I received this question in my inbox today:
Hi Ed,
We want to convert some earnings of our employees to de minimis benefits in order for them to have a bigger take home pay. Is it possible to just make the policy and procedures and implement or do we need particular tax documentation because certainly, the withholding tax to be paid would be less than what was previously remitted.
Any input would be highly appreciated.
Regards,
Cutie
Cutie, if my understanding is correct, you want to DECLARE EXISTING benefits as de minimis benefits because they are not taxable, is this correct?
The finance manager of one of my clients wanted to do the same thing and I stopped him for two major reasons:
1. It's not legal, therefore... it's illegal, nuff said.
2. Even if it's legal, it's not a good idea because it defeats the purpose of giving these benefits for people to appreciate and enjoy.
What I did with ExeQserve and another company that outsourced their HR to us is take advantage of the tax-free benefit provisions by offering them as is. This means that ExeQserve Employees are enjoying meal allowance,clothing allowance, rice subsidy, laundry allowance, medical expense reimbursement and communication allowance exactly within the limits and instruction provided by the law. These make them happy ( I hope!)
What I did was offer these on top of their regular salaries and benefits (i.e., service incentive leaves, HMO, group insurance and performance based incentives). This makes their compensation a little bit more competitive compared to others who don't enjoy the same set of benefits.
So what's my recommendation? My recommendation is that you follow my example or if you intend to save and then at the same time give your employees more, offer to give them the tax-free benefits as a reward in their next salary review instead of giving the conventional salary adjustments. That's the legal way. It also reflects that your company offers competitive benefits package.
Hope this helps.
P.S. keep receipts!
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Monday, March 23, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The Tyranny of the Blind Carbon Copy
I read from somewhere that Albert Einstein regretted his participation in a project that lead to the invention and eventual use of the Atomic bomb. He must have realized the terror of the weapon of mass destruction after its effect became real.
I don't know if the person who invented the BCC email feature realized how people are using this to terrorize other employees in many organizations and to promote some of the most destructive of office politics.
No, the atomic bomb and the BCC are not comparable. I'm exaggerating, but I'm not exaggerating when I talk about how destructively office people are using this email feature.
My first encounter with an office terrorist was when I was HR Manager in a software development company. Our head of marketing who declared himself to be the eyes and ears of the owners would send stinging emails to target individuals (I was not exempted) and BCC the big boss. We learned of his dastardly deeds because the secretary who hates him just as much as everybody did (except the boss) would leak his covert activities to us. In another company, it has become the default action to secretly involve the boss in the mud slinging activities by sending her BCCs of the exchanges. Because the emails were sent in confidence, the boss would keep her silence, thereby allowing the ninja-like character assassination to proliferate. In another office, someone would BCC an office friend just to show how she told another office mate off or to show how she responded to a nasty email from another employee. Outside of the virtual world these people are nice to each other. There is no trace of the covert attacks going on and carried out via email.
Because blind copies are not untraceable, people eventually find out and when they do, they form an opinion that their office mates and sometimes even their bosses cannot be trusted. There is no telling how much (mis)information has been shared and how bad the boss has been influenced that they become more "careful" and scheming of how they can redeem themselves at the expense of others hence, bad office politics.
I'm not techno-savvy enough to know if this thing can be turned off but if there is a way to do so, I will turn it off. The better measure however is to talk to the team as a leader and agree on some emailing norms. I'd recommend the following:
1. Using BCC for internal communication is sneaky and serves absolutely no good purpose. Don't use it.
2. Emails are devoid of vocal tones. Your email message can be misinterpreted. Read your email before sending. If you feel that the limitation of the email will affect clarity, lift the phone or better yet, go to the person and talk
3. If you've gone back and forth with your email responses to clarify an issue or to make sure that you get to say the last word, you are wasting time and disk space. Go to the other person and argue in person. I assure you, it will improve your relationship.
