On Monday, July 30, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert that advised shoppers to not purchase or consume over two dozen different salad and wrap products. These products, which you can find at major grocery stores like Trader Joe’s, Kroger and Walgreens, contained romaine lettuce that may have been contaminated with the cyclospora parasite.
What is cyclospora?
The cyclospora parasite causes intestinal illness that can last from a few days to a few months. In some cases, patients initially begin to feel better, but then see their condition get worse.
Symptoms of cyclosporiasis typically begin a week after you consume the parasite, but could take longer to appear, and typically include diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps, loss of appetite, weight loss and flu-like symptoms. Fortunately, cyclosporiasis can be treated with antibiotics.
What products are affected?
The contaminated food product list contains 25 items, ranging from roast beef wraps to small chef salads. The recalled products were produced between July 15-18 and are marked with either the “Best by,” “Enjoy by,” “Sell by,” or “Best if sold by” dates ranging from July 18-23.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that, because of cyclospora’s two- to 14-day incubation period, you may have the contaminated products in your fridge. Follow their advice and throw away these products or return them to the store where you purchased them.
What’s next?
The CDC and USDA will continue their investigation into this food recall and will provide updates whenever they are available.
For the time being, check your fridge and throw out any recalled products. Although the grocery stores shouldn’t have the contaminated products on their shelves anymore, you should check dates carefully before purchasing them to ensure you are buying safe food.
If you believe you’ve consumed contaminated food, or if you have symptoms of cyclosporiasis, please contact your doctor.
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On July 30, 2018, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a proposed rule to eliminate electronic reporting requirements for data from OSHA Forms 300 and 301. OSHA initially established these requirements— which apply to establishments with 250 or more employees—in a final rule issued in 2016.
Covered establishments must still submit electronic reports on data from Form 300A through the agency’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA). The next deadline for this reporting is March 2, 2019. The proposed rule would require covered establishments to submit their federal employer identification numbers (EINs) along with their Form 300A information.
- Covered establishments must submit data from Form 300A through the ITA every year, but should not electronically submit data from Forms 300 and 301.
- Anyone who is interested in submitting comments on the proposed rule must do so by Sept. 28, 2018.
On May 12, 2016, OSHA issued a final rule that requires certain establishments to electronically submit information about work-related injuries, illnesses and incidents through the agency’s ITA website every year. Under the final rule:
- Establishments that were already required to create and maintain OSHA injury and illness records and have 250 or more employees must electronically submit information from their OSHA Forms 300A, 300 and 301; and
- Establishments that have between 20 and 249 employees and belong to a high-risk industry must electronically submit information from Form 300A.
The final rule’s deadline for submitting 2017 data from these forms was July 1, 2018. In June 2018, however, OSHA announced that it will not:
- Enforce the July 1, 2018, deadline for information from Forms 300 and 301; or
- Accept any electronic reports on information from Forms 300 and 301.
The June 2018 announcement confirmed that all establishments subject to the electronic reporting rule must still use the ITA to submit information from Form 300A.
2018 Proposed Rule
Citing worker privacy issues related to information from Forms 300 and 301, OSHA’s proposed rule formally announces that the agency intends to remove the requirement for establishments with 250 or more employees to electronically submit information from Forms 300 and 301 every year. Under the proposed rule, these establishments (along with other establishments that are subject to OSHA’s final rule) would only be required to electronically submit information from Form 300A.
According to the proposed rule, OSHA believes this change is necessary because electronic submission of data from Forms 300 and 301 allows the federal government to collect information that workers may deem sensitive, such as descriptions of their injuries and the body parts affected. As records in federal possession, this information would put worker privacy at risk because it could be subject to disclosure under the federal Freedom of Information Act.
OSHA explained that this risk does not justify stopping its electronic collection of Form 300A summaries, because the Form 300A information offers significant enforcement value with little privacy risk. OSHA uses this information to help it identify and target establishments with high rates of work-related injuries and illnesses and to develop and assess intervention programs.
