Interested in receiving a scholarship from the Association for your employees, children, family members and others who would be welcomed into the auto care industry? Applying is easy! The online application process allows students interested in aftermarket careers to submit one application each year online at www.automotivescholarships.com and receive consideration for several scholarships. Applications will be accepted through March 31, 2016 so act now.

For more information, see www.cawa.org or contact CAWA Member Services at [email protected] or 800.332.2292, ext. 6. Another member benefit.

As the Arizona Legislature has completed nearly two months of work in the 2016 legislative session, HB 2132, relating to lead acid batteries, has already passed out of the House with a 58-0 vote.

For more details contact our Arizona based legislative advocate, Stuart Goodman at [email protected] or 602.277.0911.

Sponsored by CAWA and the Auto Care Association, AB 2837 (  see enclosure ) was introduced in the California legislative process. Modeled after a bill passed and signed into law in Connecticut last year, CAWA legislative advocate Gary Conover is maneuvering the bill through the process. Essentially, it will require car dealers, at the point of sale, to notify the consumer that parts and service from other than the dealer will not void a warranty. For more detailed information, contact Gary Conover at [email protected] or 916.233.9655. Another member benefit.

Required updates by the DFEH to the Pregnancy Disability Leave notice take effect on April 1, 2016 (applies to employers with 5 or more employees). Learn more about posting requirements at the CalChamber store. Remember, CalChamber gives CAWA members 10% off on all compliance products! For information on where to purchase the notice, contact [email protected]. Another member benefit.

 

On April 1, 2016, new California regulations take effect requiring employers to develop written anti-discrimination and harassment policies that meet numerous new and detailed requirements.

These regulations require employers to develop and distribute anti-discrimination and harassment policies to employees in English as well as in any additional languages that are spoken by at least 10% of the workforce. The regulations also impose requirements for conducting discrimination and harassment investigations.

See the article ( here) for more details.

Remember, as a CAWA member you have ½ hour of FREE legal consultation every month. See www.cawa.org to find the attorney in your state.
 

CAWA President & CEO Rodney Pierini recognized Tom Redmon, legal counsel for 25 years of service to the Association at the February leadership meeting in Napa. "He is trustworthy, competent and a person of impeccable integrity", according to Pierini. "Working with Tom for the benefit of CAWA members and the auto care industry has been a pleasure and I am pleased to be associated with such a talented person", Pierini went on to say.
 

Steve Marmaduke - CAWA legal counsel, Rodney Pierini - CAWA President & CEO, and Tom Redmon - CAWA legal counsel

Through an unfortunate set of circumstances an import company found out the hard way that Corporate ID theft has become a rampant issue for importers.

In discussions with federal agencies, they were advised that Corporate ID Theft has become big business for organized crime to steal corporate ID's, including tax ID numbers (EIN), invoices and packing lists to use for smuggling counterfeit and contraband into the country. They are stealing this data through various points in the supply chain; vendor, customs broker, freight forwarder, etc.

Once they have this information, they file a dummy Power of Attorney (POA), set up an account with a customs broker and forwarder and then generate a dummy invoice using all of the company's information, making it look exactly like a normal shipment from said company. They then import their contraband under the guise of the company's identification running all transactions through their own freight company and customs broker. And, they pay the duties directly to their broker to avoid having unexplained duties show up on the real company's statement from Customs.

The reason they go through such an in depth process to smuggle their goods is because it puts them completely underneath the radar when they import these goods under a "reputable and known" importer name and EIN. As such, they are able to get away with smuggling under the stolen ID until US Customs sees something suspicious or calls for an intensive exam. In other words, if the company or US Customs don't notice anything, this could go on for some time without anyone being the wiser!

To protect themselves, importers need to download a report showing all their import data from their ACE portal or request it from their customs broker. Once they have this report, they need to match it up against their internal records to make sure their corporate ID has not been hijacked. To stay diligent, they should continue to audit their records on a monthly or quarterly basis. If at some point they find suspicious entries that they cannot account for, they should report it federal authorities immediately.

