Dundee Group Blog

An Upcoming Educational Webinar From Sage

The National Labor Relations Board has heavily been in the news recently - a Google News search through the past week as of this posting turns up over 1,500 hits. But while the NLRB is suing states and companies like Boeing, it may not seem that your small to midsized business could be affected by these large-scale actions, but you may be more affected than you think. This free Sage webinar is a great chance to learn what about the current state of the NLRB and what the implications are for small & midsized businesses. The webinar will offered May 24th (Tuesday), 25th (Wednesday), and 26th (Thursday), giving plenty of options to fit into your schedule.

NLRB - Should You Be Concerned?

This live webcast will introduce you the changes taking place within the National Labor Relations Board. Small to mid-size employers are more likely than ever to be affected by the board's actions and the growing labor movement in the U.S. Participants will learn: What legal actions the NLRB is currently taking that may affect your company How the NLRB is actively affecting employees' access to unions through newly proposed regulations What actions companies should be engaging in now before a union targets your workforce This webcast has been approved for 1.00 (General) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute (www.hrci.org).

May 24 & 25, 2011 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time 11:00AM - 12:00PM Pacific Time

May 26, 2011 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time 10:00AM - 11:00PM Pacific Time

Click here to sign up for any of the three sessions

Sage Webcast On Tuesday For Compliance

Sage is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May 10th at 2PM EST on how to have an HR system that meets all compliance requirements. This webinar is of intrest to both current Abra users and people who want to learn more about compliance. If you are already using Sage Abra, join us to learn best practices for compliance. Cost-Effective Compliance: What It Consists Of and How to Achieve It

 

Compliance -- the very thought of implementing an HR "compliance system" typically strikes terror in the minds of HR managers and IT professionals alike. Attend this live webcast and learn what an HR "best practice" compliance system consists of, its benefits to your HR organization, and how to achieve it cost-effectively.

May 10, 2011 11:00AM - 12:00PM Pacific Time 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time Click here to sign up

Upcoming Sage Webcast on HR Metrics

Sage is running a webcast next week on the topic of HR Metrics. The hour long live webcast will focus on providing HR professionals with the tools to effectively communicate with C-level executives.  You’ll learn how to speak the language of business through metrics for staffing, compensation, and benefits to effectively evaluate and improve performance within the HR function. For those of you who already use Sage Abra HRMS, this is a great chance for a refresher on the powerful functionality of the HR tools that you use every day.

Here's what Sage has to say about HR metrics:

A company is only as good as its human resources management but sometimes businesses and managers may not see it that way. Thanks to HR metrics however, human resources professionals can show their direct impact on a business and its profitability.

Having metrics in place is like finally using a scale when on a diet. Sure, it looks like you’ve lost weight and all of your efforts seem to be having an effect on your waist line, but there’s no way to be sure of the exact impact without a clear way to measure it. Hop on a scale and your weight loss goes from “I look great” to “I lost 10 pounds!”

Metrics for HR allow businesses to see tangible evidence of where staffing, compensation and benefit policies are working and where there is room for improvement. Areas that are often measured include turnover, open positions, employee engagement, cost per hire, cost per healthcare plan and customer feedback scores.

Human resource planning is essential to a business’s success, and metrics allow companies to have a more accurate way to measure HR success. Before, HR departments were mostly measured on how long it took to fill a vacant position, but today, we have so many more ways to weigh success.

There are three possible times you can participate in this webcast: March 29^th, at 2:00pm (EST); March 30th, at 1:00pm (EST); and March 31st, at 2:00pm (EST).

Follow this link to sign up for Measuring Up: Using Metrics to Meet and Exceed Expectations. 

 

Sage Abra SQL V.10.1

On Tuesday, October 26, 2010, Sage North America released version 10.1 of Sage Abra SQL HRMS. Exciting new features include more advanced group security and smart phone integration, as well as more improvements to save your HR team valuable time.

Read the official press release.

Boston Area Training for Sage Abra HR and Payroll

We are planning four full days of training for Sage Abra HR and Payroll in Boston this October. Registration is limited, so act quickly.

