Small Business Voice E-newsletter

November 2007

Small businesses represent more than 80 percent of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce membership. This e-newsletter is distributed periodically to address issues that have the greatest impact on businesses with 100 and fewer employees. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Byers at (651) 292-4673, (800) 821-2230 or jbyers@mnchamber.com.

Advance your priorities
The Minnesota Chamber is prepared to advance another aggressive agenda at the 2008 Legislature, and small business interests are at the heart of the agenda. In that regard, the Small Business Policy Committee has identified three priorities.

Health care: Improve the individual health care market and oppose efforts to place the burden of providing health care coverage on businesses. Many businesses offer health care as a tool to recruit employees. However, the decision to provide coverage triggers costly government mandates and health care taxes. The Minnesota Chamber's health care policies will focus on reducing costs and getting more value for our health care dollars.

Property taxes: Treat commercial/industrial and residential property the same by eliminating the classification system and limited market value. The committee acknowledged that this is an unlikely outcome in the short term and recommended that additional steps be taken to reduce the gap in tax burdens between commercial/industrial and residential property.

Education/workforce: Increase accountability and improve the return on taxpayers' investment in education. School revenue and spending decisions should be available to the public and easy to understand. Annual reports on curriculum, instruction and student achievement should require districts to set measurable short- and long-term goals for improvement. We can improve the return on our investment by reducing the achievement gap and having achievement standards that are comparable to our international competitors.

The Small Business Policy Committee meets from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. the third Monday of each month at the Minnesota Chamber offices. If you'd like to become involved, contact Stacia Smith, manager of small business policy, at (651) 292-4692, (800) 821-2230 or ssmith@mnchamber.com.

2008 Session Priorities Legislative Reception and Dinner
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
4:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Saint Paul RiverCentre
175 West Kellogg Boulevard, St. Paul

The annual Session Priorities is the premier kickoff to the legislative session and an excellent opportunity to advance your concerns face-to-face with legislators. More than 1,500 business leaders from across the state will gather with public policy-makers. Governor Pawlenty and the leaders of the four caucuses have been invited. This high-profile event forecasts the key issues for the 2008 session.

Mark your calendar. The discussion promises to be informative and stimulating. For more information, contact Carole Keller at (651) 292-4676, (800) 821-2230 or ckeller@mnchamber.com.

Re-examine vacation policies
Employers are encouraged to re-examine their vacation pay policies, following a significant ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court in which the Minnesota Chamber filed an amicus brief supporting the employer's rights. Justices ordered that employers are not obligated to grant accrued but unused vacation time to workers who are terminated or otherwise leave their posts if their employment manuals or handbooks clearly spell out such terms. The employee in this case, who was fired for misconduct, argued that she was entitled to the money.

The 6-1 decision in Lee vs. Fresenius Medicare Care, Inc. reversed an order by a lower court. The ruling covers all Minnesota employers and clarifies an ambiguous and litigious matter. If the lower court opinion had been affirmed, employer policies that allowed employees to carry over limited amounts of their accrued paid time off to the next year would have no longer been permissible, and employers would have a retroactive and potentially significant liability.

The ruling essentially moves vacation time from a matter of obligation to a matter of policy, leaving vacation time as an "employer by employer" decision. Many companies will want to review their policies to determine the circumstances under which they prefer to pay vacation, for instance, either exercising a "use it or lose it" policy or paying accrued vacation time only in instances where two weeks' notice of departure has been given or in cases where there hasn't been any form of gross misconduct.

For additional information, contact Dave Dederichs, manager of labor/management policy at the Minnesota Chamber, (651) 292-4682, (800) 821-2230 or ddederichs@mnchamber.com.

Navigating the IRS
Doing business with the IRS is part and parcel to running your business, though navigating the federal bureaucracy can be challenging. Pat Buttweiler is ready to assist. As the IRS field stakeholder liaison for this area, she is ready and willing to help small businesses learn how to access a wealth of information on the IRS Web site including industry-specific information.

The IRS offers a variety of resources including fact sheets, phone forums and a process for getting timely answers and resolution to your issues. Is it in your best interest to classify your workers as employees or independent contractors? What changes should you be aware of for filing 2007 taxes? Should you set up an employee retirement plan, and what are some of the benefits? What are the key "tax" dates for 2008? Buttweiler can assist you with these and myriad other questions.

For further information, or to sign up for e-News for Small Businesses, contact Buttweiler at (651) 726-1587 or patricia.a.buttweiler@irs.gov. Questions about this service also may be directed to Stacia Smith, manager of small business policy at the Minnesota Chamber, (651) 292-4692 or ssmith@mnchamber.com.

This web site is developed and owned by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Any use or reprinting is strictly prohibited without prior consent of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

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