,HR handles a wide range of important tasks for businesses on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis. Throughout the year, HR must also stay on top of changes to labor laws and regulations as well as changes to the business that affect employment and benefits. Every small business owner knows that HR is a lot of work and can be very stressful. As Hawaii business owners look ahead to 2020 and how they can attract and retain the best employees, fall 2019 is a great time to review and improve HR strategies and get documents organized.
Small business HR preparation checklist for 2020
Review
- This is a great time to review your company’s employee handbook. Is the information still current? Does it cover all relevant topics such as breaks, paid holidays, workplace safety, expectations for attendance, processes for discipline and termination?
- Review 2019 company performance results against the goals set for the year. Set new goals for 2020 and communicate them to management and employees with a plan on how the goals will be reached.
- Review employee performance and start preparing for annual performance reviews that are often done at the end or beginning of the calendar year.
Compliance
- Check for any changes to labor laws at the city, county, state and Federal level.
- Review laws about employee privacy.
- Update any required industry-specific certifications.
- Schedule compliance training for your employees that meet Federal and state laws. ,Hawaii does require sexual harassment training.
- Prepare and hand out all relevant notices including Medicare Part D, HIPPA, and CHIPRA.
- If your business had 10 or more employees at any time during the calendar year at all business locations combined, you must prepare OSHA form 300A to list any workplace injuries and illnesses that happened between February 1 and April 1, 2019.
Payroll
- Run an audit of your full-time employees (FTEs). If the business now has over 50 employees or has shrunk below 50 employees, it will affect the requirements to comply with the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in 2020.
- Review current overtime thresholds to make sure that the business is in compliance with Department of Labor (DOL) guidelines.
- Reconcile payroll accounts, check that all manually written checks are accounted for and adjustments have been applied or scheduled, and schedule any bonus payrolls for 2019.
- Have employees verify their payroll information and compare it to what’s on file. Reconcile any differences.
- Review salaries to ensure they are still competitive and that they are in-line with individual performance.
Prepare forms:
- FICA form 941 is due October 31, 2019 for Q3 and January 31, 2020 for Q4.
- FUTA form 940 is due January 31, 2020.
- W-2, W-3 and independent contractor forms (1096 and 1099 MISC) are due January 31, 2020.
Taxes
- Have employees verify that they are happy with their compensation type, employee contribution amounts and life insurance beneficiaries.
- Verify Hawaii’s employer state unemployment insurance tax rate and taxable wage limit.
- Ensure that other special tax items have been updated and submitted such as dependent care benefits.
- Calculate uncollected Social Security and Medicare taxes for retirees and former employees.
- Verify that tax withholding has been made properly or withheld from the final paycheck for taxable fringe benefits including bonuses, non-cash payments and personal use of company vehicle.
Benefits
- Run an audit of your FTEs. If the business now has over 50 employees or has shrunk below 50 employees, it will affect the requirements to comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2020. If your business has 50 or more employees then it is considered an Applicable Large Employer (ALE) under the ACA. You will want to make sure that you meet ACA requirements for coverage.
- Note that Hawaii has obtained the 1332 Waiver which is valid between 2017 and 2021. This means that the ACA SHOP is no longer required in Hawaii and the ACA SHOP tax credits are replaced by the State’s Prepaid Health Care Premium Supplementation Program.
Prepare applicable health care forms:
- Form 1094-C is due March 4, 2020.
- Form 1095-C is due February 28, 2020
- Form 5500 is due to the on the DOL on the last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends.
- A health plan summary is due to plan participants within 90 days of enrollment.
This post is meant to give a brief overview of end of year HR requirements and is not intended to be a comprehensive list.
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