For more information, contact our President & CEO, Rodney Pierini at [email protected] or 800.332.2292, ext. 1.

What are the requirements for compensating piece-rate paid employees for rest breaks and other nonproductive time?

A number of recent California and federal cases regarding incentive pay, such as piece rates, have concluded that during time employees are subject to an employer's direction and control, when the employees do not have an opportunity to earn this incentive pay, they must be paid separately for such time. See the enclosed article ( here) from the California Chamber of Commerce that details the requirement.

Remember, too, as a CAWA member you have ½ hour free legal consultation per month to discuss this and other human resource issues with CAWA's attorneys. See www.cawa.org for the attorney in your state.

Here is what some of its users had to say: 

• "We used HR 360 for an HR issue involving an employee with an ADA request. The employee made a request that the employer was not able to accommodate. The employer wanted to know what the potential liability was if they informed the employee of this answer. I spoke to a representative at HR 360 who was amazingly friendly and helpful. She answered the question better than the insurance carrier." 
   
• "We used HR 360 to get answers to specific questions related to the sick paid leave law. Although the law had many details spelled out, it didn't specify if our sales staff qualified as they are commission based. The sales staff doesn't have PTO, they don't clock in, etc. We figured the answer was that the sick paid leave wouldn't apply to them. We were wrong and HR 360 guided us thru the steps we needed to take to be compliant." 
   
• "A client had an employee who had been out on a workers' comp related injury over a year and the handbook didn't specify leaves of absence. The group didn't realize the employee was still on their health plan, the company wasn't collecting the employee's share of the premium, and they weren't sure how to legally handle the situation. The attorney answered that the group only needed to worry about the first twelve weeks and whether that fell under FMLA regulations or workers comp leave of absence timelines. In this case a year was well over the 12 week timeframe and the group could remove that employee from their benefits policy right away." 

If your company is not using this resource that is provided to CAWA members you should check it out! Contact Mat Nabity at [email protected] or 866.340.2247 for further information on this member benefit.

While the Presidential Race is showing us many qualities of politicians that we don't want to emulate such as: bad-mouthing the competition, vacillating on the issues, and bending truths, there are several other qualities that we can emulate to make ourselves super-successful as salespeople. Here they are ( view) ...

There is a new maritime mandate that is headed our way next summer that is likely to create a lot of drama for ALL importers.

Effective July 1, 2016, all containers must be accompanied by a shipping document signed either electronically or in hard copy by the shipper included with the bill of lading listing the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) of a container before it will be allowed to enter a shipping terminal and onto a ship. The mandate from the International Maritime Organization under the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention comes after miss-declared weights contributed to maritime incidents, such as the breakup and subsequent beaching of the MSC Napoli on the southern U.K. coast in 2007, and the partial capsizing of a feeder ship in the Spanish port of Algeciras in June.

The weighing must be done in one of two approved ways, on scales calibrated and certified to the national standards of the country where the weighing was performed. Unfortunately, many of the finer points of the new regulation have not yet been finalized, such as enforcement, and what happens to a container that arrives at a port without the necessary documentation or if the VGM (verified gross mass) declaration for a container turns out to be false or incorrect.

Please note, this mandate only affects your cargo when your vendors are shipping full container loads. If you are shipping less than a container load, the freight forwarder is responsible for handling this process. The shipping press are already warning that this will be a nightmare. With this in mind, it is critical for you to reach out to your overseas vendors immediately to make sure that they are aware of this mandate and taking steps now to make sure they are fully compliant by July 1, 2016 at the latest. See the enclosures for more information ( here and here).

Employers and their staff will get some relief for another few years from the impending "Cadillac" health insurance tax after Congress approved a delay as part of the recent budget deal it approved. See the enclosed article ( here) for more information and contact our insurance partner, Mat Nabity at [email protected] or 866.340.2247 to better understand your responsibilities as an employer under Obamacare. Another member benefit.