, excluding the driver.

Q: What is qualified parking?

A: It is parking provided to an employee by an employer that is on or near the employer’s business premises, or, at a location from which the employee commutes to work. However, parking on or near property used by the employee for residential purposes is not qualified parking.

Q: How are transportation fringe benefits paid?

A: There are a number of ways to pay for transportation benefits. The easiest way is to increase wages. Wages, of course, are subject to both employer and employee payroll taxes including income tax.

Another option is for the employer to pay the cost of the transportation benefit directly. In this case the benefit is free of all payroll and income taxes and the employer can deduct the cost from business income taxes.

A third option is to offer the transportation benefit “pre-tax”. Employees agree to have up to $105 deducted from their current monthly pay towards the actual cost of commuting on public transit or in vanpools before taxes are applied. This way employees save federal income and payroll taxes on the amount of the benefit selected. This is sometimes called a TSA or Transportation Spending Account.

Finally, the employer may share the cost of commuting with employees by electing to pay for a portion of the tax-free transit benefit and allowing employees to pay the balance of the costs by having their share taken out of their salary before taxes.

Q: What are the limits for Qualified Transportation Fringes in 2006?

A: For taxable years beginning in 2006, the total monthly transportation fringe limitation for transportation in a vanpool or any transit pass is $105. The monthly limitation for qualified parking is $205. See Sections 132(f)(2)(A) and 132(f)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code

Q: What is a “cash out” program?

A: Qualified transportation fringe benefits include cash reimbursements by employers to employees for qualified parking, transit passes, and transportation in a vanpool. Employers making cash reimbursements must establish a bona fide reimbursement arrangement to ensure that their employees have, in fact, incurred expenses for parking, transit passes, or transportation in a vanpool. An employee must demonstrate to the employer that an amount equal to the reimbursement was incurred for such expenses. Reimbursements for transit passes do not qualify for the exclusion if a voucher or similar item that can be exchanged only for a transit pass is “readily available” for direct distribution by the employer.

Q: Can I give my employees both a transit and vanpool benefit?

A: Yes. However, the maximum tax-free amount is $105 per month. This same limit applies whether these benefits are provided separately or in combination with one another. For example, you could give an employee a $50 vanpool benefit and a $55 transit pass for a monthly total of $105, but not a $50 vanpool benefit and a $70 transit pass, since the total of $120 would exceed the tax-free limit of $105. Any amount over $105 would not be tax-free.

Further information: Information about Transportation Fringe Benefits is contained in IRS Publication 15-B, “Employer Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits”, and may be found at www.irs.gov. On the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) website, see http://www.fta.dot.gov/initiatives_tech_assistance/customer_service/ccp/2172_ENG_HTML.htm for further guidance. Also contact your local transit agency to determine if they have a program to sell transit vouchers or passes to employers for distribution to employees.

Do you Conduct Pre-employment Screening?

If yes, are you pleased with your current service? If no, are you aware of the benefits of pre-employment screening?

Here are a few points to consider:

• Employee theft and dishonesty costs U.S. businesses over $40 billion annually
• Businesses in the U.S. report losses of $36 billion a year due to workplace violence
• 30% of business failures are the result of theft or embezzlement

Employers Group has recently partnered with ScreeningOne to provide members with comprehensive, web-based pre-employment screening solutions. ScreeningOne’s exceptional service, fast turnaround, legal compliance and accuracy enable companies to make informed decisions regarding potential new hires. Their rapidly growing customer base is diverse from Fortune 500 companies to small family-run businesses. Additionally, EG has negotiated ongoing special pricing for these services for our members.

**SPECIAL MEMBER OFFER**

From now until September 1st, EG members will enjoy a special offering with no set or monthly fees and your first background report is free up to $50.00!

For more information on our new partnership, background screening services and our special offer for EG members, please contact Katherin Scott at 213-765-3949 or kscott@employersgroup.com.

Recruitment Help: FAST and CHEAP!

Has the tightening labor market got you scrambling to find strong job candidates? Are you spending far more time on recruiting efforts than you can afford? If you’re looking for a truly FAST, CHEAP and EFFECTIVE recruitment solution, Employers Group has the answer - our recruitment partner, Decision Toolbox.

