Category: Fair Labor Standards Act

Independent Contractor or Employee

Published by Brett Holubeck on February 28, 2020

Image of a photographer as they are a type of worker that are frequently independent contractors. — Photo by Marco Xu on Unsplash

Are your workers independent contractors or employees? How can you tell the difference? What are the rules to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor in Texas or elsewhere? Why does this even matter?

Why You Need to Classify Employees Correctly

It is expensive to get the answer wrong. Misclassification lawsuits can run in the millions depending on the number of employees involved. For example, New Jersey’s lawsuit against Uber found that Uber owes $649 million for unpaid unemployment and disability taxes for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors.

California’s AB5 law, which made it harder for a number of workers to be independent contractors (as workers must meet all 3 of the ABC factors to be employees as discussed below), may spread to other states. Even if it doesn’t, there will still be the risk of a misclassification lawsuit in a number of states because companies in the gig economy are generally seen by state governments and plaintiff’s attorneys as misclassifying independent contractors and thus are a target for lawsuits.

Proper classification also matters for employees and the states that they work in (as shown by New Jersey’s lawsuit against Uber). Misclassified workers can cost states to collect less unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation insurance, and income taxes. Workers lose out on unemployment insurance (unless they can show in a proceeding that they were misclassified) and workers compensation insurance as contractors. On the other hand, many workers prefer to be independent contractors due to the benefits that they can obtain such as certain tax write offs, more control of their business, and better opportunities to profit. The most recent example of this are freelance writers and truckers in California.

What is an Independent Contractor?

States and the federal government have a wide variety of tests that they use to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor.

To determine whether a worker is an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (which governs most wage and hour issues at the federal level) courts use the economic reality test. The test has the factors in the bullets below. All of these factors are considered, and a worker need not meet every factor to be an independent contractor.

The extent to which the services rendered are an integral part of the principal’s business.”

Essentially the question is whether the person performing work that is an essential part of the service that the business provides? A traditional plumbing company that only has plumbers that are independent contractors would not pass the test. Plumbers are a main part of the services provided by the plumbing company. In contrast, a worker that only mows the plumbing company’s lawn every 2 weeks is not an integral part of the plumbing business.

“The permanency of the relationship.”

Is there a definite end to the employment relationship or are the services only provided periodically? A cleaning person that comes once a week could be an independent contractor). Both factors would tend to indicate that the workers are independent contractors.

“The amount of the alleged contractor’s investment in facilities and equipment.”

If the contractor provides their own tools, then that is a good indication that they could be independent contractors. If the company provides all the tools, then that weighs in favor of a finding that they are employees.

“The nature and degree of control by the principal.”

Does the worker have the ability to determine how to perform the work? Are they able to determine the means that they use to complete the project and perhaps the time that they use to complete the project? For example, suppose you hire someone to develop an app for your company. If they can determine the means that they use to develop the app; are free to work on the development when they want; and can choose the programing language they use to complete the app (even though the company decides what the app is supposed to do), then this factor would tend to show that they are independent contractors.

“The alleged contractor’s opportunities for profit and loss.”

Independent contractors typically can make money, lose money, and don’t have a fixed amount of money that they can make (or at least are usually not getting paid an hourly rate).

“The amount of initiative, judgment, or foresight in open market competition with others required for the success of the claimed independent contractor.”

Do workers compete with others in the marketplace? Is it possible for them to lose the business? Does the work require them to use independent judgment to complete the work? If so, then this factor supports a finding that they are independent contractors.

“The degree of independent business organization and operation.”

Do they have their own business? Do they set their own schedule? Do they send out invoices? Do they do the things that separate businesses typically do? If so, then they are more likely to be independent contractors.

The ABC Test for Independent Contractors

Many states, like California, use the ABC test to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor. The factors in the test are generally:

The worker is free from control (they determine how to do the work)
The work is outside the usual business of the company
The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business.

In California, all 3 aspects must be met. Meeting all 3 factors can be difficult and is one of the reasons why there is such a fight over workers in the gig economy right now especially in California. Their main issue is whether the workers provide a service that is in the company’s usual course of the business (is Uber a company that provides a ride sharing service) or whether the companies merely connect providers (like Uber drivers or DoorDash workers) with potential clients that need their services. It is a question that will eventually be determined in the courts and legislative branches.

