4Thought Blog

The U.S. Department of Labor has recently taken action on the criteria for determining independent contractor status, rescinding regulations that were enacted as recently as two weeks prior to President Biden's inauguration in the last days of the Trump administration. That means what's old is new — the regulations in force now are left over from previous administrations.

However, the DOL is taking public comments on its action until April 12. It's possible that the agency may fine-tune the old-is-new regulations in the future.

Have you made any New Year's resolutions for 2021? Resolutions usually take the form of personal goals like eating healthier or getting rid of clutter around the house. But you can also make New Year's resolutions for your small business.

Here are a dozen resolutions for small business owners to consider implementing to succeed in the future.

Cybersecurity has become increasingly important to companies over the past several years. As technology continues to become more central to all areas of business, it is vital that companies consider cybersecurity not just as an IT function but as an integral part of their overall risk management strategy.

Small businesses are often faced with a dilemma; they are vulnerable to cyberattacks and other cybersecurity issues but often lack both the financial and human capital resources to properly mitigate the risks.

However small businesses cannot ignore the importance of cybersecurity and should have strategic initiatives to address the risk of cyberattacks and better protect their critical assets and operations.

Attention Pennsylvania businesses: The state this week raised the threshold for determining whether employees are eligible for overtime pay.

The threshold is scheduled to continue to rise automatically in October 2021 and 2022 and every three years after that.

Paying your employees for hours that you know they've worked is straightforward enough. But what if they're doing more work than you think they are — or more than you've asked them to do? As federal regulations state, "Work not requested but suffered or permitted is work time" and, thus, must be compensated.

As explained in a new Department of Labor (DOL) field assistance bulletin (FAB), "If the employer knows or has reason to believe that the work is being performed, he must count the time as hours worked." The rub, the FAB explains, is this:

"While it may be easy to define what an employer actually knows, it may not always be clear when an employer 'has reason to believe that work is being performed,' particularly when employees telework or otherwise work remotely at locations that the employer does not control or monitor."

It is no secret that cyberattacks are a serious and significant risk to businesses and organizations of all sizes. As more companies and organizations migrate their data and IT operations to the cloud and adopt the remote working environments necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of cybersecurity has never been greater.

There has been a 67% increase in security breaches over the past five years and the cost of cybercrime has increased 72% during the same period, according to a recent study by Accenture. A successful cyberattack can cause considerable harm and result in loss of valuable data, money and customer confidence.

No company is immune from a cyberattack; in fact smaller organizations are often more susceptible to the tactics of cyber criminals due to having fewer IT resources and to the lack of a comprehensive plan addressing cybersecurity.

So is your company or organization prepared for a cyberattack? Below are several questions that every small business or nonprofit organization should ask to better assess their preparedness for a cyberattack.

The IRS last week provided additional clarity how employers can defer withholding and remitting employees’ Social Security taxes in response to President Trump’s executive memorandum.

We still recommend our clients continue to withhold and pay the tax. This deferral is ripe for problems for both the employee and employer.

For employers interested in learning more about the option, here is the new guidance from the IRS:

As the world continues to deal with and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the danger from digital threats remains a significant and growing challenge to the business world and the economy at large.

Cyberattacks on businesses and other organizations result in billions of dollars in financial losses each year, cause disruption and damage to operations and supply chains, and inflict reputational damage from impacted customers, investors and other key stakeholders.

President Trump issued an executive memorandum on August 8 to defer the employee's portion of Social Security tax obligations for many workers. The deferral will last from September 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020.

What, if anything, should employers do to comply with the order by the September 1 deadline? The answer depends on impending guidance from the U.S. Department of Treasury.

As businesses look to navigate towards financial health in the changing normal of a post-pandemic world, there are key areas of their business plan to reassess.

The goal, as we endure and ultimately come out of this crisis, is to rebound to better than normal. Because as the pandemic ends —whether in 3, 6, 12 months or more — the world will not look the same.

Businesses that start forecasting the post- COVID-19 landscape —and make plans accordingly—will be in a good position to succeed during the pandemic and beyond. Below are some key areas to to address in planning, and businesses should work with their trusted advisors to ensure a well deep perspective and test the thinking in critical areas.