employer liability Archives - Business RadioX ®

2023 Compliance Deadlines Every Employer Must Know

January 13, 2023 by John Ray

Advisory Insights Podcast

2023 Compliance Deadlines Every Employer Must Know

00:00 /

2023 Compliance Deadlines Every Employer Must Know (Advisory Insights Podcast, Episode 26)

On this episode of Advisory Insights, Stuart Oberman of Oberman Law Firm discussed the compliance deadlines every employer must be aware of for 2023. Stuart discussed various deadlines and requirements on reportable workforce demographic data and furnishing 1095-C documents to employees. He also covered penalties for incorrect information and employer responsibility under the Affordable Care Act.

Advisory Insights is presented by Oberman Law Firm and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. The series can be found on all the major podcast apps. You can find the complete show archive here.

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:01] Broadcasting from the studios of Business RadioX, it’s time for Advisory Insights. Brought to you by Oberman Law Firm, serving clients nationwide with tailored service and exceptional results. Now, here’s your host.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:20] Hello, everyone. Stuart Oberman here, Advisory Insights Podcast. Welcome, welcome, welcome. 2023 off and running, folks. We’re going to have a great topic today. First and foremost, we want to make sure that we get your checklist up to date. So, topic for today, 2023 Compliance Deadlines Every Employer Must Know.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:44] As we entered December 2022, it gets brutally hectic at the end the year. We all know that. But now, really, start the time to think about what are we doing in ’23? What do I need to talk to my advisors about? What do I need to talk to my CPA about? What do I need to talk about my office manager about? Well, we’re going to go through this list. And I’ll tell you, if we go off track on this list that you’re not in compliance with, you don’t want to get there already in 2023. Let’s get this straight. Let’s go through some dotted I’s here and make sure we got everything.

Stuart Oberman: [00:01:20] First and foremost, H.R. I know I talked about that a lot, a lot last year in 2022. Look, we’ve got benefits. We’ve got payrolls, hiring. We’ve got recruiting. And we’ve got so much more that we need to take a look at on a day-to-day business, but I want to make sure we’re keeping on track. Let me get through some basic, basic things you guys need to know. Let me run through these dates here. Talk with your CPAs again, talk with your advisors, your counselors. Make sure you’re on track.

Stuart Oberman: [00:01:48] First and foremost, as we know, W-2s have got to be out by January 31st. I hate to tell you this, but I’ve got employers that we work with who are sending out W-2s in September. That’s just not going to work, folks. And, also, a copy that W-2 has to go to Social Security Administration. That is basic stuff. But, yet, what happens is, if employees don’t get their W-2s, they’re disgruntled. And disgruntled employees even get more disgruntled. So, keep with this deadline.

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:18] The Affordable Care Act, ACA. Employers must furnish Form 1095-C to applicable employees by March 2, 2023. Question is, has your CPA told you that? Does Your CPA know the deadlines on that? Because also the filing deadlines for the Form 2094-C and 2095-C is February 28, 2023, or March 31, 2023 if you file electronically. I would encourage everyone to file electronically.

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:59] Here’s what sort of bugs me a little bit about the next form. There’s so much pressure on our employers for this. So, the EEO Reporting, certain employers must report demographic workforce data. Listen to this, data by race, ethnicity, sex, job categories. If you have those defined, great. If not, your question is what do you do? How do you file it? So, the annual collection of that data is scheduled to open on April 2023 per the EEOC. Now, I need everyone to make sure they understand that.

Stuart Oberman: [00:03:47] Next information, employee verification. Please make sure that your employees provide you with the correct address, correct address. Incorrect information will delay W-2s, and you will have to pay the penalties for that. And, again, your employees will not be happy. I want you to double check your W-2s.

