As more and more employees use social media to connect with friends and families, it should come as no surprise that social media would also be used by employees to complain about their working conditions.  In some situations, employees may rant about their supervisors, their pay or even the company, in general.  So what course of action does an employer have to protect its supervisors and the company’s reputation?

Payroll Tax Cut Extension
On December 23, 2011, President Obama signed into law The Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011.  This Act extends the two percentage point payroll tax cut for employees, continuing the reduction of employee Social Security tax withholding rates from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent of wages paid through February 29, 2012.  Employers are advised to implement the new payroll tax cuts no later than January 31, 2012 and to make any adjustments no later than March 31, 2012, for any Social Security tax over-withheld during January.
The Act also extended unemployment benefits and postponed cuts in Medicare reimbursement to doctors.

As of January 1, 2012, the federal minimum wage set by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is set at $7.25 per hour for covered non-exempt employees with some exceptions for certain types of workers.  States may, of course, enforce higher pay rates. 

In some cases, states adjust their minimum wages to account for inflation.  Below are the states whose minimum wage rates were increased as of January 1, 2012 in order to adjust for inflation: 

 Arizona $7.65 per hour
 Colorado $7.64 per hour
 Florida  $7.67 per hour
 Montana $7.65 per hour
 Ohio  $7.70 per hour
 Oregon $8.80 per hour
 Vermont $8.46 per hour
 Washington $9.04 per hour

In most everything we do, we find a “trick” to make the process easier and faster. After we develop these tricks, they become work habits in our everyday activities. Developing  everyday safety habits can keep you injury free through the year. Here are ten safety habits to live by:

Furloughs are gaining in popularity as a way to cut business costs in a down economy.  What is furlough? It is a method to moderately reduce the weekly work time of most of your workforce. It can be a good alternative to laying off employees for numerous reasons:

1. If it doesn’t go too long, many employees like it. It gives them a forced break from work, something that most of us won’t allow ourselves to do. Obviously, for those employees working paycheck to paycheck it can really hurt, however most see it as a better alternative than being let go.