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May 2004 Compliance Letter

May is Compliance Month
There is no government observation of “Compliance Month.” We at BR&R decided several years ago to designate May as “Compliance Month” as a tool for our clients to review compliance issues. Below are several topics and a checklist for your convenience.

Poster compliance.
The easiest way to make sure you are in compliance for all federal and state posters is to buy commercially prepared posters from Poster Compliance Center. They cover both federal and individual states. There are two ways you can order the posters:

1. Phone (800) 322-3636
2. www.postercompliance.com

New W-4’s
You should have all new W-4’s for all employees. It is not a good idea to “just go by last year’s W-4.” Unless you have a newly signed W-4, your employee could say that he or she turned in a new W-4 and you did not change the withholdings. If you need W-4’s, please fax us a note telling us how many.

Form I-9, even for family members
Make sure you have a Form I-9 filled out and signed by each employee. Make no exceptions. Even if an employee is a member of the family or even yourself, fill out an I-9. The former Immigration and Nationalization Service used to be very serious about employers having these on file at the place of business. After September 11, 2001 the Department of Homeland Security has been keenly interested that these forms are up to date.

Checklist:

• Check poster compliance.
• Check W-4’s for all employees.
• Check I-9’s for all employees.
• Check all licenses and make sure they are current.
• Review insurance polices.
• Check inspection tags on fire extinguishers.
• Ask insurance company for a safety checklist or review the OSHA checklist at http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha2209.pdf. There is a link on our web site at https://brrinc.org in the public card file.
• Service station owners should give a map showing locations of dispensers, underground tanks, and other explosive materials to the local fire station. This is required by law in some communities.

Your own compliance issues
Take time out to ask yourself the question, “Am I in compliance with all government agencies and contracts to which I am obligated?” If there is something that you would like for us to put on our checklists, please call me at (985) 264-9040 or (404) 303-7916. You can also e-mail me at brrinc@bellsouth.net. Sincerely,

Dutch Hawkins

Copyright © - 2004 Dutch Hawkins Mandeville, LA USA - All Rights Reserved