Illuminations 2006 Open4 Users Conference is Mission Accomplished

Dallas, Texas April 12, 2006

The Illuminations 2006 Open4 Users Conference came and went like a whirling dervish - 60 hours of enlightenment, networking and a healthy dose of fun. Thank all of you (or all ya'll!) who attended and helped make the conference an awesome success! For those of you who couldn't make it, here's what you missed:

Sunday evening marked the beginning of a tremendous three day event. It was a such a pleasure to meet so many of our clients and allow them to meet many of the Open4 team they talk to but never get to see. While Illuminations was a lot of hard work, we can't tell you enough how great it was for our staff to spend the three days with you.

Monday started off with a very inspirational keynote by Dr. Mark Lewandowski, whose topic, The Best Ideas are Yours, got our group moving! His opening speech received rave reviews and was one of the top highlights of the conference. There were a total of 18 different sessions you could opt for, covering subjects like Advanced Payroll, Benefits 101, the Super User and professional development workshops on Ethics, Best HR Practices, and more. In between, attendees had lots of food and opportunity to meet other clients and to work with BMH employees on specific needs.

Monday night's affair, A Little Bit of Big D at the Circle R Ranch, was spectacular! Thank you, Progress Software, for sponsoring this fabulous event! We continued with more food that included grilled steaks and chicken, drinks, as well as entertainment from the singing cowboy, a roving magician, and Texas Hold'Em Poker was enjoyed by all. We even spotted some blooming singers, dancers and comedians among the crowd. Beautiful weather just made everything even better, and a campfire by the pond took care of any chills people may have had in the 70 degree evening under the light of the near-full moon.

Tuesday morning was kicked off with more food and a State-of-the-Company/Product address by Ed Harrison, BMH's president. He had the opportunity to share all that is new in the latest release of Open4 as well as what we are working on for the future. And for those who were in attendance, they learned the secret story behind the Open4 name. The break-out sessions continued and the day wrapped up with lunch and an open forum for the attendees and Open4 team to trade thoughts, ask and answer questions, and help one-on-one those individuals who needed some personal time with the application specialists. Now, the reviews are in:

Founded in 1980, BMH is focused exclusively on developing and supporting the OPEN4 Human Resources Information System. BMH company and product information is available at http://www.open4.com.

BMH announces Illuminations 2006 Open4 Users Conference

Dallas, Texas December 12, 2005

BMH, Inc. announced today that it has established dates and the location of the Illuminations 2006 Open4 Users Conference. It will be held at the Doubletree Hotel North in Dallas, Texas April 9 - 11, 2006. The Users Conference will offer two tracks of education and information to the Open4 clients. One, dedicated to technical and operational aspects of the Open4 applications and services. Two, focused on our partner offerings and professional education offered by outside speakers and specialists from the HR and Payroll industry.

"As we researched the opportunity to offer our Open4 clients a conference for their participation, their responses across the board were of excitement and great anticipation," stated Steve Severance, BMH Sales Manager . "We plan on offering three days of educational opportunities to learn more about how Open4 works, along with third party products, services and professional information that will enhance their HR and Payroll operations. And, along with all of this they'll have some fun at our client appreciation events."

"Open4 has so many useful features we often forget about. This conference will improve our software skills and provide professional development for our business," commented Susan Dillard, IT Business Analyst at Neptune Technology Group. "As an added benefit, we'll get the opportunity to network with other clients and share best-practice ideas. We look forward to attending our first conference!"

Founded in 1980, BMH is focused exclusively on developing and supporting the OPEN4 Human Resources Information System. BMH company and product information is available at http://www.open4.com.

