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To Catch a Thief
As Mara, an accounting clerk at a dental supply wholesaler, hung up on the phone, she knew that her coworkers heard everything –another creditor demanded money she didn’t have. Four months earlier, her husband lost his job and bills were piling up. Mara shared her tale of financial woe, time and again, with her colleague Jenny. But as months passed, Mara simply stopped talking about her debts.
Six months later, Jenny discovered why Mara had been silent on the subject. At the end of one workday, when no one else was around, Jenny saw Mara slip a vendor check into her purse. Now it all began to make sense: Mara was stealing from the company.
One third of all U.S. corporate bankruptcies are directly caused by employee theft, which is the fastest growing crime in America. Experts are pointing to one prime cause for rising employee theft – the sputtering economy. With housing prices falling, food prices rising, and credit being crunched, employees are confronted with personal financial crises at a time when employers may not be able to help out with a much-needed raise. Today, more than ever, understanding and preventing employee theft may mean the difference between the life and death of your company. For more information about this problem and what employers can and should do about it, click here.
COBRA Update
At our last seminar and a previous e-news, we discussed the changes to COBRA as part of the recent stimulus package (ARRA) passed by Congress. Involuntary Termination was not clearly defined at the time and the IRS has issued further guidance on this topic. Here is a link to an abbreviated Q&A document for purposes of determining whether there is an involuntary termination under section 3001 of ARRA (including new Code sections added by section 3001 of ARRA), but not for any other purposes under the Code or any other law. Here is a link to the full 58 Q&A from the IRS. Also, there have been 2 webinars by the DOL/IRS over the last 2 weeks and they are available in an archive under Compliance Webcasts here.
SAVE THE DATE
May 13---Dunn Carney Employment Seminar
7:30 AM-9:30 AM @ the Multnomah Athletic Club
Our Employment & Labor Team is looking forward to seeing you on May 13th! Because we strive to bring you the most current information, we are waiting to confirm our topic with the hope that BOLI will finish its review of OFLA regulations and provide guidance, or that we will receive clarification about other measures pending in the U.S. Senate. Please watch for an updated email with our topic selections in the next week or two. If no significant changes develop, we will pick a topic from one of your very valuable suggestions.
Thanks to Irene Scruggs for providing valuable insight into the serious problem of Employee Theft, and to Bob Winger for his COBRA update. If you have any questions about these topics or any other issues, please contact Irene, Bob, Tamsen Leachman or Jack Cooper.
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Employment and Labor Law Team
Leader:Tamsen Leachman
Bob Allen
Laura Althouse
Tim Bernasek
Jack Cooper
Dan Drazan
Elizabeth Knight
Kelly Martin
Irene Scruggs
Sam Smith
Renee Stineman
APRIL 2009
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