Independent Contractor Tests in Texas and Elsewhere

The Texas Workforce Commission does a great job outlining additional tests that are used in Texas.

Section 401.012 of the Texas Worker’s Compensation Act states that:

“’employee’ means each person in the service of another under a contract of hire, whether express or implied, or oral or written,” and “includes: (1) an employee employed in the usual course and scope of the employer’s business … .” That term does not include “an independent contractor or … a person whose employment is not in the usual course and scope of the employer’s business.” In section 406.121(2) of that law, an independent contractor is defined as “a person who contracts to perform work or provide a service for the benefit of another and who ordinarily:

A. acts as the employer of any employee of the contractor by paying wages, directing activities, and performing other similar functions characteristic of an employer-employee relationship;
B. is free to determine the manner in which the work or service is performed, including the hours of labor of or method of payment to any employee;
C. is required to furnish or to have employees, if any, furnish necessary tools, supplies, or materials to perform the work or service; and
D. possesses the skills required for the specific work or service.”

The TWC also does a great job explaining the definition of independent contractor under the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act:

The Texas Unemployment Compensation Act does not directly define “independent contractor”. Instead, it sets forth a broadly inclusive test, known as the “direction or control” or “common law” test, for who is an employee: “’employment’ means a service, including service in interstate commerce, performed by an individual for wages or under an express or implied contract of hire, unless it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commission that the individual’s performance of the service has been and will continue to be free from control or direction under the contract and in fact”. By implication, an “independent contractor” would be a person whose services do not meet the above test. To aid in application of the common-law test, TWC has adapted the old IRS twenty-factor test for use by the agency (online at

Other agencies have their own tests. The National Labor Relations Board has a test called that is outlined here. As a reminder, the National Labor Relations Act applies to all companies with more than one employee whether unionized or not. The NLRB’s test is useful to determine whether workers are employees (and thus eligible to form a union) or independent contractors (the workers cannot unionize under federal law or at least not with the company that they work as independent contractors for. It is possible that they could be employees of another company where they could unionize.).

The IRS’s test is available here. The IRS’s definition is obviously used for federal tax purposes.

Essentially, there are a ton of rules to follow to determine whether someone is an independent contractor or employee. Almost every state has a different test (and sometimes more than one test for different areas of the law). Different tests may even lead to conflicting results.

Middle Ground

Currently there is no middle ground between independent contractors and employees. Someone is an employee or independent contractor.

Texas did clarify that gig workers are independent contractors last year under 40 TAC §815.134 (the provision relates to unemployment insurance).

The rule defines a “digital network” as (essentially) an app or other piece of software/website that is used to connect the public with contractors that can provide a service that the public is looking for. A marketplace platform is a company that operates a digital platform (ex. DoorDash owns and operates its delivery app).

A worker that uses a digital network (typically an app like Uber or Lyft) to find members of the public to provide services to is a contractor as long as the following factors are met (from 40 TAC §815.134):

–All or substantially all of the payment paid to the contractor shall be based on a per-job or transaction basis;
–The marketplace platform does not unilaterally prescribe specific hours during which the marketplace contractor must be available to accept service requests from the public (including third-party individuals and entities) submitted through the marketplace platform’s digital network;
–The marketplace platform does not prohibit the marketplace contractor from using a digital network offered by any other marketplace platform;
–The marketplace platform does not restrict the contractor from engaging in any other occupation or business;
–The marketplace contractor is free from control by the marketplace platform as to where and when the marketplace contractor works and when the marketplace contractor accesses the marketplace platform’s digital network;
–The marketplace contractor bears all or substantially all of the contractor’s own expenses that are incurred by the contractor in performing the service or services;
–The marketplace contractor is responsible for providing the necessary tools, materials, and equipment to perform the service or services;
–The marketplace platform does not control the details or methods for the services performed by a marketplace contractor by requiring the marketplace contractor to follow specified instructions governing how to perform the services; and
–The marketplace platform does not require the contractor to attend mandatory meetings or mandatory training.