I don't know if the person who invented the BCC email feature realized how people are using this to terrorize other employees in many organizations and to promote some of the most destructive of office politics.
No, the atomic bomb and the BCC are not comparable. I'm exaggerating, but I'm not exaggerating when I talk about how destructively office people are using this email feature.
My first encounter with an office terrorist was when I was HR Manager in a software development company. Our head of marketing who declared himself to be the eyes and ears of the owners would send stinging emails to target individuals (I was not exempted) and BCC the big boss. We learned of his dastardly deeds because the secretary who hates him just as much as everybody did (except the boss) would leak his covert activities to us. In another company, it has become the default action to secretly involve the boss in the mud slinging activities by sending her BCCs of the exchanges. Because the emails were sent in confidence, the boss would keep her silence, thereby allowing the ninja-like character assassination to proliferate. In another office, someone would BCC an office friend just to show how she told another office mate off or to show how she responded to a nasty email from another employee. Outside of the virtual world these people are nice to each other. There is no trace of the covert attacks going on and carried out via email.
Because blind copies are not untraceable, people eventually find out and when they do, they form an opinion that their office mates and sometimes even their bosses cannot be trusted. There is no telling how much (mis)information has been shared and how bad the boss has been influenced that they become more "careful" and scheming of how they can redeem themselves at the expense of others hence, bad office politics.
I'm not techno-savvy enough to know if this thing can be turned off but if there is a way to do so, I will turn it off. The better measure however is to talk to the team as a leader and agree on some emailing norms. I'd recommend the following:
1. Using BCC for internal communication is sneaky and serves absolutely no good purpose. Don't use it.
2. Emails are devoid of vocal tones. Your email message can be misinterpreted. Read your email before sending. If you feel that the limitation of the email will affect clarity, lift the phone or better yet, go to the person and talk
3. If you've gone back and forth with your email responses to clarify an issue or to make sure that you get to say the last word, you are wasting time and disk space. Go to the other person and argue in person. I assure you, it will improve your relationship.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Compensating Field Work
Here's a question from Aileen:
Dear Ed,
I have a couple of questions regarding computation of OT and meal allowance during Field work.
Please refer below for sample IT:
Day 1 -8am-2pm Travel from Manila to Provincial Site1
2pm- 6am of Day 2 - Inventory for Branch A
6am-9am travel to Provincial Site 2
9am-6pm- Hotel Check-in, rest/ sleep
6pm-6am of Day 3 - Inventory for Branch B
6am- 9am- rest , fix things
9am- 3pm travel back to Manila
Day 4- plan of offset
Questions:
1. How do we compute total worked hours?Which ones do we include? Which are the OTs?
2. If he does not go to work the next day after travel, can he offset?
Please enlighten.
thanks, aileen
Hi Aileen,
I've been away from time keeping and payrolling for such a long time that some of my experience are already a bit hazy to me, but I'll give your request try. To all other HR Managers who know better, I welcome your input.
There are so many ways to treat this. Here are some of the things I've seen others do:
1. Some compensate the travel separately by giving travel allowance and per diem and then compute the actual hours worked doing the inventory as "the" hours worked. They have a complete scheme on how to compute the allowances and per diem based on distance and days away from home office. I'm not sure if there are any rules on this but as a rule of thumb, we should look at the fairness of compensation considering the cost of inconvenience on the side of the employee as a minimum.
2. Some don't have elaborate travel allowance scheme but start counting the hours worked the moment the employee left for the site and up to the time he goes back while others pause the time while the employee is at rest.
3. Can the employee offset if he does not report for work the following day? Does that mean he will have to give up his overtime pay? It will save the company some amount but will make him lose the premium pay due to overtime work. I suggest that the employee be allowed to take a leave of absence to recuperate from the travel and then let him collect his well deserved overtime pay. It's a small price to pay to keep a hardworking employee happy. What do you think?