Expert: Don't Use New EEO-1 Categories Before Effective Date

Employers should not rush to use new race and ethnicity categories set forth by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a Nov. 28 Federal Register notice that includes its final proposed changes to the EEO-1 form, according to Jeffrey Norris, president of the Equal Employment Advisory Council. If approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the new categories will not take effect until the 2007 EEO-1 reporting cycle. "Employer representatives made persuasive arguments about the need for lead time in terms of budgeting, implementing and training personnel in order to submit the revised EEO-1 Report," the EEOC said in its notice, citing testimony by Norris. But the agency stated that "employers also should seek self-identification of new employees under the new ethnic and racial categories as soon as possible." In an interview with HR News, Norris said he nevertheless is advising companies not to use the new categories until after they file their 2006 form. Otherwise, employers will be gathering information they cannot use, because the 2006 form will not include the new categories.

Source: SHRM's HR Week, 12/5/05

Texas Workforce Commission Creates Worker and Employer Disaster Response Hot Lines

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has created two toll-free hot lines, one to assist displaced Louisiana workers filing Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) claims and another to serve as a central number for employers who wish to hire people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Louisiana workers who have lost their jobs due to Hurricane Katrina may apply for DUA by calling 1-800-818-7811. This toll-free number is exclusively for use by displaced Louisiana workers. The best time to call for faster service is from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time. Claims takers will take calls from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time on weekdays. TWC helped 10,500 workers file claims through Labor Day, with almost 5,000 of those over the long weekend. The agency expects the number to increase sharply.

Due to an overwhelming response from employers offering jobs to storm victims, TWC has established a central toll-free number, 1-800-695-6879, to take calls from employers wishing to hire displaced Louisiana workers. The hotline is exclusively for employers wishing to hire displaced workers and will be staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Once a job order is taken, TWC staff will contact local workforce development professionals in the area where the job is located to begin the process of matching the employer with a qualified applicant. Additionally, the agency will be compiling contact information for employers whose businesses operate in both Louisiana and other states and can re-hire workers from affected areas to work in other locations.

In addition, employers are encouraged to contact their local workforce development boards. Texas workforce development boards across the state with large numbers of Louisiana evacuees are establishing on-site workforce centers at evacuation shelters.

TWC continues to work in concert with Governor Rick Perry, Texas state and local agencies, and other states to provide aid and support to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The Texas Workforce Commission is a state agency dedicated to helping Texas employers, workers and communities prosper economically. For details on TWC and the programs it offers in unison with its network of local workforce development boards, call (512) 463-8556 or visit www.texasworkforce.org.

Reprinted with permission of the Texas Workforce Commission.

DOL Issues New Cobra Regulations

The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) published the final rule implementing the notice requirements for health care continuation coverage arising under the Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) on May 26, 2004 in the Federal Register. The regulations are effective July 26, 2004 and apply to notice obligations on or after the first day of the first plan year beginning on or after November 26, 2004 (six months after May 26, 2004).

The notice requirements cover administrators, participants, and beneficiaries of group health plans as well as group health plans' sponsors and fiduciaries. The final rules set minimum standards for the timing and content for the required notices and establish standards for administering the notice process. Additionally, the rules provide model notices for administrators of single-employer group health plans. The model notices are not required, but can be used to help administrators satisfy their obligations to provide general and election notices

The final rules were changed slightly from the regulations proposed on May 27, 2003 based on comments from stakeholders including SHRM. The new regulations should make it easier for plan administrators to meet their notice obligations. The final rule covers four sections: 1) the general notice requirement, 2) requirements for employer-provided notices of the occurrence of a qualifying event, 3) responsibilities of qualified beneficiaries to provide notice of a qualifying event or disability, and 4) election notices and other notices that plan administrators must provide.

Copyright 2004, SHRM. Reprinted with permission

Insolvency Risks with Some Payroll Debit Cards

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has warned the banking community about third-party insolvency risks that may be associated with payroll debit cards - Payroll card systems can provide significant benefits for consumers (particularly for unbanked persons), but they can also present significant risks of consumer harm. The systems hold what are, for the individual consumers, important amounts of money - their payroll. A national bank should fully consider and appropriately address several important issues before offering payroll card products. These include compliance issues and any role of non-bank third parties. Failure to properly address these issues can expose the bank and its customers to significant risks.