Essentially, the law was passed as a way for Texas to clarify what it took for a worker to be an independent contractor rather than an employee in the gig economy.

What Rules Apply to Your Business

Ok, you just read a number of different laws about independent contractors. How do you know what applies to your business? Before I give a checklist, I need to reiterate that this is a complicated issue. There is a lot of case law about a variety of workers, duties, and positions under these tests. It is an incredibly fact specific question to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor and is often very confusing.

Here are some steps to consider to determine what law to apply:

Why are you trying to determine whether the worker is an independent contractor or employee? Is it a federal tax, federal wage and hour, unemployment insurance, unionization, or workers compensation insurance issue? Workers should almost always be classified the same under the different laws.
What state does your business operate in?
Based on what issue applies and the state, you would then need to examine the law for that area, the state, and potentially the federal laws.
You need to gather the relevant information about the individual worker under the test.
You then need to follow the test and review how courts have looked at cases similar to yours in the past to reach a determination on the proper classification.

Correctly Classifying Workers

As noted above, it is incredibly important that you correctly classify your workers. If you are in an industry that has a history of misclassifying workers, then you should take extra precautions. Common industries where misclassification occurs includes construction, certain medical professionals, and the gig economy.

To avoid these problems, many employers benefit from conducting a review of a worker’s duties and other information to determine whether or not they have been properly categorized. To do this, you must also have good job descriptions. I’ve written about this before in the context of ADA accommodations and white-collar exemptions, but it is also useful for classifying independent contractors.

Conclusion

You need to classify workers correctly. If you fail to classify workers properly, then your company could be subject to an expensive lawsuit that could upend your business. Do your due diligence utilizing the tests available to ensure your workers are classified appropriately.

The information provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. If you need legal advice, then you should speak with a lawyer about your specific issues. Every legal issue is unique. A lawyer can help you with your situation. Reading the blog, contacting me through the site, emailing me or commenting on a post does not create an attorney-client relationship between any reader and me.

The information provided is my own and does not reflect the opinion of my firm or anyone else.

Overtime Exemptions and Managing Overtime

Published by Brett Holubeck on December 8, 2019

Picture of a piggy bank to represent the overtime exemption and the increase in the salary threshold. — Photo by Fabian Blank on Unsplash

Wage and hour issues can cause a variety of headaches for companies. In 2017, there were 8,261 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuits filed against companies, which is 417 percent more than in 1997. The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor has recovered $2.8 billion from companies since 1984 with 70% of the money coming from FLSA violations that collectively affected 3 million workers. Failing to properly pay overtime accounts for a large portion of these fines.

A side note here for all of you looking forward to a new year- “New year, new you” is now “New Year, New overtime salary threshold”. So let’s prepare together to ensure you aren’t one of the people who are ill prepared when it comes to overtime pay.

The New Overtime Rules

Many companies believe that one only needs to pay a salary for an employee to be exempt from overtime. This is 100% false! And yet it is extremely common for both employers and employees to believe.

As a reminder, the new overtime rules become effective on January 1, 2020. Currently the minimum salary that an employer must pay for an individual to be exempt from overtime is $455 per week (which equals $23,660 annually). The new overtime salary threshold will be $684 per week (which equals $35,568 per year). The new rule also raises the threshold for the highly compensated category from the current threshold of $100,000 to $107,432 per year. The new rule will also permit employers to use nondiscretionary bonuses and commissions that are paid on at least an annual basis within this count towards meeting the overtime salary threshold (but only up to 10%) of the salary level.

Employers that are not paying at least $684 per week as a salary for any currently salaried exempt employees need to convert the employees to hourly employees or ensure that these employees do not work more than 40 hours in a week (which is when overtime begins under the FLSA).

