HR Strategy Group
A Limited Liability Corporation
www.hrstrategygroup.com February 2010

Providing Human Resource Solutions at the Speed of YOUR Business! 

Greetings!

Many of you are enduring the SNOW that has slammed into the Mid-Atlantic.  How are you doing in this SNOW?  We are trying to stay productive.  I hope that the snow isn't hampering your productivity too much.  While it's breathtaking to see, I'm gettig weary with shovelling!   Where I live, we have about 55 inches on the ground and we've been snowed in since last Friday.  So, to beat the boredom & increase productivity, I am having our "first ever" Blizzard Sale on employmenet handbooks.  Right now, we're offering 50% off standard employment handbooks (sale price $250; regular price $500). To get a standard employment handbook for your company, call us today at 410-505-8723.  (see the coupon at the bottom of this newsletter for more details).

In other parts of the newsletter... Last month, we debuted the first article in an ongoing series of conversations designed to help you protect your business assets.  I introduced you to Jim Bechtel, Principal  of Intellectual Assets Consulting, LLC in which Jim discussed the major definitions in the world of intellectual property.  This month,   Jim & I discuss important questions and answers focused on what types of information you should safeguard in your business - including your HR systems. 

Also, this month's Benefits Spotlight features Joanne DeLoache, President of Promiserve Insurance in Annapolis, Maryland.  She shares with us important info on Health Savings Accounts - an excellent way to reduce your tax burden and to save for your family's health care expenses! 

Lastly, do you belong to a professional membership organization?  HR Strategy Group offers ways for professional organizations to increase their revenues by offering HR services to their members.  Call us for details.

Please let us know how we can we help you with the human resource issues facing your company.   Our business is to provide human resource solutions at the speed of YOUR business! 

To the Melting Snow,

Amy Polefrone, President
HR Strategy Group, LLC
amy@hrstrategygroup.com
410-505-8723

P.S.  Please forward this email to friends & colleagues who may be interested in this information.  Thank you for helping to spread the word!
In This Issue
Protecting Your Company Assets
10 Things to Know About Health Savings Accounts
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Protecting Your Important Business Information
By Amy Polefrone, President, HR Strategy Group, LLC
and
Jim Bechtel, Principal., Intellectual Assets Consulting, LLC

We continue our Intellectual Property conversation this month with a discussion about what types of information you, as a business owner, need to safeguard in the workplace.  Our conversation continues between Amy Polefrone and Jim Bechtel, Principal, Intellectual Assets Consulting, LLC.  
 
Amy:  What type of important business information should a business owner/executive team safeguard for intellectual property considerations?  Where should this information be stored?   
 
Jim:   Typically, business owners, when they start to realize that they have important information that they should protect and make sure it stays safe, should think about categories of information that they know they have in their business.  I usually recommend owners and executives look for information in the following areas:
 
* Business and Financial  Information, such as the Company's present and future marketing practices or techniques, the design and content of web pages and brochures, leases, contracts, and business plans, key supplier's and/or vendor's names or addresses including contact persons, terms of supply and/or vendor contracts or particular transactions, customer lists and information about customers, bids, proposals and potential customers,  the Company's earnings, sales, assets, debts, prices, pricing structure, margins, volume/quantities of purchases or sales, or other financial data; 
 
* Personnel and other HR Information, such as employment handbooks, employment agreements, compensation/benefits information, performance appraisal systems, interviewing protocols, and termination proceedings, employees' personal or medical histories, compensation, employee incentive programs or other terms of employment, actual or proposed promotions, hiring's, resignations, terminations or reasons therefore, training methods, or other personnel information; and
 
* Core Technology or Product Information, such as processes, techniques, formulas, research, development tools and methods used to develop products and/or provide services to customers and information about those products and services, computer codes, computer programs, algorithms, schematics, techniques, employee suggestions, computer printouts, design drawings and manuals, inventions, and any  improvements or modifications to any of the foregoing;
 
Intellectual property and company proprietary information can appear in many places.  This is just a beginning list.  There may be other parts and processes of your business that should be protected.  It is important to consult a qualified attorney or consultant to help you prioritize the intellectual property assets in your company.
 
As for storing this information, you may imagine that here, I will just talk about some of the well-known techniques.  To start with, what are the ways of getting in the building or the office spaces?  Can/should any of these entries be secured?  Next, there's locked file cabinets and safes, and the question of who has access to them?  Then there's the proper labeling of documents and are certain documents, because of the label, given extra protection?  This list can go on and on, and I haven't even touched on electronic security at the workplace!  That's a subject for another day.
 
Amy: I think it would surprise many people to realize that an employment handbook is a foundation to protect intellectual property.  Can you explain that, please?  
 
Jim:  The employee handbook is an accumulation of specific information that the company knows is important to the success of the company.  Protecting your business information in an employment handbook is important because this handbook clarifies a business owner's expectations and standards of conduct required in the workplace to enforce and protect important business assets, such as Intellectual Property.  Your handbook may include policies on treatment of confidential information, non-compete agreements, non-disclosure agreements, ethics in the workplace, moonlighting/part-time jobs, safeguarding information technology, your employment expectations of how your employees behave on social media marketing and websites (on & off the job!), and much more. 
 
