Category: Business Principles Operations
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Age Discrimination – Small Business Impact
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) is a federal law that protects workers age 40 and older. It is administered and enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The goal of the Act is to provide equal opportunity for citizens age 40 and older. The Act does generally exclude small businesses and…
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Up Time – Business Concept
Up Time in business refers to maximizing opportunity to generate profit. There is one key modifier. If the marginal costs to generate revenue exceeds the revenue generated, the business is no longer maximizing profit.
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Direct Form of Compensation – Four Different Types
There are four different types of direct compensation for employees. These include: 1) Hourly Compensation, 2) Salaries, 3) Commissions and 4) Bonuses. There is some misinformation related to direct compensation as this subject relates to owners of a small business.
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At-Will Employment Doctrine
In the world of employment, there are two positions of bargaining. One is the employer and the other is the employee. In general, the public views the two positions as unequal in nature given the power of the Company. This is due to the historical position the courts have taken in employer/employee cases. As the human resources…
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Cost Drivers in Small Business
The textbook answer defines cost drivers as those factors that determine the overall cost of operations. As an example, in manufacturing the cost drivers may be processing time or number of steps to produce the product. With service, the cost drivers could be the actual ratio of billable to non-billable time.
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Payroll – Introduction to Basic Concepts
Payroll is envisioned as the simple employer employee agreement related to compensation for services. I often think of this as the simple handshake whereby the employer agrees to pay the employee a set rate per hour of work. This was true a hundred or more years ago, but over time; history and governmental regulations complicated this…
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Form W-4 – Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
Form W-4 is a form filled out by an employee to certify to the employer the personal tax situation of the taxpayer. It is used by employers via the human resources department to fulfill three primary tasks. First, confirm the legal name and address of the employee.
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Exempt and Non-Exempt Employees
The Federal Labor Standards Act of 1938 sets the standards as it relates to Exempt and Non-Exempt employees and their associated compensation and work standards. The Labor Standards Act is located in Chapter 20 Section 201 of the Federal Code. This Act is applicable to those small business operations with more than $500,000 of annual revenues…
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The Key Man
One of the most misunderstood principles of business deals with the one or few individuals in a small business operation who are critical to operations. This individual is referred to as the Key Man. The best example is that of the primary wage earner in the family unit.
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Throughput – Business Definition and Identification
When a business can maximize the product or service delivered within a given period of time, it has reached maximum throughput. This is the basis of maximizing earnings and therefore profits for a company. This article will examine the definition more thoroughly and illustrate to the reader how to identify issues associated with the throughput for your…