OSHA also proposed changing the electronic reporting rule to require covered establishments to submit their EINs along with their Form 300A information. OSHA believes this requirement could reduce or eliminate duplicative reporting and increase the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ ability to use OSHA-collected data for purposes of publishing its annual Survey of Occupational Injury and Illness (SOII). OSHA uses data from the SOII to help determine how to improve safety programs and to measure the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s effectiveness in reducing work-related injuries and illnesses.
Request for Public Comments
OSHA’s proposed rule invites the public to submit comments on the benefits and disadvantages of removing the requirement for establishments with 250 or more employees to electronically submit data from Forms 300 and 301 on an annual basis. OSHA also invites comments on its proposal to add a requirement for employers to submit their EINs along with their injury and illness data.
The specific questions that OSHA is seeking comments on, along with instructions for submitting comments, are outlined in the proposal. The agency will accept public comments on these issues until Sept. 28, 2018.
Impact on Employers
While OSHA’s proposed rule is under consideration, the agency will not enforce the July 1, 2018, deadline for establishments with 250 or more employees to electronically submit the data from Forms 300 and 301. For 2017 data from Form 300A, OSHA indicated that it will continue accepting electronic submissions after the July 1, 2018, deadline, but will mark these submissions as late. The next deadline for electronically submitting data from Form 300A is March 2, 2019.
More Information
Contact Scurich Insurance or visit OSHA’s ITA website for more information regarding electronic reporting.
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One of the first things hackers do when they attempt to infiltrate computer systems is to try using any common or stolen passwords. And, if your employees aren’t careful to use effective passwords and change them regularly, both they and your business can be exposed to data breaches, phishing schemes and other costly cyber attacks.
Most people don’t manage their passwords effectively because of the misconception that strong passwords need to be long and difficult to remember. However, there are a few simple steps you can relay to your employees in order to ensure that passwords are both hard for hackers to figure out and easy to manage:
Build passwords around familiar phrases. Long passwords are harder for computer programs to guess, so using a long but familiar phrase, like a favorite song lyric or quote, is a great start to making a password.
Use a password management service. Many people write their passwords down on paper or in a word processor, but keeping them anywhere insecure makes it easier for hackers to access them. Instead, encourage your employees to use a reputable password management service to keep all of their login credentials safe. Contact us today for more resources that can help improve your cyber security, including our new “Employee Cyber Training – Passwords” video.
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Two new web tools created by the Noble Research Institute will allow cattle producers to easily access Oklahoma cattle auction data. The tools include a price slide table and market charts.
PRICE SLIDE TABL
The first web tool is a breakdown of the price slide (PS) and value of gain (VOG) for the reported markets. The PS and VOG tool looks at the sales receipts for the selected market, as well as frame size, gender, yield grade and the sale date to give producers a glimpse at the type of cattle buyers are looking for.
Cattle with notes about their features aren’t included in the table in order to prevent the PS and VOG from being affected. However, a link to the original USDA-AMS report is provided near the top of the page for producers who want more details and to see where the original data was taken from.
MARKET CHARTS
The second web tool is a set of charts for slaughter, feeder and replacement cattle. The tool offers an option to compare each group across whichever markets the user selects, either during a specific year or across years.
The auction comparison tool was designed to provide producers with information to help them in their marketing and purchasing options. By comparing years, producers can better evaluate how the current year is stacking up against previous years for a particular market.
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On June 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state governments can collect sales taxes from online retailers, even if a retailer doesn’t have a physical presence in the state. Until this decision, states could only collect taxes from online retailers that had in-state headquarters or another significant connection to that state.
This decision should benefit brick-and-mortar businesses, as sales taxes often forced them to increase prices—making it difficult to compete with the lower prices offered by online retailers. The court’s ruling also said that states should benefit from the decision by gaining access to a new source of tax revenue, estimated to be $33 billion annually across all states and online businesses.
Although critics of the ruling believe that consumers will face higher prices when shopping online, others think that increased competition between online and physical storefronts will cancel out any significant increases.