Duties Tests

As I said earlier, improper classification of employees as “exempt from overtime” can result in big fines, and with the common (false) belief that someone only has to be salaried to be exempt, this happens quite frequently. To prevent those fines, employers must pay attention to the overtime exemptions. Here is a quick overview:

Executive

To qualify for the executive employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met as noted by the Department of Labor:

• The employee must be compensated on a salary basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $684* per week;
• The employee’s primary duty must be managing the enterprise, or managing a customarily recognized department or subdivision of the enterprise;
• The employee must customarily and regularly direct the work of at least two or more other full-time employees or their equivalent; and
• The employee must have the authority to hire or fire other employees, or the employee’s suggestions and recommendations as to the hiring, firing, advancement, promotion or any other change of status of other employees must be given particular weight.
“Primary duty” means the principal, main, major or most important duty that the employee performs. Determination of an employee’s primary duty must be based on all the facts in a particular case, with the major emphasis on the character of the employee’s job as a whole.

Common job examples of the exemption are managers, CEO’s, supervisors, and business managers.

Professional

To qualify for the learned professional employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met as explained by the DOL:

• The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $684* per week;
• The employee’s primary duty must be the performance of work requiring advanced knowledge, defined as work which is predominantly intellectual in character and which includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment;
• The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; and [t]he advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.

Administrative

To qualify for the administrative employee exemption, the DOL requires that all of the following tests must be met:

• The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $684* per week;
• The employee’s primary duty must be the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer’s customers; and
• The employee’s primary duty includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance.

HR Generalist, Internal Auditor, Budget Analysts, and Buyers are the typical positions that qualify for this exemption.

Computer Employee

To qualify for the computer employee exemption, the following tests must be met as explained by the DOL:

• The employee must be compensated either on a salary or fee basis at a rate not less than $684* per week or, if compensated on an hourly basis, at a rate not less than $27.63 an hour;
• The employee must be employed as a computer systems analyst, computer programmer, software engineer or other similarly skilled worker in the computer field performing the duties described below;
• The employee’s primary duty must consist of:
1. The application of systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users, to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications; and
2. The design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing or modification of computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system design specifications;
3. The design, documentation, testing, creation or modification of computer programs related to machine operating systems; or
4. A combination of the aforementioned duties, the performance of which requires the same level of skills.

Outside Sales

To qualify for the outside sales employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met as noted by the DOL:

• The employee’s primary duty must be making sales (as defined in the FLSA), or obtaining orders or contracts for services or for the use of facilities for which a consideration will be paid by the client or customer; and
• The employee must be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer’s place or places of business. The salary requirements of the regulation do not apply to the outside sales exemption.

The most important thing to pay attention to regarding the outside sales exemption is that the person must be truly located outside of the office.

Highly Compensated Employees

The regulations contain a special rule for “highly compensated” employees who are paid a total annual compensation of $107,432 or more. The Department of Labor explains what a worker must be do to be a highly compensated employee:

A highly compensated employee is deemed exempt under Section 13(a)(1) if:
1. The employee earns total annual compensation of $107,432 or more, which includes at least $684* per week paid on a salary or fee basis;
2. The employee’s primary duty includes performing office or non-manual work; and
3. The employee customarily and regularly performs at least one of the exempt duties or responsibilities of an exempt executive, administrative or professional employee.

Misclassification and Common Overtime Mistakes

Improperly classifying an employee as exempt from overtime can result in hefty penalties for a company and is not something that any company should do willingly.

There are a few common ways that many companies mess up the overtime exemptions:

The employee is actually paid an hourly wage rather than being paid a salary. Rule 1 is that these employees must be paid a salary for them to be exempt from overtime unless they are a computer professional.
The employee failed to perform the required duties that are necessary to meet the qualification even though they had the right title. For example, the employee was labeled a manager, but really was just a glorified cashier.
The company failed to consider the requirements at the state level, which may have a different salary threshold. Alaska, California California, and New York have salary thresholds that are higher than the new threshold that will go into effect in January. Pennsylvania’s salary threshold to be exempt from overtime will be above the federal threshold beginning in 2021. Washington state also has a proposed rule that would increase the overtime threshold for workers in the state.

With the new regulations coming it may be time to review your classifications to ensure that they are properly done.