Read the full article at: http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/advisory/2004-6.doc

IRS Warns of Identity Theft Scheme
Involving Bogus E-mail

Treasury, IRS Warn of Identity Theft Scheme Involving Bogus E-mail, Web site - The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers of an e-mail-based scheme that attempts to trick taxpayers into revealing personal information such as social security numbers, driver's license information and bank and credit card numbers.

In this ploy, unsuspecting consumers receive an e-mail, claiming they are under investigation for tax fraud and are subject to prosecution. The e-mail informs recipients they can "help" the investigation by providing "real" information and directs them to an official-looking Web site, http://deptreas.org/irs/7634, where detailed personal information must be provided to dispute the charge.

Identity thieves can use an individual's personal data to take over their financial accounts, run up charges on their credit cards, apply for loans, credit cards or other services in the victim's name and file fraudulent tax returns.

At the request of the IRS and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the Internet service provider that was hosting the Web site has shut the site down. The scheme is being investigated by TIGTA, which addresses threats to federal tax administration.

The bogus IRS web page and the e-mail in this instance contained several grammatical errors, rendering them immediately suspect. However, new versions of the scam could surface in the future, including more effectively-written text and a different destination Web site.

The IRS does not use e-mail to contact taxpayers about issues related to their accounts. Official taxpayer contact usually includes a letter on IRS stationery in an IRS envelope. IRS letters also contain a contact phone number.

Taxpayers who believe they have received suspect communication are encouraged to call TIGTA's toll-free fraud referral hotline at 1-800-366-4484. Taxpayers can also contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. An IRS representative will be able to verify the taxpayer's account status and determine whether a communication is legitimate.

Source: Unclefed's Tax Board

Tech Hiring to Increase

Survey: Tech hiring to increase - June 15, 2004 - American chief executive officers are cautious, but optimistic, about the nation's economy with nearly 70 percent expecting economic conditions in the United States to improve over the next 12 months, according to a quarterly survey by TEC International of San Diego, an organization of CEOs of small and mid-size companies.

Despite the Labor Department's recent report that the current unemployment rate is at the highest level since July 1994, more than 50 percent of CEOs surveyed expect to increase their firm's total number of employees during the next 12 months. Nearly 40 percent plan to maintain their current employment levels, while only 11 percent anticipate some reduction in staff in the next 12 months.

Regarding capital expenditures, CEOs remain divided: 43 percent expect to increase expenditures, yet 43 percent plan on no change in their investment spending. Only 12 percent plan to decrease the amount of their capital expenditures in the next 12 months.

Source: IHRIM (International Association for Human Resource Information Management) http://www.ihrim.org

Proposed Legislation on Display of Social Security Numbers

States proposing legislation to affect display of social security numbers - The issue won't go away. Several states have laws affecting social security number and identity theft (e.g., CA, AZ, CT, MO). Texas, for instance, prohibits the display of social security numbers on all cards. And in California, employers can't "publicly display" social security numbers in any manner, which includes using it on pay stubs. Plus, bills are pending in NJ, NY, MD, MI, and VA. Stay tuned as the plot thickens.

Source: Keep Up To Date on Payroll, June 2004

Voluntary Furnishing of Electronic Payee Statements Featured in Final IRS Regs

Recently-issued IRS final regulations provide for the voluntary electronic furnishing of statements on Form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement). Employers that are required to file Form W-2 with respect to an employee must furnish a written statement on Form W-2 to the employee. Under the regulations, subject to an employee's consent, the written statement may be furnished electronically. For more information, see ¶24,507N, ¶13,682 and ¶13,710A.

New Rule to Obligate Federal Contractors
to Solicit Race and Gender Data

Current OFCCP regulations require covered federal contractors to maintain certain employment records of OFCCP compliance monitoring. These regulations were amended on November 13, 2000 to require employers to be able to identify, where possible, the gender, race and ethnicity of each applicant for employment. Because of OFCCP’s unique use of applicant data for compliance monitoring and other enforcement purposes, OFCCP has determined that additional regulations are required to clarify how contractors must comply with recordkeeping requirements.