4. Which are OTs? If you are practicing my item#1, the employee worked 16 hours on the first day, worked 12 hours the second day, and the third day... is tricky! If it's up to me, I'll consider it a regular working hours.
Readers, please share your thoughts.
Dear Ed,
I have a couple of questions regarding computation of OT and meal allowance during Field work.
Please refer below for sample IT:
Day 1 -8am-2pm Travel from Manila to Provincial Site1
2pm- 6am of Day 2 - Inventory for Branch A
6am-9am travel to Provincial Site 2
9am-6pm- Hotel Check-in, rest/ sleep
6pm-6am of Day 3 - Inventory for Branch B
6am- 9am- rest , fix things
9am- 3pm travel back to Manila
Day 4- plan of offset
Questions:
1. How do we compute total worked hours?Which ones do we include? Which are the OTs?
2. If he does not go to work the next day after travel, can he offset?
Please enlighten.
thanks, aileen
Hi Aileen,
I've been away from time keeping and payrolling for such a long time that some of my experience are already a bit hazy to me, but I'll give your request try. To all other HR Managers who know better, I welcome your input.
There are so many ways to treat this. Here are some of the things I've seen others do:
1. Some compensate the travel separately by giving travel allowance and per diem and then compute the actual hours worked doing the inventory as "the" hours worked. They have a complete scheme on how to compute the allowances and per diem based on distance and days away from home office. I'm not sure if there are any rules on this but as a rule of thumb, we should look at the fairness of compensation considering the cost of inconvenience on the side of the employee as a minimum.
2. Some don't have elaborate travel allowance scheme but start counting the hours worked the moment the employee left for the site and up to the time he goes back while others pause the time while the employee is at rest.
3. Can the employee offset if he does not report for work the following day? Does that mean he will have to give up his overtime pay? It will save the company some amount but will make him lose the premium pay due to overtime work. I suggest that the employee be allowed to take a leave of absence to recuperate from the travel and then let him collect his well deserved overtime pay. It's a small price to pay to keep a hardworking employee happy. What do you think?
4. Which are OTs? If you are practicing my item#1, the employee worked 16 hours on the first day, worked 12 hours the second day, and the third day... is tricky! If it's up to me, I'll consider it a regular working hours.
Readers, please share your thoughts.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Training is Not an Event
It is a process that has inputs and must have outputs.
If training performance is being measured by the number of training hours or by smiley sheets, the training manager digresses from the real intent of training and that is to enhance that person's knowledge, attitude, habits and skills in order to cope with or prepare the person for the new challenges of work.
When the way to choose training is similar to impulse buying in a grocery store instead of it being a part of an elaborate human resource development and performance management program, application of skills is left to participants' heroics.
Yes, training is more than just an event but that's how a lot of us is treating it. We send employees to half-day, one-day or even 5-day training events and hope that those will make a difference in the person's performance. We incorporate team building activities in our company outing events and hope that they can improve relationships. When training events are not based on identified needs, there's a good chance that it may not be what's needed. When the work environment does not support the new knowledge, skill transfer is left to chance. Training is a means to an end. It works with other means to achieve the desired end. Let me substantiate what I mean.
A customer service training is an intervention that supports the building of a service culture. The training event will become successful when all other means are in place. I'm talking about service philosophies and policies, rewards system, the code of ethics and leadership that empowers service driven-ness.
Many companies spend a lot of money equipping their employees to solve problems and make decisions using proven tools. A lot of them fail to recover their investments because the work environment does not support the use of these tools. The ones who succeed in using fish bone diagrams, Pareto analysis, decision trees etc. to reduce cost, increase profit and avoid wastage are the ones who institutionalized problem solving and decision making. I'm talking about companies with quality circles or process improvement teams that use the problem solving and decision making tools they learned in training. Without these a lot of what were taught in the training stay at awareness level rather than application level.
