The Janitors' Closet

I-9 Inspection - what to do?

"If you receive [a Notice of Inspection], you should immediately contact counsel. The window for response is short and it is critical that employers carefully review documents prior to production," opens an article in today's Building Service Contractor's Association International Smartbrief.

That response time is three days - pretty short to find and fix mistakes.  Many firms have lots of "minor" clerical errors in their file of I-9s: date or address missing, the form filled out too long after the heir date, and so forth.  Or the form is missing entirely.  Or the forms are filed with the full personnel files, employee by employee, as seems the logical place to put them.

Even minor mistakes can generate fines.  Missing forms, or a pattern of non-compliance, are more serious.  I-9s filed in the personnel file could be a bit of an inconvenience - the agent can take the entire file, not just the I-9, and you might not get it back very quickly.

Further, a lot of firms assume that once an employee is gone, he's not an issue.  Not true.  And if he's gone, it might be really difficult to locate him and bring him in to help update the records.

We solved the problem by joining Immigration and Customs Enforcement's IMAGE program.  In addition to training our staff in proper documentation and in recognizing fake IDs (passports, work permits, Social Security cards, driver's licenses), the ICE agentdid an audit of our existing I-9s.  Though we had a quite manageable number, and plenty of time to review them in advance, he found that we still had a number of minor mistakes.  Embarrassing, but it helped us to get everything "up to specs".  And, because it was a voluntary audit (and we had nothing major), no fines were assessed.  Finally, the IMAGE agreement requires us to do at least an annual paperwork audit, by someone not involved in the normal hiring process - to keep everything kosher, ongoing.  The IMAGE program, training and audit were all at no cost.

IMAGE seems to be just beyond the pilot program stage.   I'd guess that more janitorial firms will be joining shortly, but at the moment, we're one of only two in the nation, and the only janitorial firm in Arizona, partnered with IMAGE.

If you're legitimate in your hiring practices, IMAGE makes a lot of sense.

Dangerous jobs for teens

Pitfalls of hiring teens "informally" for summer work are discussed in a post from "Work Comp Insider" that I noticed in a newsletter from my Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.

The article leads with a list of particularly dangerous jobs that really ought not have uninsured folks working them, and continues with numerous links to resources on aspects of youth hiring.

It got me thinking that, this being summer, a lot of smaller offices will let their janitorial service go, or suspend service, so as to give the office manager's or owner's teenage offspring the chance to earn a little cash before going back to school in the fall.  Problem is, because the work is "temporary", or "part time", or "informal", a lot of folks figure they can pay cash, or a "reimbursement", or pay as an "outside contractor", and not cover payroll taxes, unemployment or workers comp.

Big mistake.  The boss's son is no more an independent business than the receptionist is.  Come audit time (by any of the interested agencies), tax, penalty and interest are due, and usually the offence is reported to all the other agencies (they do seem to talk to one another).  Worse, consider if the kid is injured, and not covered by workers comp....

All in all, it's probably best to run things legitimately.

Pests and Indoor Air Quality

Good article by Caitlin Seifert, in the June 15 Green Building Pro, on Pests and Indoor Air Quality.

When thinking about indoor air quality, we mostly think about dust, mold, spores, and pollen.  But consider the following:

"Cockroaches and rodents are two of the most common pests that contaminate air. Pest allergens are   especially dangerous for individuals with asthma because airborne allergens can trigger asthma attacks and other bronchial-related complications. Proteins in cockroach droppings, saliva and decaying body parts trigger allergies and can increase the severity of asthma symptoms. Proteins in rodent urine become airborne allergens and can cause illnesses such as influenza and measles. Rodent droppings can contain deadly diseases such as Hantavirus."

In a tight economy, many clients cut back the number of nights cleaned per week.  A reasonable decision.  But not if the client neglects to empty, EVERY NIGHT, any trash cans containing food.  Not just the lunchroom can (it's pretty obvious), but any desk trash can whose owner eats at his desk.  Food attracts pests, overnight.