The proposed rule would implement, for OFCCP compliance monitoring and other enforcement purposes, a definition of “Internet Applicant.” Under the proposed definition, “Internet Applicant” would involve four criteria:

1. The job seeker has submitted an expression of interest in employment through the Internet or related electronic technologies;
2. The employer considers the job seeker for employment in a particular open position;
3. The job seeker’s expression of interest indicates the individual possesses the advertised, basic qualifications for the position; and
4. The job seeker does not indicate that he or she is no longer interested in employment in the position for which the employer has considered the individual.

New Overtime Rules Looming

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is set to issue final regulations March 31, or shortly thereafter, that will change the rules used to define which employees are exempt from the overtime-pay requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal wage-hour law. The time is now for employers to prepare.

The proposed revisions to the Labor Department’s “white-collar” exemption rules will increase the current salary floor under which employees must be paid time-and-a-half for the hours they work over 40 hours in a given work week. Currently, only those white-collar employees who earn less than $8,060 per year automatically are entitled to overtime pay. As proposed, the rules would grant overtime pay protection to all white-collar workers who earn less than $22,100 per year. This figure likely will be adjusted upward in the final version of the rules.

3.4 Million Likely to Gain Overtime Rights
Under Proposed FLSA Rule

Recently proposed regulations by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) seek to update and clarify the 50-year-old rules that define the so-called “white collar” exemption under the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The Employment Policy Foundation (EPF) conducted an analysis of the proposed changes and determined that the number of employees with a right to overtime will likely increase by up to 3.4 million. The analysis also indicated that no one who currently has a right to overtime will lose that right.

The number of workers who are classified as non-exempt is expected to increase by about 2.1 million, based on the minimum salary requirement. Another 1.3 million who are now either classified as exempt executives or potentially classifiable as exempt would be made non-exempt by the proposed changes unless their actual duties were expanded to include hiring and firing authority.

Source: Employment Policy Foundation

Queen Mary 2's Ship Partner property management system used to track security, billing, telephone service, onboard television and many other key operations comes from Discovery Travel Systems (DTS) in Alexandria, Va. The Ship Partner application is built using the OpenEdge business software platform from Progress Software Corp . in Bedford , Mass.

Cunard, whose relationship with DTS started with the systems aboard Queen Elizabeth 2, recently adopted DTS' industry-leading Ship Partner software for their ultimate luxury ship, Queen Mary 2.

Ship Partner handles embarkation/disembarkation, a cashless billing environment with interfaces to a variety of point-of-sale systems, including bars, gift shops, an Internet café, arcades and minibars; integration with critical areas, such as crew and vessel safety and door locking mechanisms; and shipboard amenity systems, such as telephone, interactive TV and credit card approval systems.

“A vessel, unlike a hotel, is unique in that passengers can embark/disembark at any port, and government regulations mandate that we have an accurate passenger manifest at any point. Failure to do so can add up to fines in excess of $50,000 per incident, per person. Additionally, the ship can't sail without an accurate manifest, which could result in added longshoreman fees and tugboat costs for delayed departures,” said Dick Beliveau, manager of applications and development for Cunard Line. Working closely with DTS, we have been able to customize Ship Partner to quickly and accurately collect passenger information giving us the ability to hand off our manifest on schedule and avoid potentially stiff penalties.”

Source: Progress Software Corp. press release

Watch out! Identity theft is on the rise, and an increasing number of Payroll Departments are falling victim to “social engineers.”

These are people who call your workplace posing as an employee in an effort to get you to release confidential information.

For example, someone may call you pretending to be from a mortgage company. You could be asked for marital status, financial info., etc., all under the guise of a pending mortgage application.

To protect against this type of fraud, consider having employees sign a release outlining with whom you're permitted to share their personal data.