The ruling has already had a significant impact on the stock values of some major retailers. However, it’s still unclear how small retailers that have an online presence will be affected, and whether states will alter their tax collection practices to account for the size of an online retailer.
For more information on state-specific compliance, contact Scurich Insurance today.
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On May 31, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a proposed rule that would expand the electronic filing requirement for a number of tax forms. Current IRS rules impose a 250-return threshold for mandatory electronic filing, which applies separately to each type of information return. However, the proposed rule would require:
- All information returns, regardless of type, to be taken into account to determine whether a reporting entity meets the 250-return threshold; and
- Any reporting entity subject to the electronic reporting requirement to file corrected information returns electronically, regardless of the number of corrected information returns being filed.
This proposed rule would impose mandatory electronic filing for significantly more reporting entities. According to the IRS, most forms are currently filed electronically. However, employers that don’t currently file electronically with the IRS should evaluate the number of information returns that they file to determine how this new standard could affect them.
Overview of Mandatory Electronic Filing
Existing IRS rules require reporting entities that file 250 or more information returns to file electronically. However, this 250-return threshold applies separately to each type of return. This means that each type of return is counted separately and not aggregated when determining whether the 250-return threshold applies.
These rules generally cover the following tax forms (among others):
- Form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement);
- Forms in the 1094 series (including Forms 1094-B and 1094-C, the required transmittal forms under Section 6055 and Section 6056);
- Forms 1095-B and 1095-C (the required individual or employee statements under Section 6055 and Section 6056); and
- Forms in the 1099 series.
When the electronic filing rules were originally established, electronic filing was in the early stages of development and was not as commonly used as it is today. However, according to the IRS, significant advances in technology have made electronic filing more prevalent and accessible, in many cases making it less costly and easier for reporting entities than paper filing. The IRS asserted that most information returns are already filed electronically (approximately 98.5 percent in the 2016 tax year). As a result, the IRS no longer believes that determining the 250-return threshold on a form-by-form basis without aggregation is necessary to relieve taxpayer burden and cost.
Proposed Expansion of the Electronic Filing Requirement
Due to these advances in technology, the proposed rule would require reporting entities to count all information returns, regardless of type, to determine whether they meet the 250-return threshold and, therefore, must file the information returns electronically. Specifically, under the proposed rule, a reporting entity that is required to file a total for 250 or more information returns of any type covered by this rule during a calendar year will be required to file those information returns electronically.
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Example: Company W is required to file 200 Forms 1099–INT (Interest Income) and 200 Forms 1099–DIV (Dividends and Distributions), for a total of 400 returns. Because Company W is required to file 250 or more returns covered by this rule for the calendar year, Company W must file all Forms 1099–INT and Forms 1099–DIV electronically. |
Corrected information returns are not taken into account in determining whether the 250-return threshold is met under the proposed rule. However, the proposed rule would also require corrected information returns to be filed electronically if the original information returns were required to be filed electronically.
According to the IRS, this rule change would help facilitate efficient and effective tax administration.
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However, the rule change would require significantly more reporting entities to file information returns electronically with the IRS. Often, this involves working with a third-party service provider that offers information return preparation and electronic filing. |
Notably, though, the proposed rule does not change the existing regulations allowing reporting entities that are required to file returns electronically to request a waiver of the electronic filing requirement. As a result, electronic reporting waivers will still be available for reporting entities that properly request them. Electronic reporting waivers are intended to relieve the burden on reporting entities that lack the necessary data-processing capabilities or access to return preparers and third-party service providers at a reasonable cost.
Effective Date
The proposed rule is proposed to be effective once final regulations are issued and become applicable. However, to give reporting entities sufficient time to comply with the new rule, the proposed rule will not apply to information returns required to be filed before Jan. 1, 2019. Therefore, the proposed rule, if finalized, would generally be effective for:
- Information returns required to be filed after Dec. 31, 2018; and
- Corrected information returns filed after Dec. 31, 2018.
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