Stuart Oberman: [00:04:15] Here’s what I want to make sure of. One, you’ve got all the Social Security numbers that are correct. Two, your EIN numbers correct. EIN number, Federal Employer Number. So, the IRS, believe it or not, charges you $50 for each return that is mailed out incorrectly. Why would you want to pay the IRS additional amounts than you already owe? Included in the W2s – again, I don’t want to get too far into tax in those kind of things, but I do want to just make sure you know the deadlines – taxable cash. Cash. Yes, folks, cash. You have to declare that. Your employees have to declare that.

Stuart Oberman: [00:04:56] Non-cash benefits include a company car. I can’t even begin to tell you how our employers don’t understand how to calculate a car usage on a W-2. Please, that is an audit waiting to happen.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:15] Now, we want to take a look at the CARES Act, Employee Retention Credit. I will tell you, I get so many emails regarding this particular matter. I would urge you to be very, very careful what you answer, who you let take care of this. I would send this straight to your CPA. Let them handle it. I would not get entrenched in any third party solicitation and vendors. Go straight to your CPA. Double check with your attorney. Make sure that anything you do on an outside vendor is valid.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:48] So, we have to understand that the three year lookback period on these wages after March 12, 2023 to determine eligibility. That’s as far as I’m going to get deep into that, because that’s a road we just don’t want to travel on this quick podcast. But, again, I would urge you, urge you to take a look at what forms are available from your CPA.

Stuart Oberman: [00:06:11] Again, the Affordable CARES Act requirements. There has to be distributed to the employees according to your 1095 forms. Again, especially with independent contractor payments – here we go – anything regarding independent contractors that is paid more than $600 must be reported. Folks, $600. That is nothing. You’ve got to do it. Your CPAs have got to do it. Again, that’s an audit waiting to happen.

Stuart Oberman: [00:06:48] I also want to take a look at one thing we got to be careful of, which is the ACA, Affordable CARES Act. So, I want you to talk to your financial advisors about this. Take a look at the employer shared responsibility, the ESR. Do you fall under the requirements? Do you average 50 employees under the IRS 2022 Employer Health Plan Affordability Threshold Challenge? Do you know what that means? Again, take a look at getting that information to your CPA.

Stuart Oberman: [00:07:28] You know, folks, look, that is some basic, basic information that I really want you to take a look at. But what I really want you to look at is a growing trend. And we’ve talked about this before on our podcasts, and we’re going to talk about it forever because this is not going away, folks. I mean, this is just not going to go away.

Stuart Oberman: [00:07:48] I want to make sure that in 2023, you put down on your calendar employee training. You think, “Well, my employees are trained enough. We have monthly meetings. We go to lunch once a week.” No, no, no. We’re not going to go there. I want to make sure your managers and employees understand sexual harassment prevention. I want to make sure your employees and your managers understand hiring practices. Questions, what to ask, what not to ask. Workplace safety, do they understand? Are you training your people effective? Is your management effective?

Stuart Oberman: [00:08:32] So, the deadlines are the deadlines. But I’ll tell you, if you go astray on any of these training items for your managers or employees – the old days back in the ’60s and ’70s, those days are dead and gone. You can’t do those things anymore. So, again, sexual harassment, hiring practices, workplace safety, effective management control.

Stuart Oberman: [00:09:00] Folks, again, I want to keep you out of trouble. Short, sweet podcasts. I want you to look at those little things. That’s going to be it for today, folks. Again, short, sweet to the point, deadlines, what you do and what you have to look at.

Stuart Oberman: [00:09:14] Again, Advisory Insights Podcast. Stuart Oberman, your host here. If you need anything, let us know. Please feel free to give us a call, 770-886-2400, or email us, stuart@obermanlawfirm.com. Thank you very much. Let’s start 2023 off to a fantastic year. We look forward to speaking with you soon. Have a great day.

Outro: [00:09:40] Thank you for joining us on Advisory Insights. This show is brought to you by Oberman Law Firm, a business-centric law firm representing local, regional, and national clients in a wide range of practice areas, including healthcare, mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions and regulatory compliance.

About Advisory Insights Podcast

Presented by Oberman Law Firm, Advisory Insights Podcast covers legal, business, HR, and other topics of vital concern to healthcare practices and other business owners. This show series can be found here as well as on all the major podcast apps.

