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Tag: NFIB

60,000 Alabama Jobs Affected by Overtime Rule

  • July 7th, 2016

Come Dec. 1, business owners across Alabama and nationwide will be paying higher labor costs as a result of the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule. The DOL estimates the regulation will impact more than 60,000 workers in Alabama.

The rule will raise the threshold at which employees are exempt from earning overtime pay—from $23,660 to $47,476. The Fair Labor Standards Act dictates that employees are not eligible for overtime pay if they are compensated at a minimum wage level (now $47,476), if they are paid on a salaried basis, and if they perform duties considered professional, administrative, or executive in nature. Now, under the new rule, the minimum wage level triggering overtime exemption is nearly double the old rate.

NFIB has spoken at length to the media about the harmful impact of this ruling, including decreased staff morale stemming from employment status changes, reduced hours, and falling pay rates. Rosemary Elebash, NFIB/Alabama state director, says the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule is going to hurt small businesses throughout Alabama.

“It’s going to mean higher costs for employers, and that’s going to force them to make some tough decisions when it comes to staffing,” she said. “On top of that, you’re going to see some salaried positions disappear and some workers slide back to hourly jobs. In other words, these new rules are going to hurt the very people officials say they’re trying to help.”

For businesses that operate on calendar year budgets, this unplanned mandate for increased labor costs in the final month of 2016 complicates matters. The Birmingham Business Journal spoke to several Birmingham employment law experts, who advised employers to begin planning and budgeting now, evaluating the job responsibilities and the hours worked for those who will no longer be exempt.

One small item of relief: Bonuses, incentive pay, and commissions can account for up to 10 percent of the salary threshold if the payments are made on a quarterly basis. However, the exemption level will continue to rise, tied to inflation, every three years, beginning on Jan. 1, 2020.

For more information, please visit NFIB.com/Overtime.

For the original article, click here.

Alabama 20th Best for Business, CEOs say

  • June 16th, 2016

Out-of-state perception of workforce quality and living environment shows room for improvement.

More than 500 CEOs across the country took part in Chief Executive magazine’s annual “Best and Worst States for Business” survey, and Alabama ranked just above the middle of the pack at No. 20. However, there were discrepancies between out-of-state CEOs and those who operate businesses located in Alabama.

Across the board, the CEOs surveyed had a generally positive view of the state’s business-friendliness, but non-Alabama CEOs tended to have a less positive impression of the workforce and living environment. Forrest Wright, president of the Economic Development Authority for the Shoals area, told the Associated Press this was a common perception that recruiters fight to overcome in discussions and that some parts of the state do better than others. But when prospective industries listen to presentations about Alabama’s business climate with an open mind, he said, it’s easier to show them that the state is a good place to locate a company.

The survey focused on three factors—taxes and regulation, workforce quality, and living environment—all of which incorporated several variables:

  • Taxes and regulation included state income tax, corporate tax rates, perceived attitude government has toward business, employment rates, environmental compliance regulations, and tax incentives.
  • Workforce quality included employee-management relationships, work ethic, education level, wage rates, and availability of workers with specialized experience and education.
  • Living environment included crime rate, quality of education and healthcare, cost of real estate, transportation access, and arts and cultural institutions.

Alabama ranked No. 17 in taxes and regulation, No. 33 in workforce quality, and No. 33 in living environment. Its overall No. 20 ranking was up from last year’s ranking of No. 24, but down from No. 17 in 2014 and No. 16 in 2013.

Click here for the original article.

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR ALABAMA’S SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS THIS YEAR

  • January 5th, 2016

Legislative session expected to address new tax credits, infrastructure problems.

The Alabama Legislative Session begins on Feb. 2, and there are several issues likely to be debated that will impact small business owners. Here’s a look at them.

HSA Tax Deduction

Legislation seeking to align Alabama’s income tax law to federal law with regard to health savings accounts—SB 9, HB 70 and HB 215—failed in the 2015 session, but is expected to resurface this year. These bills would give a state income tax deduction to those who make contributions to their HSAs to pay for healthcare costs.

Tax Rate Notification

Legislation on this topic—SB 322—also failed in the 2015 session, but we expect to see it again in the 2016 session. Under this bill, taxpayers would not be liable for collection and charge of incorrect tax rates based on the rate published by the Alabama Department of Revenue website. Local governments would have procedures with which to notify ADOR of rate changes, and these changes wouldn’t take effect until the first day of the third month following the notification. This would allow business owners time to update their bookkeeping for local and state changes and relieve them of penalties or interest for use of outdated rates.

Tax Credits

Two bills, which would give business owners tax credits for hiring veterans and for establishing an apprenticeship training program, are currently in draft form. “A trained and ready-to-work workforce is a priority for Alabama business owners,” says Rosemary Elebash, NFIB’s Alabama state director.

General Fund Cuts

Alabama legislators have stayed opposed to tax increases in the face of the state’s budget woes, and as a result of this and rising costs, cuts to the General Fund are expected this year, the Montgomery Advertiser reported last month.

The chairs of the Legislature’s General Fund committees, Representative Steve Clouse and Senator Trip Pittman, told the Advertiser that level funding in the budget was an optimistic best-case scenario.

In the current budget, Medicaid, Corrections, Mental Health, Human Resources and Pardons and Paroles were shielded from cuts, but Sen. Pittman says he doesn’t think any agency would get protection this year. Budget committees will hold budget hearings this month in preparation for the beginning of session.

Infrastructure

Alabama earned a C- for its infrastructure system of roads, bridges, ports, railroads, airports and more, according to an assessment recently conducted by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

ASCE studied 11 infrastructure categories, grading each individually:

Aviation (B-)

Bridges (C-)

Dams (N/A—Alabama has no dam safety program)

Drinking water (C+)

Energy (B)

Inland waterways (D+)

Ports (B-)

Rail (B-)

Roads (D+)

Transit (D)

Wastewater (C-)

“Whether you’re driving across roads and bridges, taking a shower, or charging your cell phone, infrastructure affects everyone in Alabama,” the study says. “Infrastructure also impacts our businesses and helps move our economy, taking freight from ports to store shelves and taking workers to their jobs.”

Proposals to solve this growing problem are expected to be debated in session, starting next month.

For the original article from NFIB click here