Office Management

When it’s time for company leadership to tap employees to work on a new, interdepartmental project, whom do you think they’ll pick? And if the company is forced to restructure and lay off, who would least likely be sacrificed? The cross-functional whiz, or the employee who works in a silo?

Administrative professionals could be a secret weapon in helping companies bounce back from the recession. New research by OfficeTeam and the IAAP shows admins are moving beyond their traditional roles to take on responsibilities in areas such as cost control, technology and the use of social media, hiring and corporate social responsibility.

There's no denying that misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor is a costly mistake to make.  FedEx recently agreed to settle allegations of misclassification of its drivers as independent contractors for $3.05 million.  The settlement includes compensation for underpayments made to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and individual payments to the 13 drivers specifically named in the Massachusetts attorney general's original citation.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has a bigger budget and more staffing this year, and intends to audit federal government contractors or subcontractors that have 50 or more employees and a contract or subcontract of at least $50,000. And the OFCCP can be expected to increase its scrutiny on health care providers that are contractors or subcontractors for the government.

Question: “I work with a team of four admins. We work for 30 to 70 people and use a shared Outlook inbox where managers put in requests for projects, meeting set-ups, etc. Generally, we monitor the inbox hourly, but lately we’ve had so many requests, several have fallen through the cracks. What’s the best way to organize this to ensure that we respond to all requests without any of the admins duplicating efforts? ” — Anonymous

Fran’s work group plans to start a “Sunshine Fund” to buy gifts for special occasions, such as birthdays, weddings and baby showers. Her co-worker, Dan, wants to post a list showing the dollar amount contributed by each employee, but Fran thinks that’s a horrible idea. How can the team structure the fund so that people who can’t afford to contribute won’t feel obligated or embarrassed?

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Those are your only two choices. If you opt for what's behind door number three, you may find yourself doing hard time in a federal prison. A federal appeals court has ruled that the owner of a company that couldn't deposit its taxes due to financial reasons was criminally liable for that failure. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision by turning down the owner's appeal. [U.S. v. Easterday, No. 07-10347, 9th Cir. (2009); U.S. Sup. Ct., No. 09B28 (2009).]

As unemployment continues to hover near 10%, the temptation to stretch the truth on a résumé is becoming harder for desperate job-seekers to resist. That’s why experts say job applicants are doing more “creative writing” on their résumés these days. And hiring managers need to be more vigilant. Some tips:

HR Law 101: Since 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act has provided eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for the birth, adoption or foster care of a child; caring for a child, spouse or parent with a serious health condition; or convalescence after an employee’s own serious health condition ...