You might have to learn to live with less janitorial service, but you ought not have to learn to live with pests (save the two-legged kind in the next cubicle).

Try environmentalism that works

Germany, in its wisdom, has finally bowed to the Greens' demand that all nuclear power generation be phased out.  As far as can be determined, nuclear power has not killed a single Western European.  In the same week, Germany has had 35 deaths (and counting) traced to e-coli from an organic ("green") farm.  One problem with organic farming is organic fertilizer; if you do not compost it properly (and it's very difficult to compost properly, consistently), e-coli survives.  An easy - and harmless - way to kill e-coli is by irradiating your veggies.  Unfortunately, Germany outlawed food irradiation back in the 50's, presumably because it sounds like radiation, which is bad.  Go figure.

Some practices described as "green" or "environmentally friendly" make sense; others do not.

Janitorial has similar issues.  For example, we go through a lot of plastic trash liners.  Compostable liners are available.  They are a bit weaker than the usual, non-environmentally friendly liners, and they also tend to weaken further with heat - like in our supplier's non-air conditioned warehouse, in a Phoenix summer.  Even so, you'd think it a good idea to use them.

Only problem is that the compostable liners only compost in a landfill that's set up to compost.  Phoenix doesn't have one.  So if we were to use the compostable liners, it would accomplish exactly nothing.

Over the years, we've made our opperation as environmentally friendly - and as health friendly - as possible.  But we try to adopt only those "green" parctices that really work - not those that simply sound good.

"Not quite a business"

Got a response to my "Lost a client" post (which spoke of the liability and safety risks of hiring a "not quite a real business") from Marla:

"Boy did that hit home. I was in the same situation as the sister, though I was no relation to my former employers. I was paid as a sub-contractor (1099) for several years, but paid and treated as an employee. After just giving up figuring out on my own how to fix it, even though I was "getting away with it", I turned myself in the the IRS (THAT went over well with the former employers...) and am now working with them to fix the time I worked with that employer. I kept putting off learning what I was supposed to do, then when I did find out on my own I could never make enough money to "get legal" so I finally just quit to go out on my own, committed to not repeating their business practices and making sure my previous slack business habits don't bleed into my new business. It'll take awhile, but I'm considering any fines/penalties/etc.. as an education in the school of willful ignorance and hard knocks. :-)"

Reminded me of the activities of a good friend, many years ago.  Billy is half Hispanic (and looks 100%); he'd started a minuscule janitorial service, part time, while in school.  Never bothered with such niceties a workers comp, or taxes.  A bit after he closed down, our friends at the IRS finally tumbled to his existence, and asked him in for a friendly conversation.  With his business records.

Taking full advantage of ethnic appearance, Billy got himself a sombrero, and some flip-flops, and much used blue jeans; put on a heavy Spanish accent (he spoke hardly a word of the language, at the time); and looked very confused when asked about "records".  And about "balance sheets".  And about "P & L".  But when asked if he'd experienced any losses, he brightened up, and replied "...last year, we lost two feather dusters!"

They threw him out.

Lost a client...

Lost a small client today - temporarily.

Before calling us, my contact agreed to give the janitorial work (several hours, one night per week) to her sister, who's just starting a janitorial service.  I took a moment to run through some of the dangers - tax liability, safety, regulatory - she's likely taking on.

1)  She has no compelling evidence that her sister is a real business, not just a thinly disguised employee - sister has no other clients, no significant advertising to the business community, no   business phone, no significant investment in equipment; maybe not even a business checking account.  Come audit time, should the IRS, or the State Department of Revenue, or the unemployment folks, find sister to be, in reality, an employee, my contact's firm will owe taxes, penalties and interest - and each of those entities reports to the others, for more taxes, penalties and interest.

2)  Sister likely has no worker's comp insurance.  In Arizona, a sole proprietor with no employees is not required to carry it, so many do not.  If the sister slips on her wet floor and injures herself, one can predict both a legal and a family altercation.

