Lose weight.  Exercise more.  Figure out that Wii thingamajig from last Christmas.  We all make New Year’s resolutions to better our personal lives, so why should we do anything differently with our businesses?  This new year offers small-business owners the opportunity to evaluate operations over the past year and see what worked, what didn’t, and what can help the company develop in 2012.  Sometimes all it takes is a knowledgeable team and a nudge in the right direction.  With that in mind, here are some actions your company can take over the next few months to strengthen your business and its team, and to propel both toward the company’s long-term goals. (more…)

Does your business use independent contractors?  If it does, and if you missed the recent wave of IRS employee-classification audits, consider yourself lucky—the feds might not pass you by next time.  These recent IRS audits will generate the first statistical look at employment-tax compliance since 1984.  Back in the era of Reaganomics and big hair, about 15 percent of employers misclassified an employee as an independent contractor, for a total of 3.4 million misclassified employees.  State audits have shown this problem persists into the ObamaCare years.  Could one of those misclassified employees be yours? (more…)

Feeling the heat of the economic climate? If your business has resorted to layoffs or may soon scale back operations, you may be at an increased risk for employment-related lawsuits. Hundreds of employment lawsuits are filed each week, and with employees winning two-thirds of all cases, small businesses are on the losing side, especially financially. The average compensatory award in federal court employment cases is nearly a half-million dollars, not including punitive damages or attorney fees. Even settling a lawsuit can cost over $300,000. Can your business afford such costly fines?

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