Managing your Employees with Sage Abra HR

Boston, MA October 19-20th. Course Fee: $1,035.
 Sage Abra has a brand new look and feel! This hands-on two day workshop is designed for the beginning to intermediate users of Abra HR. Learn to use the brand new look and feel to help manage your employees with ease. From utilizing the new User Interface to intuitively access your employee information, run reports, or update your employee information, Sage Abra Suite HR is your partner in the ever changing world of HR. [Eligible for 16.0 CPE (NASBA) credits]

08:30 AM - 04:30 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Registration End Date: October 14, 2010
Seats Left: 3
 
Abra Suite Payroll Basic

Boston, MA October 21-22nd. Course Fee: $1,035.     
 This hands-on workshop is designed for the beginning to intermediate Abra Payroll users. Students will quickly learn how to run payroll, set up audit trails, add and edit code tables, set up system security and much more. [Eligible for 16.0 CPE (NASBA) credits and 13.0 RCH (APA credits]
 
08:30 AM - 04:30 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Registration End Date: October 15, 2010
Seats Left: 4
 

FMLA Changes Signed by President

Yesterday, President Obama signed into law the Fiscal Year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2647). The new law includes an expansion of the recently-enacted exigency and caregiver leave provisions for military families under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA).

FMLA changes include:

Exigency leave - up to 12 weeks of leave for urgent needs related to a reservist family member's (spouse, son, daughter, or parent) call to active service. H.R. 2647 expands the exigency leave benefits to include family members of active duty service members. Under current law, only family members of National Guard and Reservists are eligible for exigency leave.

Caregiver leave - up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave to an employee to care for a family member (spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin) who is injured while serving on active military duty. H.R. 2647 expands the caregiver leave provision to include veterans who are undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy for serious injury or illness that occurred any time during the five years preceding the date of treatment.

Posted by: Tim Ross

Flying in the Face of Adversity

Join us August 6th at 2PM for Flying in the Face of Adversity: Encouraging and Motivating Your Employees During the Economic Recovery

This one-hour Webcast with Sage Abra and Kim Cressell, President of the Cressell Simmons Group, explore how to keep your employees encouraged and motivated in today's economic climate. You'll also learn how to leverage your Sage Abra solution to:

• Build a thriving employee culture
• Cultivate and nurture employee engagement
• Effectively communicate with your employees
• Keep managers informed

Sign up here for the Webcast.  Scroll down the page and click the green "Register" icon next to Flying in the Face of Adversity. Please mention Dundee Group when asked where you heard about the Webcast.

Posted by: Tim Ross

Are you using the new I-9 Form?

The use of the new form was delayed for two months while the Obama administration reviewed the form and the policies for it's use. You should be using the form for employees hired after April 3, 2009.

All U.S. employers must complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens. On the form, the employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the individual and record the document information on the Form I-9. The list of acceptable documents can be found on the last page of the form.

Remember that in Abra I-9 Verification Status is tracked on the HR Status page.

You can get a copy of the latest form here.

Posted by: Tim Ross

What a New U.S. President and Congress Means for Employers and HR Professionals

Save the date and time! January 22, 2009 at 2:00pm Eastern. Join us for a Sage Lattes-Lunch-n-Learn: "What a New U.S. President and Congress Means for Employers and HR Professionals"

This is a MUST SEE, educational Webcast! This one-hour Webcast will be hosted by one of the top employment and labor law firms in the country, Littler Mendelson, P.C. We will examine what the results of the Presidential election and the new shape of Congress will mean for employers in 2009 and beyond. Plus, if you are a Sage customer and complete the survey at the end of the Webcast, you will receive a free Starbucks Card loaded with $5.

To register click on the Sage Webcast link on our homepage. The webcast is listed on the second page. Please contact me with any questions.

Posted by: Tim Ross

FMLA Expansion Signed into Law

On Monday, January 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law an expansion of FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act). Under the new law, two additional events have been added to FMLA.

Family Leave Due to a Call to Active Duty -This benefit provides 12 weeks of FMLA leave due to a spouse, son, daughter or parent being on active duty or having been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in the Armed Forces. Leave may be used for any "qualifying exigency" arising out of the servicemember's current tour of active duty or because the servicemember is notified of an impending call to duty in support of a contingency operation.

Caregiver Leave for an Injured Servicemember -This benefit provides 26 weeks of FMLA leave during a single 12-month period for a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or nearest blood relative caring for a recovering service member. A recovering service member is defined as a member of the Armed Forces who suffered an injury or illness while on active-duty that may render the person unable to perform the duties of the member's office, grade, rank or rating.

The Department of Labor will be issuing regulations to fully implement this law. Click the following DOL FMLA Post for more information.

We will follow up in a future post with more information about how to handle FMLA in Sage Abra Payroll.

Posted by: Tim Ross