Stuart Oberman, Oberman Law Firm

Stuart Oberman is the founder and President of Oberman Law Firm. Mr. Oberman graduated from Urbana University and received his law degree from John Marshall Law School. Mr. Oberman has been practicing law for over 25 years, and before going into private practice, Mr. Oberman was in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 Company. Mr. Oberman is widely regarded as the go-to attorney in the area of Dental Law, which includes DSO formation, corporate business structures, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, advertising regulations, HIPAA, Compliance, and employment law regulations that affect dental practices.

In addition, Mr. Oberman’s expertise in the healthcare industry includes advising clients in the complex regulatory landscape as it relates to telehealth and telemedicine, including compliance of corporate structures, third-party reimbursement, contract negotiations, technology, health care fraud, and abuse law (Anti-Kickback Statute and the State Law), professional liability risk management, federal and state regulations.

As the long-term care industry evolves, Mr. Oberman has the knowledge and experience to guide clients in the long-term care sector with respect to corporate and regulatory matters, assisted living facilities, continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). In addition, Mr. Oberman’s practice also focuses on health care facility acquisitions and other changes of ownership, as well as related licensure and Medicare/Medicaid certification matters, CCRC registrations, long-term care/skilled nursing facility management, operating agreements, assisted living licensure matters, and health care joint ventures.

In addition to his expertise in the health care industry, Mr. Oberman has a nationwide practice that focuses on all facets of contractual disputes, including corporate governance, fiduciary duty, trade secrets, unfair competition, covenants not to compete, trademark and copyright infringement, fraud, and deceptive trade practices, and other business-related matters. Mr. Oberman also represents clients throughout the United States in a wide range of practice areas, including mergers & acquisitions, partnership agreements, commercial real estate, entity formation, employment law, commercial leasing, intellectual property, and HIPAA/OSHA compliance.

Mr. Oberman is a national lecturer and has published articles in the U.S. and Canada.

Oberman Law Firm

Oberman Law Firm has a long history of civic service, noted national, regional, and local clients, and stands among the Southeast’s eminent and fast-growing full-service law firms. Oberman Law Firm’s areas of practice include Business Planning, Commercial & Technology Transactions, Corporate, Employment & Labor, Estate Planning, Health Care, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Privacy & Data Security, and Real Estate.

By meeting their client’s goals and becoming a trusted partner and advocate for our clients, their attorneys are recognized as legal go-getters who provide value-added service. Their attorneys understand that in a rapidly changing legal market, clients have new expectations, constantly evolving choices, and operate in an environment of heightened reputational and commercial risk.

Oberman Law Firm’s strength is its ability to solve complex legal problems by collaborating across borders and practice areas.

Connect with Oberman Law Firm:

Company website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Employer Job Interviews and Covid-19 Questions

September 3, 2021 by John Ray

Dental Law Radio

Employer Job Interviews and Covid-19 Questions

00:00 /

Employer Job Interviews and Covid-19 Questions (Dental Law Radio, Episode 18)

The hot question for dental practices seeking to hire is whether they can ask candidates about their vaccination status. The issue goes deeper than just a simple yes or no. As Stuart Oberman explains in this episode, he finds that HR is the biggest nightmare for dental practices, and that sloppy employer practices and documentation produce sweeping violations which go well beyond just one question in an interview. Dental Law Radio is underwritten and presented by Oberman Law Firm and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®.

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:01] Broadcasting from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, it’s time for Dental Law Radio. Dental Law Radio is brought to you by Oberman Law Firm, a leading dental-centric law firm serving dental clients on a local, regional and national basis. Now, here’s your host, Stuart Oberman.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:26] Hello, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to Dental Law Radio. Our previous segments have dealt specifically with COVID-19. We’re going to conclude this series with what happens regarding interviews. So, if we digress a little bit on our first segments, we went through complex governmental matters, employee resistance, mandates.

