Northern Virginia SHRM | January 2016

In This Issue

Happy New Year, everyone is back to work and settling in for a successful 2016! Let's

Upcoming Events

not forget to work some of our professional initiatives into our list of resolutions!

HR Jobs
Legislative Alert

Northern Virginia SHRM is here to help you achieve all of your HR goals this year. We
keep raising the bar with great training programs, academies and educational events.

2016 Legal Academy

A few of our first quarter events include the January Chapter meeting on Emotional

HR Library
2016 Mentoring Program
Volunteer for NOVA SHRM

Upcoming Events

Intelligence, our annual Legal Academy in February, and SHRM's Tony Lee presenting the 2016 top recruiting
trends in March. We also have a great lineup of Special Interest Group (SIG) events and our award-winning
mentoring and leadership development program is accepting applications for the 2016 class.
I am thrilled to have an exceptional board in place. We had eight new additions join our board family this year,
and I am certain they will make a major impact on the success of the chapter! We are all looking forward to
seeing, meeting and networking with all of our fantastic members!
The board is charged and ready for an exciting year, and I am honored to serve as your 2016 president!
Michelle Stalnaker, M.A., SHRM-CP, SPHR
Northern Virginia SHRM President

January 26
Chapter Meeting
EQ Goes to the Movies
Speaker: Hile Rutledge
Location: Gannett
Time: 6:00pm
Register Now

January 26
New Member Orientation
Location: Gannett
Time: 5:00pm
Register Now

January 27

HR Jobs
Senior Benefits Manager - Trak Companies , January 2, 2016 - McLean, VA
Workers Compensation Coordinator (part-time) - Capital Caring , December 28, 2015
- Arlington, VA
HRIS Analyst, Human Resources - MedStar Georgetown University Hospital ,
December 16, 2015 - Washington, D.C.
Equity & Employee Relations Specialist - Fairfax County Public Schools , December 4, 2015 - Falls
Church, VA
HR Business Partner - Thomson Reuters , December 2, 2015 - Alexandria, VA
Recruiter - Mercatus Center at George Mason University , December 2, 2015 - Arlington, VA
Senior Human Resources Generalist - Valley Health System , December 1, 2015 - Winchester, VA

Legislative Alert

Compensation & Benefits SIG

2016 Sales Compensation
Practices - Where are
Companies Heading? Trends

This Legislative Alert is brought to you by Lawrence P. Postal, Vice President for

and Issues for 2016 and Beyond

Legislative Affairs, Northern Virginia SHRM, and partner at Seyfarth Shaw, LLP./div>

Speaker: Joseph DiMisa

Location: Wolf Trap, Vienna

Cadillac Tax is Delayed and Transgender Employees and Bathroom Access

Time: 8:00am

Issues

Register Now

Cadillac Tax is Delayed

2016 Board Members

On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed the Consolidated Appropriations

Act, 2016 (Act) delaying the effective date of the "Cadillac Tax" until 2020 and
making the tax deductible. Leading opponents of the tax have said they would continue to press for it to be
rescinded altogether.
The "Cadillac Tax" is a 40% excise tax that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposes on coverage providers to
the extent the value of employer-sponsored health coverage for an employee exceeds a threshold amount. As
originally enacted under the ACA, the tax was to be nondeductible and would have taken effect in 2018. The

Michelle Stalnaker, MA, SHRM-CP,

SPHR

Stay Connected

initial threshold amounts would be $10,200 for an employee with "self only" coverage, and $27,500 for an
employee with coverage other than "self only" coverage.

President

The threshold amounts are subject to a variety of adjustments, including an upward adjustment to the annual
limits to the extent the age and gender characteristics of the employer's workforce differ from that of the

Our Sponsors

national workforce, using the Blue Cross/Blue Shield standard benefit option under the Federal Employees
Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP) as the comparison point. There was a concern in the industry that utilizing the
claims data with respect to the FEHBP could provide employers with a less than full adjustment value since
the population covered by the FEHBP may not reflect the age and gender characteristics of the national
Sharifa Gomez, PHR, SHRM-CP,
CHRL
Executive Director

workforce. Consequently, the Act requires the Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation with
the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, to report to the House of Representatives and the
Senate (within 18 months from the date of enactment) on the suitability of the use of the premium cost of the
FEHBP as a benchmark for the age and gender adjustment of the dollar limits.
Read More

Register Now for the 2016 Legal Academy

Mimi Shieh, SHRM-CP, PHR
Director

Don't Miss These Exciting Sessions at the 2016 Legal Academy!