Pay Deductions for a Salary Exempt Employee

You can make deductions from the pay of a salaried exempt employee under certain circumstances as noted by the Department of Labor:

Deductions from pay are permissible when an exempt employee:
is absent from work for one or more full days for personal reasons other than sickness or disability;
for absences of one or more full days due to sickness or disability if the deduction is made in accordance with a bona fide plan, policy or practice of providing compensation for salary lost due to illness;
to offset amounts employees receive as jury or witness fees, or for military pay;
for penalties imposed in good faith for infractions of safety rules of major significance;
or for unpaid disciplinary suspensions of one or more full days imposed in good faith for workplace conduct rule infractions.
Also, an employer is not required to pay the full salary in the initial or terminal week of employment [(if the employee did not work a full week)], or for weeks in which an exempt employee takes unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Practical Steps to Reduce and Manage Overtime

Managing overtime can be one of the trickiest tasks for HR to do. Fortunately, there are some ways that employers can manage overtime.

Track hours- count the hours that people work through software or a timekeeping device. If a person is working less than 40 hours a week, then you can pay them a salary and not worry about whether or not they are exempt from overtime.
Have policies- Make sure that you have a policy that requires employees to report off-the-clock work. Inform employees of the policy and make them sign an acknowledgement. You still must pay employees if they perform unauthorized work off-the-clock, but you can discipline them for not getting approval for the time first or working without authorization.
Pay attention to the job descriptions: I wrote about this last week. You need to make sure that the job duties of the employee match the requirements of the overtime exemptions.
Train supervisors to be aware of these issues. Make sure that supervisors know what jobs and duties people are supposed to have and ensure that they assign tasks to exempt employees that are within their job duties and the above overtime exemptions. They should also be aware if any employees are nonexempt so that they can monitor their hours to reduce the amount of overtime.

Conclusion

The new regulations are sure to bring a number of changes to many companies. Companies may need to redistribute work and convert salaried employees to hourly employees in an effort to avoid paying overtime to employees that were formerly exempt from overtime. The right time to act is now before the regulations go into effect to ensure timely compliance.

The information provided is my own and does not reflect the opinion of my firm or anyone else.

Paying Tipped Employees: A Nightmare

Published by Brett Holubeck on May 13, 2019

Image of a restaurant to demonstrate the issue of paying tipped employees a tipped wage. — Photo by Petr Sevcovic on Unsplash

One of the biggest problems that many restaurants face is paying tipped employees. Wage and hour lawsuits in the restaurant industry are rampant. The Economic Policy Institute found that a 2010-2012 Department of Labor (DOL) compliance sweep of 9,000 restaurants revealed that 83.8% of restaurants had some wage and hour violation and the DOL recovered $56.8 million in this sweep. Unfortunately, many restaurants make mistakes in paying tipped employees, which increases their liability in a wage and hour lawsuit. Restaurants can benefit by reviewing the basics of the tipped wage for employees.

What is the Tipped Wage?

In many states, including Texas, employers can pay an employee a wage that is less than the minimum wage if they earn tips in addition to this wage. The direct wage that employers must pay tipped employees varies, but in many states the wage is $2.13 per hour. The rest of the employee’s wages are earned by the tips that they receive from customers. These employees must still earn at least the minimum wage and the employer must pay employees more if the employee’s tips plus the direct tipped wage that the employer pays do not equal the state minimum wage. The employer must make sure that the employee is making at least the minimum wage during their shift.

The Tipped Wage and Overtime

Another common mistake that some employers make is that they fail to pay employees the proper amount of overtime. Many employers take the tipped credit for their tipped employees, but they do not realize that the overtime rate for an employee that is getting tips has to be calculated by using the minimum wage (ex. $7.25 nationally) rather than the $2.13 per hour wage that the employer often pays if they take the tip credit.

This means that a tipped employee is paid overtime wages of $7.25 x 1.5 = $10.88 per hour for each hour that they work in a week that is over 40 hours and/or for each hour that they work in a day that is over 8 hours (this depends on the laws for the particular state). Moreover, in many states you can deduct the tip credit for the overtime hours also. In our example, this is how it works: $10.88 minus $5.12 equals $5.76 for each overtime hour worked.

How Does the Tipped Wage Work?