Stuart Oberman: [00:00:55] Now, what we’re seeing is that in this job market, we’re seeing a lot of turnover in our dental practices and, actually, across the board on our nondental clients. So, we’re getting a lot of questions. Again, this particular topic, employer job interviews, COVID-19 questions, that’s a whole another day – that’s a whole another day that we could speak about for another eight hours. But one thing that we want to do, we just want to touch on some pros and cons, some yes and nos, things you can and can’t do on interviews. Because I will tell you, in today’s world, if you think that the potential employees are not recording your conversations, your job interviews, you have another thing coming. I will assure you. And also, nowadays, we’re doing Zoom interviews, and we’re hiring people without even shaking the hands and kissing the babies. So, then, what do you do? Now, you’re on Zoom. And you don’t even know you’re being recorded on Zoom.

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:09] So, what happens is, is that, now, someone who’s not experienced in your office, it could be a wide variety of positions that do your “hiring and firing,” that are not HR-trained, that either have been the old front desk; or, now, we’ve got the hygienist who’s now interviewing; and now, we got the office manager who used to answer the phones three weeks ago, now, they’re doing the interviews. So, you’ve just opened up the door to huge potential problems if you do not – and I repeat – if you do not understand what you can and cannot do.

Stuart Oberman: [00:02:55] So, very, very succinctly. So, we get these questions, “Can I require vaccinations?” and tell people who I’m hiring, “You are now required to get a vaccination the first day”? The answer is yes. Now, that guidance is constantly changing. Last year when we started all this, COVID-19, the overall prevailing view was no because there is too much risk. Now, we’re seeing mandates on top of mandates, on top of mandates from employers. So, if you have procedures in place, if you have dotted all of your Is and crossed your Ts regarding compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, EEOC, the CDC, OSHA, EEO and the FDA, then, yes, there’s probably a pretty good likelihood that you will be able to require that new hires be vaccinated, but you can’t do it arbitrarily.

Stuart Oberman: [00:04:02] Now, I will say this that guidance from the ADA and EEOC, in many cases, is unsettled. So, the guidance today is yes, we can mandate, but we have to have very, very stringent federal law, state law, local law compliance on these policies. So, then, what happened is, is that let’s say you mandate that your hire does not want to get a vaccination. So, now, you’re in a couple areas. You’re in the ADA, American with Disabilities Act, EEOC because you love this new employee, this employee-to-be. So, you have to indicate that you’ve got an accommodation. medically and disability and religiously for that person because they do not and cannot get vaccinated for a wide variety of reasons.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:12] Now, I will tell you, the sloppiest thing our dental practices do is try to maintain HR. HR is a nightmare for our dental practices. And I’ll say our employer clients, in general. So, one thing you cannot do is that you cannot intermingle the vaccination exemptions, protocols or compliance into the employer’s regular personnel file. These have to be treated as separate confidential medical records.

Stuart Oberman: [00:05:55] Now, we’ve had cases where the employers have literally given over the employee files to them to manage. That is literally like putting the fox in the henhouse. You cannot give your employees their own personnel files to manage, because I will guarantee you, if that employee is fired, leaves, discharged, that record is gone. And then, you’re going to ask me for advice. And I would say, “Where’s your file?” Are you going to say, “I don’t have it.” And I’m going to say, “Where is it at?” And then, you’re going to say, “The employee had it.” I’m going to say, “Great. At least, you had one but, now, we’re in a whole different ballgame.”

Stuart Oberman: [00:06:40] So, on the mandates, the EEOC provides guidance that employers may lawfully — a vaccination policies, even for those that are just starting. Now, the key is that’s a lot of variance there, that’s a lot of governmental guidance agency-wise. So, you have to constantly keep track of what’s going on with all these agencies. Again, I know I keep saying it, OSHA, CDC, EEOC, EO, FDA, all those will change guidance in a heartbeat, and you’ve got to keep track of that, and you have to adjust your written policies – and notice I said written policies – either way. You’ve got to stay on top of this. And honestly, you can’t leave it to one person in your office, HR to cover this. You can’t leave it to payroll. Half the time you’re lucky if you get your payroll correct from payroll companies; nevertheless, handled to HR on a complicated matter like this.