Date: February 26
Time: 8:00am
Location: Gannett
Annual Legal Update
Presenter: Lawrence P. Postol

Lauren Forgach
Co-VP Programs

It has been a busy year at DOL, EEOC, NLRB, the US Supreme Court, and
even the DC Council. Same sex marriage, gender identity protection,
legalized (somewhat in some places) marijuana use, credit and background check limitations, joint employer
status, and new federal contractor rules, a lot of new headaches for Human Resources. Do you regulate what
your employees can say at work or on social media about working conditions and their pay - the NLRB has
you in its sights for violating the NLRA right for employees to work in concert to better their working
conditions. Do you label workers as independent contractors so you can avoid the hassles of filing for taxes,
unemployment compensation, and the cost of workers' compensation insurance - DOL's wage and hour
division is gunning for you. Paid family leave, the DC Council thinks 16 weeks of paid family and medical

Kat Bender
Co-VP Programs

leave is a good idea - and it is unless you have to pay for it, and need employees to actually perform work.
The year in review and a look at what to expect next year.
Drafting Contracts and Legal Documents for HR
Presentor: Kellie M. L. Budd, Esquire
Navigating the world of contract drafting can be a very daunting task for any individual. Determining the proper
clauses to best protect your company's interest, while ensuring the agreement is legally sound and can
withstand the scrutiny of a court is a difficult balance to strike. This program aims to provide HR professionals

Janet Nguyen, MA, SHRM-CP,

SPHR
VP Professional Development

with guidelines they can follow when drafting important agreements such as employment contracts, severance
agreements, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, stock option agreements, non-compete
agreements and commission plans. Learn the key provisions to include in these agreements and avoid
commonly used clauses that are typically unenforceable.

Mary Kitson, PHR

VP Mentoring

Regulatory And Legislative Predictions

Presenter: Alex Passantino, Esquire
As we enter the final year of the Obama Administration, the pressure will be on federal labor agencies to
complete their regulatory and subregulatory goals and cement a legacy. The NLRB, EEOC, and DOL are
tackling some of their most significant -- and controversial -- initiatives: changing the rules governing labor
persuaders, implementing sick leave for federal contractors, revising regulations governing wellness plans,
increasing the minimum salary for overtime exemptions, asking about the use of mobile devices, and

Scott Donnelly, SPHR

VP Membership

fundamentally changing the playing field with respect to the definition of "employee." In this session, we will
discuss the anticipated regulatory developments, any potential legislative activity, and the impact of electionyear politics on the legal issues facing employers.
Rapid Fire: Top Five Issues with Employment Investigations; Joint-Employer Issues; and, Marijuana in
the Workplace
Presenter: Matthew F. Nieman
HR is called upon to direct workplace investigations, from sexual harassment complaints to whistleblower

Larry Postal
VP Legislative Affairs
Lindsay Muirhead, SHRM-CP,
PHR
Co-VP SIGs

allegations. Come hear from an expert on how to do it right. Do you use vendors, staffing companies or
franchisees, if so. you need to know whether you are a joint-employer, and what that means. Finally,
marijuana is legal in many states, including the District of Columbia. Or is it, well not under federal law, so
learn what all this means for the workplace.
FLSA Review Of Exempt Employees And Overtime Rules
Presenter: Lawrence P. Postol
Do you think you are classifying your employees correctly? If your administrative exempt employees produce
the product you are selling, or if they do not exercise significant and independent judgment on matters of
significant, then the Plaintiff's bar will love you. If you take partial day deductions for exempt employees, or
allow non-exempt workers to send work emails after work hours without compensation, you have a problem. If
you are classifying your help desk IT personnel as exempt, the DOL has you in their sights. If you have
independent contractor workers, that is another red flag. Wage and hour violations, the number one class

Ronda Hetterson
Co-VP SIGs

independent contractor workers, that is another red flag. Wage and hour violations, the number one class
action lawsuit, learn how to not be on the list.
Register Today!

HR Library & Important News

Quality of Hire Top Metric for 2016

Easing the Student Loan Debt Burden? Points to

Consider

Emily Ames
VP Certification

The quality of hire measurement is the most valuable

Student loan repayment benefits help drive loyalty

metric employers use to track their recruiting

among young workers

function, finds new research from LinkedIn.

