Government Relations
Quick Hits: NLRB, RESTORE Act, Debit Swipe Fee Lawsuit
NLRB Poster Requirements Move Forward, Enforcement in Question — A federal district court in Washington DC has ruled that the National Labor Relations Board does have the authority to require businesses to display a poster detailing workers’ rights to organize a union. The court did, however, rule that the agency did not have the authority to deem an employer’s failure to post the notice to be an unfair labor practice, and said that failure to post the notice does not begin a “statute of limitations” for charges employees can file against their employers under the National Labor Relations Act. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the National Restaurant Association, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and other allied groups, will likely continue to additional appellate courts in the coming months, but if a higher court does not rule on the case the NLRB states the policy will become effective April 30th, 2012. MORE
Senate Passes Bill Allocating BP Fines to Gulf Coast Damaged Clean Up Efforts– In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Senate voted to pass the RESTORE Act earlier this month by a vote of 76-22, as an amendment to a pending highway transportation bill. Action now moves to House of Representatives, which likely will make changes to the bill, but if the House passes a transportation bill containing the same language, 80 percent of the fines paid by BP would go to the five Gulf states affected by the spill: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas. Fines could amount to $5 billion to $20 billion. VGM Club Government Relations urges Club members to contact their local congressperson and ask them to support the Senate’s efforts to help clean up the Gulf Coast region. MORE
National Restaurant Association Joins Lawsuit Challenging Federal Reserve on Debit-Swipe fees — Last year, as a result of the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd/Frank Financial Regulation bill and after a major repeal effort in congress, the Federal Reserve voted to cap debit swipe fees for merchants at 21 cents per transaction plus 0.05 percent of sales for large financial institutions beginning Oct. 1, 2011. The amount was less than the 44 cents per transaction that merchants had averaged to that point, but more than the 12-cent cap that the Fed first proposed in December 2010. This muddled policy proposal resulted in significantly lower debit swipe fees for many restaurants and other businesses, but left some merchants that primarily have smaller transactions to actually have their rates increase since the policy became effective on October 1, 2011. The lawsuit seeks to improve the existing rule to allow additional small businesses to take advantage of a more level playing field on debit swipe fees. MORE
Department of Labor Releases Final Rules on H-2B Visa Employment
Many golf courses utilize the H-2B worker program to fill jobs that otherwise would not be filled for temporary employment. The rules governing the H-2B program have been changes due to several bad actors taking advantage of the program to avoid hiring higher paid American workers for similar employment. On February 21, 2012, the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration and Wage and Hour Division issued a Final Rule on the H-2B program that updates regulations governing the certification of employment of temporary or seasonal non-agricultural nonimmigrant workers and the enforcement of the obligations applicable to employers under the H-2B program.
The final rule changes the process by which employers obtain a temporary labor certification from the Department for use in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2B status. The final rule also introduces new regulations designed to increase worker protections for both U.S. and foreign workers.
Key changes to the administration of the program include:
- Creates a national electronic job registry for all H-2B job orders to improve U.S. worker access to these temporary jobs.
- Enhances recruitment of U.S. workers from across the country
- Increases the amount of time for which U.S. workers must be recruited and hired
- Requires the rehiring of former employees when available.
The Final Rule is effective April 23, 2012. Click here for more information concerning key changes from the 2008 policy to the current rule changes.
Tax Season Cometh…
This time of year club and restaurant owners find themselves asking their accountant questions on an assortment of tax related questions for employees, specifically, tipped employees. Below, the National Restaurant Association has put together a nice summary of several tipped-employee tax related questions and answers.
• Many restaurateurs are required to file tip-reporting data with the IRS. If you operate a business where food and beverages are served for on-site consumption and tipping is customary, and you employed more than 10 workers whose combined hours exceeded 80 on a typical business day in the previous calendar year, you are required to file Form 8027 with the Internal Revenue Service for each food-and-beverage establishments. The Employer’s Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips is due Feb. 29 for employers who file the form on paper, or April 2 for employers who file the form electronically. Form 8027 requires employers to show gross receipts, charged tips and the amount of tips employees reported during the preceding year, among other data. Visit the IRS website to download the form and instructions.
• Restaurateurs might qualify for a federal income tax credit for the FICA payroll taxes they pay on certain employee tips. Employers are required to pay FICA payroll taxes, currently 7.65 percent, on all tip income that employees receive. The law allows employers to take a dollar-for-dollar federal income-tax credit for a portion of the FICA taxes they pay on certain employee tips. The so-called 45B credit, named for its place in the Internal Revenue Code, can yield significant savings for restaurateurs. Claim the credit by filing Form 8846 when you file your federal tax returns. The form, Credit for Employer Social Security and Medicare Taxes Paid on Certain Employee Tips, can be downloaded from the IRS website.
• It’s a good time to remind employees about what the law requires on tip reporting. Employees who receive $20 or more in tips in a month are required to report them to their employer at least once a month. Employees who haven’t reported and paid taxes on their tips throughout the year can declare and pay taxes on those tips at tax time. However, they could face penalties for having failed to report income the way the law requires. The National Restaurant Association sells a Tip Reporting Education Kit that includes an employer guide, employee brochures, posters and other materials to help operators convey the message to employees about how to report tips correctly.
IRS Backtracks on 1099-K Reporting Requirement
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has decided to pull the plug on a proposed requirement forcing businesses to report total receipts on their business income tax forms with the amounts that third parties, such as credit card companies or Pay Pal, report paying to merchants to reconcile merchant-card transactions.
The IRS’s original proposal, slated to take effect December 1st, 2011, would have required businesses accepting credit cards or other third-party payments, to reconcile the gross receipts they report on their tax returns with the totals that third-party payers report to them using a new 1099-K information-reporting form.
After business groups repeatedly approached the IRS on the feasibility of the new requirement and the sheer volume of increased paperwork that would be involved in this new reporting, IRS delayed the proposed date of implementation by one year to December 31st, 2012, then removed the program altogether earlier this month. MORE
Several members of congress are working to ensure the IRS does not attempt to resurrect this proposal in future years. Earlier this month, Senate Finance Committee members John Thune (R-S.D.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced a Senate bill, after Reps. Aaron Schrock (R-Ill.) and Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.) introduced the same bill in the House.
GCSAA Releases 2012 Legislative/Regulatory Priorities
The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America recently released their legislative and regulatory priorities for 2012. The priorities range from issues relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, new fertilizer and pesticide regulations, immigration requirements (H-2B Visa), watershed management issues and the overall promotion of the value golf provides to America in terms of economic impact, job creation, etc.
Over the next several weeks, VGM Club Government Relations will examine these topics, and others, indept; detailing the current legislative/regulatory landscape and likelihood of movement on key issues affecting the golf industry and Club members across the country. For more information on the GCSAA release, click here.
