Category Archives: Office / HR / Employment

By Susan E. Campbell
Small business owners have the flexibility to choose whichever type of retirement plan they desire to accumulate a future nest egg on a tax-deferred basis. But that doesn’t mean the decision is easy, or that the company may need to change to a different plan in years ahead.
“Each of the four basic types of defined contribution plans has advantages and drawbacks,” said Laurie A. Stillwell, CPA, in Saratoga Springs.
“My job is to talk through what the business owners’ goals are and direct them to the plan that checks those boxes,” she said.
“Companies are not stuck in a plan once they have it,” said Richard J. Fuller, CPA in Glens Falls. “But if there is to be a switch, it has to be done right.”
“There is no one-size-fits-all with retirement plans,” said Stillwell. “A plan may work well for the first five years, but in year 10 or 15, it may no longer fit.”

By Christine Graf
The state’s paid family leave program (PFL) is having a significant impact on some businesses, say those in the Human Resources field.
New York’s PFL has been in effect since 2018, but won’t be completely phased in until 2021. It provides paid time off for individuals to bond with a newly born, adopted or fostered child, care for a family member with a serious illness, or assist a loved one when a family member is deployed abroad on active military service.
As of Jan. 1, New Yorkers may be eligible to take up to 10 weeks of family leave and receive 55 percent of their salary. By 2021, 12 weeks of leave will be offered at 67 percent pay. Weekly pay caps are calculated based on state averages.
Gail Hamel, the owner of Lake George-based Hamel Resources, said the law impacts some businesses more than others. She is a human resources consultant who works with both large and small businesses.
“The biggest thing with the paid family leave act is certainly scheduling,” she said. “Especially when you have an employer with a limited number of employees.”
She said many of her smaller clients were exempt from the FMLA because they had less than 50 employees. That is not the case with New York’s PFL. Although public employ

By Rose Miller
Who didn’t love Sinatra? Even if you didn’t grow up in his era of popularity, you probably still tap a toe or know a verse of “New York, New York” (not the Alicia Keyes/Jay Z version either).
But I can remember the last few years he was still performing on stage. It wasn’t the wisest choice. The voice was gone and the visual presentation not good. It can be painful to watch a person who is beyond their prime try to keep going well beyond the time to say goodbye.
I’m seeing the same thing in the business world. Both employers and employees who don’t want to admit it is their time to say goodbye. The problem has the same attributes to breaking up with an old lover. You keep at it, keep trying to make it work. You feel badly most of the time. Frowns replace smiles. A sense of emptiness replaces fulfillment.
Yet, sometimes it is better to leave things broken than to hurt yourself during the breakup. From the employers’ side, the end of a long-term relationship with his or her company seems incomprehensible. The person has invested everything into building the business- time, money, knowledge, and relationships were all built around the business. The owner’s identity is tied to the business and is inextricably wrapped in the connection.

Longtime area gastroenterologist Dr. Howard P. Fritz has been named chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs at Glens Falls Hospital.
He succeeds Dr. Robert Pringle who was serving on an interim basis as the hospital conducted a candidate search.
Dr. Fritz retired as a partner in Gastroenterology Associates of Northern New York in September 2018 after 29 years with the practice.
In his new role, Fritz oversees all clinical operations at the hospital, including adherence to best practices and ensuring overall quality of care; serves as a liaison between the medical staff and administration; and assists in physician recruitment and strategic planning.
“Dr. Fritz is highly respected among the members of our medical community and cares very deeply about making Glens Falls Hospital the best it can possibly be,” said President and CEO Dianne Shugrue. “He has been an advocate for continuous improvement as a practicing member of our medical staff, and is now in an even greater position to lead the way forward from a quality of care standpoint.”
“I believe in the mission,” said Fritz. “Glens Falls Hospital is a not-for-profit, community based hospital. The hospital and the healthcare team that works with and within it are committed to providing high-quality care to as many people as possible, as close to home as possible. I can’t imagine this community without the hospital, and I look forward to working with everyone here to ensure that people get the highest quality care from the time they come in the door to the time they are discharged in better health.”

By James Marco
So much of today’s business literature focuses on culture, ping pong tables, juice bars, and other office perks. These are the types of things that are supposed to attract and retain talent.
The fact is, every company has a “culture.” What is interesting, in many, cases is that management will often see the culture differently from line staff.
Culture is not your mission or vision statement, it’s not found in those motivational wall posters and slogans seen in many office environments. Culture is not found in some grand proclamation from the CEO. And culture certainly isn’t found at a juice bar, cappuccino machine, ping pong table, or bean bag chair.
Culture is found in the daily interactions between staff, the interactions between management and staff, and the interactions of company employees with customers and those with whom you do business. Culture can be a competitive advantage for an organization.
But how do you objectively define your current culture, and how do you change your culture if you don’t like the current work environment?