A well thought of team building intervention can have a hugely positive impact on organizational performance... only when they are well thought of. After 14 years of facilitating team building events, I have formed strategies on how to make it work. It starts with meeting with the client to share what I know about how to make it work. We discuss the preliminaries, the event and more importantly the needed follow through, without which, no matter how well run or how much fun the event is, the results if there's any will be short-lived. Too short to generate any positive return on the huge investment. If you are planning a team building workshop and interested in what I said here, please give me a ring - (63)9189399294.
This is how I want ExeQserve to make a difference. To be honest, some of the courses we have are still stand-alone events, but they are going towards becoming more process driven, more long term interventions. Check out our Performance Management, Team building, Leadership, Coaching and Service Culture building interventions. They are ready. If you still prefer treating training as an event, we can give you what you want, but if you want better results and are willing to do what it takes. Give us a chance to work closely with you.
If training performance is being measured by the number of training hours or by smiley sheets, the training manager digresses from the real intent of training and that is to enhance that person's knowledge, attitude, habits and skills in order to cope with or prepare the person for the new challenges of work.
When the way to choose training is similar to impulse buying in a grocery store instead of it being a part of an elaborate human resource development and performance management program, application of skills is left to participants' heroics.
Yes, training is more than just an event but that's how a lot of us is treating it. We send employees to half-day, one-day or even 5-day training events and hope that those will make a difference in the person's performance. We incorporate team building activities in our company outing events and hope that they can improve relationships. When training events are not based on identified needs, there's a good chance that it may not be what's needed. When the work environment does not support the new knowledge, skill transfer is left to chance. Training is a means to an end. It works with other means to achieve the desired end. Let me substantiate what I mean.
A customer service training is an intervention that supports the building of a service culture. The training event will become successful when all other means are in place. I'm talking about service philosophies and policies, rewards system, the code of ethics and leadership that empowers service driven-ness.
Many companies spend a lot of money equipping their employees to solve problems and make decisions using proven tools. A lot of them fail to recover their investments because the work environment does not support the use of these tools. The ones who succeed in using fish bone diagrams, Pareto analysis, decision trees etc. to reduce cost, increase profit and avoid wastage are the ones who institutionalized problem solving and decision making. I'm talking about companies with quality circles or process improvement teams that use the problem solving and decision making tools they learned in training. Without these a lot of what were taught in the training stay at awareness level rather than application level.
A well thought of team building intervention can have a hugely positive impact on organizational performance... only when they are well thought of. After 14 years of facilitating team building events, I have formed strategies on how to make it work. It starts with meeting with the client to share what I know about how to make it work. We discuss the preliminaries, the event and more importantly the needed follow through, without which, no matter how well run or how much fun the event is, the results if there's any will be short-lived. Too short to generate any positive return on the huge investment. If you are planning a team building workshop and interested in what I said here, please give me a ring - (63)9189399294.
This is how I want ExeQserve to make a difference. To be honest, some of the courses we have are still stand-alone events, but they are going towards becoming more process driven, more long term interventions. Check out our Performance Management, Team building, Leadership, Coaching and Service Culture building interventions. They are ready. If you still prefer treating training as an event, we can give you what you want, but if you want better results and are willing to do what it takes. Give us a chance to work closely with you.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
HR 2.0
This post is obviously inspired by Web 2.0. which also happens to characterize the changing face of the workforce.
This is the age of uber amplified social networking where people connect and build relationship with other people across the globe without meeting them face-to-face, in a physical sense that is. They exchange information freely and guide each other in carrying out tasks that are as mundane as picking the right gadget to as complex as finishing a project at work.
Along with the emergence of these exciting social networking tools are real information security risks and productivity hindrances. Because of the last two, many have demonized these new tools and made bold moves to get them out of the workplace. I feel though that this is a wrong way of responding to it. i feel that this response is akin to sticking it out with the type writer while the rest of the world are using computers.