Stuart Oberman: [00:07:42] So, again, I will stress, stay on top of this. Stay on top of this. Seek counsel if you have any questions, concerns whatsoever. If you want to reach out to us, please feel free to email me directly at stuart@obermanlaw.com. We try to provide as much guidance as we can. You could get added to our newsletter. We try to put out publications as much as possible, at least a couple of times a month, on these kinds of issues, related to vaccination issues. We’ll be doing a lot of industry webinars and some live events. So, the resources are out there. Use them because this is an extremely difficult trap for the unwary.

Stuart Oberman: [00:08:37] So, that is really going to conclude our multipart segment on COVID-19, really for now, until the government issues additional guidance. Then, we’re going to have to, obviously, modify some things. So, let’s jump with thank you for joining us. It has been a pleasure. If you have any questions, concerns, please feel free to reach out to us. And have a great day. And we look forward to having you join us on subsequent Dental Law Radio podcasts. Have a great day.

About Dental Law Radio

Hosted by Stuart Oberman, a nationally recognized authority in dental law, Dental Law Radio covers legal, business, and other operating issues and topics of vital concern to dentists and dental practice owners. The show is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® and can be found on all the major podcast apps. The complete show archive is here.

Stuart Oberman, Oberman Law Firm

In addition, Mr. Oberman’s expertise in the health care industry includes advising clients in the complex regulatory landscape as it relates to telehealth and telemedicine, including compliance of corporate structures, third-party reimbursement, contract negotiations, technology, health care fraud and abuse law (Anti-Kickback Statute and the State Law), professional liability risk management, federal and state regulations.

Mr. Oberman is a national lecturer and has published articles in the U.S. and Canada.

Oberman Law Firm

Oberman Law Firm’s strength is its ability to solve complex legal problems by collaborating across borders and practice areas.

Connect with Oberman Law Firm:

Company website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Employer Liability, Alcohol Serving Laws and Underage Drinking

May 20, 2020 by Mike

Gwinnett Studio

Employer Liability, Alcohol Serving Laws and Underage Drinking

00:00 /

“Injury Insider with Derek Hays” will answer legal questions and debunk personal injury myths with insight and humor. For nearly 25 years, Derek has exclusively represented injured parties in Georgia. Now, he’d like to put that knowledge to work for you!

On this episode, Derek answers questions he frequently receives from his clients about employer liabilities, restaurants over-serving alcohol to customers, drunk driving, and underage drinking and driving.

“Injury Insider with Derek Hays” is brought to you by Status Home Design, your one-stop-shop for all your home and gift needs.

About The Law Office of Derek M. Hays

The Law Office of Derek M. Hays is located in the heart of downtown Lawrenceville at 30 Lumpkin Street, Suite C in Lawrenceville, GA . We are just minutes away from the Lawrenceville Square and Gwinnett Justice and Administrative Center.

Derek Hays, owner and founder of the Law Office of Derek M. Hays, is among Georgia’s elite trial lawyers, recognized for his work on behalf of victims of car wrecks, nursing home negligence and other personal injury claims. He has successfully obtained approximately $125,000,000 in combined verdicts and settlements in his almost 25 years practicing law. Nationally, he is one of America’s Top 100 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, earned by the most skilled and ethical attorneys. Derek M. Hays has also been honored as Gwinnett Magazine’s “Best of Gwinnett” every year since 2015 as well as being a valued member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

Mr. Hays believes communication is key and this sets him apart from other firms. He is committed to clients and manages each case while discussing all aspects of your claim with you from the beginning, answering questions and guiding you through the process to maximize your compensation.

Call for a free, no risk case evaluation – 404-777-HURT

Follow The Law Office of Derek M. Hays on Facebook