Having an employment handbook should be one of the very first steps in protecting Intellectual Property in an employment relationship.  It should be reviewed by legal counsel periodically, from an intellectual property viewpoint as well as employment law viewpoint.  
 
© Intellectual Assets Consulting, LLC, 2010.  All rights reserved

NEXT MONTH'S QUESTION:    Are there major intellectual property differences between companies with "products" (i.e., machines or electronics,  think manufacturing) vs. "knowledge processes" (i.e., methods or consulting)?
About Jim Bechtel, Principal, Intellectual Assets Consulting, LLC:
Jim Bechtel runs Intellectual Assets Consulting, LLC (http://iacllc.biz/), a business that advises companies on value and protection and transfer of trade secrets, patents, trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property and on Technology Transfer matters with the Federal Government.  He also advises companies on protecting their Technical Data when contracting with the Federal Government.  He has more than 30 years of experience in the military, federal government, and private sector intellectual property arenas.   He received his Juris Doctor degree from the Widener University School of Law, is a member of the Bars of Pennsylvania and Virginia and is licensed to practice in front of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO).  Jim can be reached at 410-703-8482. 
Benefits Spotlight:  Ten Things to Know about a Health Savings Account (HSA)
by Joanne DeLoache
President, Promiservere Insurance
Guest Columnist
 
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are tax-free financial accounts which were created by Public Law 108-173, the "Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003".  HSAs were designed to provide a tax-incentive for citizens to save for their long-term medical expenses.
 
HSAs are used with qualified health plans often referred to as consumer-directed health plans (CDHP) or high deductible health plans (HDHP).  These plans put the onus on the insured to pay the first dollars, sometime several thousand, out-of-pocket. 
 
Here are the 10 most important things to know about Health Savings Accounts:
 
1)    HSAs can only be used with qualified high deductible plans.  Details of qualified plans are in IRS Publication 969, http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p969.pdf.  In a nutshell, a qualified plan must have a minimum individual or family deductible of $1200 or $2400 respectively.  The plan must cover preventive services and there are limits on the maximum out-of-pocket costs.
 
2)    Health Savings Accounts are owned by the individual insured person.  They are not owned by businesses.  However, companies can contribute to an employee's HSA.
 
3)    HSAs are essentially checking accounts that can be opened at most banks.  Banks provide debit cards and/or checks for ease of use.  Many banks do not charge fees or have minimum balance requirements for HSAs.
 
4)    In 2010, you may contribute up to $3050 per year to your account if you have individual coverage and up to $6150 for family coverage.  The allowed contribution has been increasing every year and is expected to continue.
 
5)    It is recommended to put money into your HSA on a monthly basis to build a nest egg for future out-of-pocket costs.
 
6)    HSA money belongs to the account owner.  It rolls over from year to year and if available from your financial institution, can earn interest.
 
7)    There are tax ramifications for using HSA funds for purposes other than medical expenses.  This includes assessment of past due taxes plus a 10% penalty.  For details about what constitutes a legitimate medical expense, see IRS Publication 502, http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf
 
8)    Keep all receipts when you have used your HSA to pay for medical services.
 
9)    If you pay for medical services with monies other than those in your HSA, to receive a tax benefit, documentation of these expenses must flow through your HSA.  Simply make a deposit into your HSA, and then reimburse yourself for your out-of-pocket costs. 
 
10) If at some point after you have accumulated funds in an HSA, and you no longer have a qualified health plan or you are on Medicare, you may not continue to contribute to your HSA.  You can use the funds from your HSA for qualified medical expenses.
 
Joanne DeLoache is president of Promiserve Insurance, a group benefits firm specializing in employee health plans in Maryland.  She has more than 20 years experience in healthcare and health insurance.  www.promiserve-insurance.com, 877-PROM-056 (877-776-6056).
About Us
HR Strategy Group, LLC provides management and HR advice to small and mid-size companies.   HR Strategy Group, LLC is led by Amy Polefrone, MPA, SPHR, an experienced leader in management and human resources consulting.  Amy and her team of consultants have extensive experience working with clients in government, telecommunications, insurance, education and other "Main Street" businesses. 

Our expertise includes helping clients with day-to-day HR issues, hiring & firing issues, employment law, non-compete agreements, family leave policies, employment handbooks, performance reviews, HR record audits, workplace initiatives, interviewing guidelines, and employee & corporate communications. 

We can help you grow your business with sound and smart attention to the people and issues that drive your growth. 

We are passionate about helping you grow the people side of your business. How can we help you today?  Call us at 410-505-8723 or email amy@hrstrategygroup.com to get started TODAY! 
BLIZZARD
SPECIAL
We're buried in the snow & can't get out!  So we're having our first-ever EMPLOYMENT HANDBOOK SALE!  Call us today for 50% off our Standard Employment Handbooks (regular offer $500; sale price $250).  Our handbooks are compliant with state & federal law and ensures that your company communicates & clarifies employment expectations in your workplace.  MENTION PROMO CODE:  BLIZZARD when you call.  410-505-8723.
Offer Expires: February 28, 2010
© HR Strategy Group, LLC, 2010.  All rights reserved