The flood gate of web 2.0 has opened and will not be closed again. The best way to respond to the situation is to find out how to best profit from it. HR Managers in particular need to familiarize themselves with the beast that is web 2.0 before they even try to slay it, because maybe the beast is tameable. Sorry if I went too far with my metaphors. What I mean is maybe there is a way for the company to harness the benefits of interactive web and manage work better so that employees won't get stuck to updating their facebook or friendster accounts all day. A couple of things come to mind.
At exeQserve, I make it a point to not restrict the use of social networking tools available on the web. I encourage my staffs to join egroups, put up a linkedin account, join interest groups in ning and to blog. I want them to use these networking tools to connect with people who could be future clients. I also encourage them to solicit information and contribute some as such is the nature of online social networks. The value of information and education we get from people on the other ends of the web is unmatch-able by class room training or education.
How can we handle the security and productivity issues? For security, my answer is education and trust. Talk to your team members about the risks involved when using interactive web. They need to be aware of information they are not allowed to share. They need to be aware of the risks involved in downloading programs, etc. They also need to develop the habits of securing their PC's from viruses and other risks. I mentioned trust. After communicating these to them, tell them that you trust them that they will do the right thing.
For productivy, my answer is performance management. Clarify their goals, set performance standards and be firm with it. You don't need to take away their access to myspace or multiply for them not to slack off. Without clear goals and firm performance expectations, they will easily find other ways to slack off.
Lastly, the increasing penchant of people for social networking opens up the opportunity to change HR's role from being the school principal to the company's chief social networker. Find a way to connect with your employees. Make your company intranet look more like the social networking sites they adore. Make those features available for them to use not only to build relationships internally but to train each other and help each other out in their work. I think this has a lot of potentials that are largely untapped in many organizations.
This is the age of uber amplified social networking where people connect and build relationship with other people across the globe without meeting them face-to-face, in a physical sense that is. They exchange information freely and guide each other in carrying out tasks that are as mundane as picking the right gadget to as complex as finishing a project at work.
Along with the emergence of these exciting social networking tools are real information security risks and productivity hindrances. Because of the last two, many have demonized these new tools and made bold moves to get them out of the workplace. I feel though that this is a wrong way of responding to it. i feel that this response is akin to sticking it out with the type writer while the rest of the world are using computers.
The flood gate of web 2.0 has opened and will not be closed again. The best way to respond to the situation is to find out how to best profit from it. HR Managers in particular need to familiarize themselves with the beast that is web 2.0 before they even try to slay it, because maybe the beast is tameable. Sorry if I went too far with my metaphors. What I mean is maybe there is a way for the company to harness the benefits of interactive web and manage work better so that employees won't get stuck to updating their facebook or friendster accounts all day. A couple of things come to mind.
At exeQserve, I make it a point to not restrict the use of social networking tools available on the web. I encourage my staffs to join egroups, put up a linkedin account, join interest groups in ning and to blog. I want them to use these networking tools to connect with people who could be future clients. I also encourage them to solicit information and contribute some as such is the nature of online social networks. The value of information and education we get from people on the other ends of the web is unmatch-able by class room training or education.
How can we handle the security and productivity issues? For security, my answer is education and trust. Talk to your team members about the risks involved when using interactive web. They need to be aware of information they are not allowed to share. They need to be aware of the risks involved in downloading programs, etc. They also need to develop the habits of securing their PC's from viruses and other risks. I mentioned trust. After communicating these to them, tell them that you trust them that they will do the right thing.
For productivy, my answer is performance management. Clarify their goals, set performance standards and be firm with it. You don't need to take away their access to myspace or multiply for them not to slack off. Without clear goals and firm performance expectations, they will easily find other ways to slack off.
Lastly, the increasing penchant of people for social networking opens up the opportunity to change HR's role from being the school principal to the company's chief social networker. Find a way to connect with your employees. Make your company intranet look more like the social networking sites they adore. Make those features available for them to use not only to build relationships internally but to train each other and help each other out in their work. I think this has a lot of potentials that are largely untapped in many organizations.
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