Since 2002, Decision Toolbox has filled hundreds of positions for Employers Group members for an average Cost per Hire of less than 7% of first year salary. They present the candidate who is ultimately hired within an average of 11 days from project launch.

Decision Toolbox helps employers stay competitive in recruitment by combining the power of effective marketing, high-level recruitment expertise, refined recruitment processes and the speed and efficiency of technology. With an average customer satisfaction rating of 90%, EG member feedback is consistently positive! In fact, we at Employers Group are so impressed with Decision Toolbox, we use them ourselves as our primary recruitment resource.

As the labor market continues to tighten, recruiting will demand more and more of your time. Don’t waste precious hours struggling through the process – let the experts handle it.

For more information on Decision Toolbox and recruitment services offered through Employers Group, call us at 800.748.8484, Option 3.

CHANGES to California’s 2006 Harassment & Discrimination Poster

The California Harassment and Discrimination poster has been updated with major changes. The date for the new Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) poster is May 2006. These changes were not added to the initial poster changes for 2006.

Employers Group members who previously purchased new posters for 2006 can call us to order a Peel-Off poster or receive a 50% discount on a replacement poster (see below for ordering options). Also, the poster is available for download on the DFEH website at http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/Publications/DFEH%20162.pdf.

Poster Revisions
Discrimination and Harassment in Employment are prohibited by Law DFEH162 revisions, including:

• Requirement for training of supervisory personnel if you have 50 or more employees.
• Reasonable accommodation for employee's religious beliefs and practices.
• Discrimination of job applicants and employees for any term, condition, or privilege of employment.
• Prohibit employers and employment agencies from making discriminatory pre-hiring inquiries or publishing help-wanted advertising that expresses a discriminatory hiring preference.
• Prohibit retaliation against a person who opposes, reports or assists another person in opposing unlawful discrimination.
• And, the law that passed in 2005 changing the time allotted for filing a complaint is extended to one (1) year after the age of 18.

Ordering options for the updated poster from Employers Group:
Option 1 - You can purchase the "Peel N' Post" (English and Spanish) for $8.95 ($9.95 for non-members).
Option 2 - You can purchase a new poster (English and Spanish) for $14.95 – 50% off regular retail price of $29.95 (if your California poster was purchased within the last 6 months).

To order, call Employers Group at (800) 748-8484 (Option 3), or email msc@employersgroup.com.

Books to Lead By

These books and many more are available through the EG Store at discounted member rates.

Tojo Thatchenkery and Carol Metzker reveal the secrets of 'appreciative intelligence'--the ability to reframe reality to reveal the hidden possibilities within even the most seemingly unpromising situations. Using real-world examples--like Asa Candler, who looked at a failing headache remedy called Coca-Cola and saw a bestselling soft drink--they describe this ability in detail for the first time and explain how you can develop it in yourself or your organization.
Price: Member - $17.96
Non-Member - $19.96

Taylor Cox assembles learnings from ten years of teaching, research, and consulting related to cultural diversity in organizations into a comprehensive text for teaching, organization development, and scholarship. The result is a major advance in our understanding of cultural diversity and its effects on organizational behavior and performance.
Price: Member - $22.95
Non-Member - $24.95

Getting to Resolution entails an entirely new way to deal with conflict, providing a 7-step model that works to resolve conflict in any business or personal situation. In Getting to Resolution, author Stewart Levine provides an exciting new set of tools for resolving personal and business conflicts. Marriages run amuck, neighbors at odds with one another, business deals gone sour, and the pain and anger caused by corporate downsizing and layoffs are just a few of the conflicts he addresses.
Price: Member - $15.95
Non-Member - $17.95

Leadership that Matters is leadership that makes a real difference by affecting both organizational productivity and performance, and by making a positive difference in the lives of everyone in an organization. This type of leadership changes organizations from "good" to "excellent" and individuals from subordinate followers to self-directed leaders. Leadership That Matters explores how transformational leadership can be developed and practiced, and provides realistic advice for leaders.
Price: Member - $17.96
Non-Member - $19.96

For more information please visit our web site at http://www.employersgroup.com/products/books/index.shtml. Or you may call our Member Service Center at 800-748-8484 to speak with a representative.