With the average new college graduate holding

Brian Diemar, GBDS

VP Marketing & Public Relations
Caryn Perrelli, SPHR, SHRMSCP
Treasurer

Emily Dorsey
Secretary

About four in 10 (39 percent) of nearly 4,000

roughly $35,000 in student loan debt-and even more

corporate talent acquisition managers from 40

for those with a graduate degree-employers are

countries agreed that quality of hire is the most

looking for ways to help ease this financial burden.

valuable metric for performance, although that is a

Although the Society for Human Resource

dip from the 44 percent who said so in 2014. Other

Management's 2015 Employee Benefits survey

notable findings from the report include employers'

showed that just 3 percent of employers offer to help

continued use of employee referral programs,

employees pay down their student loan debt, a

increased investment in employer branding, and the

growing number of employers have announced they

disconnect between employee retention emerging as

will be offering this benefit in the future, and more

a top priority in the year ahead while internal

are thinking about providing it.

mobility is overlooked.
"Student loan repayment benefits help with
According to LinkedIn's Global Recruiting Trends

recruiting, retention, engaging employees and driving

2016, the time-to-fill metric increased slightly as the

loyalty in ways that other programs do not," said

most important benchmark to gauge recruiting

Chris Duchesne, vice president at EdAssist, an

performance, from 25 percent in 2014 to 28 percent.

education benefits company based in Watertown,

This is due to the urgency to fill roles, said

Mass.

Stephanie Bevegni, content marketing manager for

LinkedIn's Talent Solutions. "But quality of hire

Tax Issues Are Key

continues to be the most valuable performance

indicator. Most companies are measuring quality of

The most important thing to keep in mind about

hire with feedback methodology, such as new hire

student loan repayment benefits is that they don't

evaluations and hiring manager satisfaction, or a

receive preferential tax treatment. In other words,

long-term methodology like employee retention."

any amount paid to employees will be subject to

income and payroll taxes.

Read More
Read More

Renae Barlieb
Social Media Strategist

Now Recruiting for the 2016 Mentoring Program

We are now recruiting for the Washington, DC metro area's premier mentoring and
leadership development program for HR professionals! Whether you're still in the
formative years of your career or fairly accomplished, the NOVA SHRM and Dulles
SHRM Mentoring & Leadership Development Program can help you to distinguish
Shaun Corney, MA, SHRM-CP,
PHR
University Relations Chair

yourself professionally and speed your progress towards meeting your personal
and professional development goals. Please visit www.novashrm.org or
www.dullesshrm.org for more information and to download an application.
Applications are due on or before midnight on January 31, 2016.
The ability to pivot and learn new skills to stay relevant in your career field is an increasingly critical skill to
have. Our Pinnacle award-winning mentoring and leadership development program can help you to:
Expand your professional network,

Drema McCoy, MBA, SHRMCP, PHR

Newsletter Editor

Learn peer-group mentoring skills,

Build HR and business competencies,
Enhance your leadership presence,
Overcome career obstacles, and
Earn up to 21 credits towards recertification!
We will sponsor approximately 14 chapter members to participate in the program, which integrates multiple
types of mentoring techniques, leadership development, and peer learning networks. Over the course of the
last 16 years, participation in our program has consistently resulted in enhanced peer networking for 100
percent of alumni as well as lateral and vertical career moves for over 75 percent of alumni.
Group mentoring meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the
Tyson's Corner area. You must be a member in good standing with NOVA SHRM or Dulles SHRM to
participate.

Kelly Vilski
Chapter Administrator

If you're curious about this innovative program, please talk with a mentoring alum in your local chapter, or
contact Mary Kitson, Program Director, at mkitson@mitre.org or shrm.mentoring@gmail.com for more

information.

Volunteer for Northern Virginia SHRM

The Northern Virginia SHRM Chapter offers all members the opportunity to grow professionally and network
informally with fellow Chapter members by volunteering with the Board, participating in standing committees,
RJ Lewis
Digital Content Administrator

and/or assisting with special projects. Volunteer involvement with NOVA SHRM entails both short- and longterm commitments on a variety of assignments, requiring varying amounts of time, depending on your
schedule and availability. Join a fun, vibrant group and let us know if you are looking for opportunities to
contribute!
We are recruiting for the following board positions:
Career Coordinator
President-Elect
Leader, Strategic Planning
Newsletter Editor
Vice President, Diversity
Director, SHRM Foundation
Click here for job descriptions and more information.
Interested in applying? If you've got the talent and interest to succeed in any of these roles, please send your
resume and brief statement of interest to Sharifa Gomez, Executive Director at
novashrmdirector@gmail.com.
I hope you enjoyed the latest edition of our monthly newsletter. Please contact me at
novashrm.newsletter@gmail.com to provide feedback and comments, to submit an article, or to sponsor
the next issue of The Pulse.
Sincerely,
Drema McCoy, MBA, SHRM-CP, PHR
Newsletter Editor
Northern Virginia SHRM
NOVA SHRM | novashrm.newsletter@gmail.com | http://www.novashrm.org
PO Box 2474
Springfield, VA 22152

Copyright 2016. All Rights Reserved.