3)  Sister is untrained and unsupervised, with no back-up; has no idea how to avoid streaking the ceramic floors; has no health and Indoor Air Quality program, or likely knows that anything like that exists.  Not to mention touch point sanitation.

I'd forgotten to mention OSHA.  When I returned the office keys, and picked up our MSDS book, I did so.  My contact had assumed that her sister "has all that stuff" - but the book really needs to be in the place where the janitorial work takes place, and the chemicals are used, and the contact's employees work.  Thus my contact's firm is out of compliance with OSHA.

Bet a beer I have her back within the month.

 

Old Buildings Combine Sustainability, Preservation

Major environmental benefit to using existing commercial and residential buildings, as opposed to construction of new "green" buildings, is the subject of "Old Buildings Combine Sustainability, Preservation", by John McKinney in June 6 Miller McCune.

Interesting links in the article document the decades of energy savings and lower carbon emissions a new "green" building would need to offset the energy, and carbon emissions, involved in that building's construction - energy already used and emmissions already created in the construction of the existing building.

My office went up in 1914, and my home in 1926.   While restoring them, I added a bit of insulation, increased attic air circulation, added some sun-reflective window screens, and planted shade trees, all inexpensive and not degrading of the historical integrity; my energy usage is not too much higher than it would be in a new building, and I didn't have to build anew.  They are marvelous old structures, fun to be in, and I've preserved a bit of local history.

"Most everyone, though, remains resistant to reusing and retrofitting buildings. Architects like to start from scratch, developers don’t want the hassles of rehabbing existing buildings, and new construction is a mainstay of the U.S. economy.

“The most unenlightened in this regard are the traditional environmental advocates and the U.S. Green Building Council and their LEED certification,” Rypkema jabs. “If it isn’t about a waterless toilet, solar panels or saving the rain forest, those groups don’t think it’s about the environment.”

We stress the environmental and health aspects of commercial janitorial, but some initiatives that look green on the surface don't pan out.

Making E-Verify Mandatory?

Interesting article on BSCAI's Linked In site:

"Proposed Federal Legislation Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) on May 26 reintroduced legislation (H.R. 2000) that would change the nation's immigration system by expanding and mandating the use of the federal government's employment screening program E-Verify, increasing border security, and improving interior enforcement."

My response:

Good as far as it goes; it would be nice if they would plug a couple of holes in the E-verify system:
1) The law only allows the use of E-verify on employees; one cannot legally use it on consultants, subcontractors, franchisees, or the employees of same.
2) E-verify simply looks for a match between the SSN and the employee name. It doesn't look for multiple people using that SSN/name combination around the country. The E-verify program could look at credit reports (which we do at CBN) and employment tax records to identify multiple users of a given SSN/name; also, it could tie in with state driver's license records. Driver's licenses are rather difficult to forge since the post 9/11 legislation, and I gather most states do a bit of ID confirmation on issuing a license.
A while back, Homeland Security did an audit of E-verify and found that 54% of the illegals presented to the program passed. Making E-verify mandatory would make more sense if it were also made effective.

 

Carpet cleaning and health

Good article in Cleanfax; of particular interest is a Swedish study showing that as the percentage of carpeted floors in Sweden dramatically declined, allergic reactions of the population increased.

Carpet is known as a "dust sink".  Small particles, and allergens, sink into it.  this is a good thing; a particle in the carpet is not being inhaled.  Conversely, a hard floor easily releases particles with any air movement.

Clearly, regular maintenance - vacuuming particularly, using a HEPA filter, and periodic cleaning - is needed to keep the carpet from loading up with particles.  But regular maintenance is needed with any floor.  If you keep the carpet cleaned and vacuumed, it will release fewer particles than would a hard floor.  Fewer particles released into the air means fewer particles inhaled, and fewer allergic reactions.  Better for your health.

And we haven't addressed comfort, noise reduction, and slip reduction provided by carpet.