The Biggest Employment Issues for Employers During 2019 – Part Two

Employers deal with lots of issues regarding taxes, employee benefits, payroll processing and human resources each year and 2019 is no different. Featured below is part two of a list of the biggest issue’s businesses must stay aware of this year. The biggest issues are as follows:

1. Cyber Attacks Security and Privacy – Today there’s constant news of ransomware, cyber-attacks and real-world invasion of workplace computers. It is critical employers take these real-world risks seriously because they are happening and impacting companies and governments directly. Company’s must take action directly to stave off risk by doing the following things: never use Social Security numbers as employee id’s; use secure email when sending sensitive information of any type; employ direct methods of destroying sensitive information by using secure shredding services; and finally, when departing from a workplace workstation completely logout of all devices.
2. W-4 Changes – Because of the tax reform law of 2017, many updates to Form W-4 have been mandated by the federal government. However, because the updates are complex, complying with the mandated updates is not required in 2019 so the W-4 is almost the same as the 2018 W-4.
3. Healthcare Reform for States – Federal regulations and guidelines have been changed that will impact the markets for health insurance with respect to Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), Short-term Limited Duration Insurance (STLDI), Association Health Plan (AHPs), which may end up impacting how employers provide health insurance.
4. Employer Shared Responsibility (ESR) IRS Mandated Enforcement – Large employers need to comply with Employer Shared Responsibility. When an employer receives a 226J letter, the onus is on them to respond to the letter an provide the requested information with respect to all company departments including benefits, human resources and payroll.
5. Department of Labor Rule Making Effect – During the U.S. Department of Labor fall 2018 regulatory agenda it was communicated that the its Wage and Hour Department was going to issue several Notices of Proposed Rule Making regarding many regulations which would impact virtually all employers. The biggest change being made was to overtime regulations, but there were many other changes to regulation effecting the rate of pay. These changes would not go into effect most likely until March 2019.

The Final Word on Employer Legal Issue Awareness

Companies need to be sure they are in compliance with respect to all employer laws and regulation mandated by both State and Federal government entities. It is in a company’s best interest to be aware of the biggest issues of the day and make sure it is compliance with all rules and regulations.