Tipped employees, like waiters, can be paid a tipped wage for work in which they are receiving tips (e.g. waiting on a table). They cannot be paid a tipped wage for work that does not involve any tipped work.

The DOL has a helpful clarification by looking at the example of a person that has a dual job as a waiter and a maintenance person. The employee can be paid a tipped wage for work that they do as a waiter, but they must be paid at least the minimum wage for any hours that they work in a position where they do not customarily get tips, such as a maintenance person.

The DOL also explained what duties are considered tipped duties and which duties are not normally eligible for tips:

Reg 531.56(e) permits the taking of the tip credit for time spent in duties related to the tipped occupation, even though such duties are not by themselves directed toward producing tips (i.e. maintenance and preparatory or closing activities). For example a waiter/waitress, who spends some time cleaning and setting table, making coffee, and occasionally washing dishes or glasses may continue to be engaged in a tipped occupation even though these duties are not tip producing, provided such duties are incidental to the regular duties of the server (waiter/waitress) and are generally assigned to the servers. However, where the facts indicate that specific employees are routinely assigned to maintenance, or that tipped employees spend a substantial amount of time (in excess of 20 percent) performing general preparation work or maintenance, no tip credit may be taken for the time spent in such duties.

Tip Pooling: a Major Concern

Employees can be required to share their tips, but as made clear in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, managers and supervisors cannot receive any part of tips that an employee receives.

However, the Consolidated Appropriations Bill has allowed employers who pay the full minimum wage to their wait staff (i.e. they do no pay the tipped wage or use the tip credit) to mandate tip pooling (the tipped employees share tips with other employees). Essentially, if an employer wishes to do so, they can require tipped employees to share either a portion or all of their tips with employees that are working at the back of the restaurant (dishwashers, cooks, etc.) or other front of the house employees if they pay tipped employees the minimum wage. In the 7 states where employers must pay tipped employees at least the minimum wage (i.e. there is no tipped wage), requiring tipped pools can be a great way to reduce the pay difference between the front and the back of the house of a restaurant if that is permitted by state law.

Tip pools are also used at restaurants where the customer receives their food at the counter. In these circumstances, there may be a tip jar with money that is then distributed at the end of the shift.

Essentially, the government is now allowing restaurants to address one of the most frequent issues that restaurants face: the pay disparity between the front and the back of the house.

This article by Kendal Austin at Toast has some other great tips that restaurants can use to decrease the wage gap between the front and the back of the house.

The Tipped vs. Non-Tipped Pay Difference in Restaurants

Payscale has a great dataset from 2015 that explains the average wages of workers in various jobs at restaurants. Bouree Lam at The Atlantic sifted through the data and found that “Where tips amounted to 0 to 10 percent of chefs’ and cooks’ hourly incomes, for bartenders, waiters, and waitresses that number could be as high as 70 percent.” The information from Payscale, while outdated, does indicate the problems that many restaurants face in paying their employees and ensuring that they can pay back of the house employees enough to attract talent.

The wages in the Payscale dataset may actually underestimate the pay difference between back of the house and front of the house staff as the IRS estimates that 40% of tips are not reported.

Employers Can Forbid Tips

Restaurants also have the option to ban employees from receiving tips or at least letting customers know that tips are not expected. Of course, these restaurants do need to pay employees at least the minimum wage to do so.

The DC Vote to Eliminate the Tipped Wage

The recent debate in DC to eliminate the tipped wage demonstrates that many groups have a wide variety of opinions on the issue of tips. The proposal was a voter initiative that would have eliminated the tipped wage and it passed, but it was ultimately undone by a DC council vote. Many restaurant workers expressed concern that the elimination of the tipped wage would cost them money as less people would tip. As noted above, many tipped employees receive most of their wages from tips, so their concern was obvious.

The issue of the tipped wage is not going away even if more states consider eliminating the tipped wage. Employers across the country need to pay attention to their state and local laws to ensure that they are following the law on paying their tipped employees.

If you are curious about the other ways to pay employees, check out my previous article here.

The information provided is my own and does not reflect the opinion of my firm or anyone else.