Dates To Note:

 

Vine Closures:

Vine Solutions will be closed in observation of the July 4th holiday and will reopen Tuesday, July 5th in accordance with our normal business hours.  

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Restaurant Spotlight

Saul's Deli

 Saul's DeliSaul's Deli

Originally conceived from an assorted group of East Coast New York Therapists, Saul's Restaurant and Delicatessen was created to fill the void that would be authentic Jewish Deli's in the artsy, creative district of Berkeley, Ca. While San Francisco is known for it's endless list of dining options as far as the eye can see, the genuine, nostalgic Jewish eateries had become a thing of the past.

 

When Karen Adelman and Peter Levitt stepped in to take over  Saul's Restaurant Deli, they worked tirelessly to infuse it with the life it deserved and rid it of the shackles of rigidity and antiquity the old menu had conveyed. Saul's needed a modernized makeover, allowing it to both "reference its beloved past, and be relevant to our current time and place." And relevance they gave it. Levitt, known for his previous work at Oliveto and Chez Panisee, with the help of Adelman, utilized local, fresh ingredients as well as seasonal menu items indigenous to the West Coast region, to help put Saul's Deli on the map of Deli greats.    

 

While never complacent in their current state, Adelman and Levitt are always looking for ways to increase their sustainability efforts while adding to the overall quality and taste of the food they prepare. They adhere to the notion that quality over quantity is always best.    

 

Karen Adelman and Peter Levitt, both advocates in their own right, just recently [May 2011] hosted the second annual National Deli Summitt whereby other "renegade" Deli owners such as themselves, discussed ways in which to modernize the Jewish Deli. Increasing the organic options, adding healthier menu items, and reducing portion sizes were all topics of discussion. As writer Joanna Steinhardt reported, "...the Chef's are proving [the Jewish] Deli is as much about reinvention as it is about nostalgia."   

 

Saul's find's itself positioned at the intersection between maintaining past Jewish cultural Deli traditions while being innovative restaurant owners who are committed to a more modernized, ethical approach. So, I guess the old adage is true; you can have your babka, and eat it too.     

 

Saul's Restaurant and Delicatessen is located at 1475 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, Ca 94709. Their hours of operation are Monday through Sunday 8am to 10pm. For more information or to view their online menu, visit www.saulsdeli.com .    

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From our Director of Accounting

Important News Regarding Tax Correspondence

 

San Francisco Payroll Expense Tax

As required by the San Francisco Payroll Expense Tax and Business Registration Ordinance, all businesses with a taxable San Francisco payroll expense greater than $150,000 must file a Payroll Expense Tax Statement for their business annually. To lessen the impact on employers, payments of the liability are made semi-annually with a prepayment due the first day of August and a final payment due the last day of February of the following year. Look for the Payroll Expense Tax Prepayment Statement which should be arriving at your restaurant shortly. The prepayment amount due is roughly 50% of the total tax from the prior calendar year. As there are significant penalties for late payments, once you receive the statement, please send it along to us as soon as possible with your invoices in your weekly packet.  

 

Unsecured Personal Property Tax

With the Form 571-L filed, your county's assessor will be now be sending along the assessment of your unsecured property and, of course, the tax bill that goes with the assessment. The payment of the Unsecured Property Tax is generally due August 31 for California entities. Arizona counties generally have a prepayment that is delinquent after November 1, with the final payment being delinquent after May 1. For Washington State counties, Property tax statements are mailed during February each year. If the amount of tax due is $50.00 or less, full payment is due by April 30. If the tax due is over $50.00, half of the amount may be paid by April 30 and the balance by October 31 without incurring a penalty for late payment. As there are significant penalties for late payments, once you receive the statement, please send it along to us as soon as possible with your invoices in your weekly packet.

 

Daily Deposit Reconciliations

In the June edition of the "News from Vine Solutions," we suggested you implement a "best practice" policy and procedures for reviewing and reconciling bank deposits to sales reports on a daily basis. We have put together a "primer" for you to use. Please contact your client manager if you would like a copy.

 

Docushare;Tips & Tricks

 

Envision this: a vendor calls you wanting to see what specific invoices have been paid on a particular check. How could you retreive this information? Docushare allows you to look this up easily byutilizing the program's search function.

 

On the Invoice Search page, select Check # and Equals from the respective drop down menus. Then include the Actual Check Number in the (+add search term box). Hit the search button in the lower right-hand corner to generate a list of what vendors were paid and their respective amounts.

  

Please contact Carrie Klaassen at cklaassen@vinesolutions.com for further questions regarding this process.


HR Corner

 Are you paying "reporting time pay" as required by law?

 

Employees who report to work and are given less than their usual or scheduled day's shift normally are entitled to reporting time pay equal to half of their usual or scheduled day's shift, with a minimum of two hours and a maximum of four hours required. 

A new California Court of Appeal case, Price v. Starbucks, clarifies how this rule applies when an employee is called in for a meeting where she/he is to be terminated.

According to this new decision, the amount of reporting time pay owed will depend on whether the employee was scheduled to work that day or whether they were called in for a termination meeting on a day they were not scheduled to work.

*    If an employee is scheduled to work on a given day and reports to work but is terminated at the beginning (or before the mid-point) of their shift, they are owed reporting time pay equal to half of their usual or scheduled day's pay.

*    If an employee is not scheduled to work on a given day but is asked to come in for a meeting (at which point they are then terminated), the reporting time pay requirements are different than for those on a scheduled day of work. The court made the distinct clarification because the employee does not report to work with the expectation of working a scheduled shift, but rather is scheduled to attend a meeting for an unspecified number of hours. Therefore the employee is owed only two hours pay based on the minimum reporting time pay requirement.

 

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 A follow-up to the OSHA Compliance HR article in June's Client Newsletter:    

 

Given the considerable amount of questions we received from Clients regarding the OSHA Compliance article published last month, we've decided it would be best to further summarize what the IIPP requires:

 

California and OSHA requires employers to have an Illness and Injury Prevention Program (IIPP), which essentially contains a generalized plan for keeping employees free from work-related injuries and illnesses. Companies with more than 10 employees must publish the plan and make it accessible to all employees.

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Basic IIPP Requirements

Your plan must specify:

*                      Management approval of the plan and the person(s)                  responsible for implementing it

*                      A company safety policy statement

*                      A system to identify workplace hazards

*                     A plan for periodic scheduled inspections

*                      A plan for investigating injuries

*                      A plan for safety training

*                      How you will communicate with employees about safety

*                      The record keeping and posting requirements

 Training Requirements

You must offer employee training when you:

*               Implement your IIPP;

*               Assign a new employee to a position;

*               Transfer an existing employee to a new position; and

       *                Make changes to workplace conditions. 

Inspections

You are required to carry out periodic safety inspections, although you can choose the frequency, depending on how hazardous your work environment is.

Personal Protective Equipment

You must supply Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) only if other standards, such as those governing chemical use or certain types of machinery, require you to supply equipment to protect your employees.

Reporting and Recording Requirements

Any injury that requires medical treatment beyond first aid, and all occupational illnesses, must be investigated and recorded, and reported to your workers' compensation insurer.

 
200 Tamal Plaza / Corte Madera, Ca 94925 / 106 W. Channel Road/Los Angeles, Ca 90402