Arrowhead Human Resources Association
Meeting Minutes
July 12, 2006
10:00 am DNR
Office -
Connie Larson, President,
opened the meeting with self-introductions.
Eighteen people were in attendance; we also had an intern from the
Blandin Foundation. Minutes from the
last meeting were distributed and approved.
The topic was a round-table
discussion on Employment Law in the following areas:
FMLA (involuntary & forced leave)
Hostile work environment
New differed compensation law-409a of the IRS code
Charging different insurance rates for tobacco use
Report on new hires
The group discussed various
best practices and sited recent articles from the SHRM magazines, IRS codes
(409a), state & federal registry sites for reporting
(newhirereporting.com), and excellent reference books regarding the above
topics (Employment Law Issues in Minnesota- MN Dept. of Economic Development
& Employment).
BUSINESS MEETING:
Treasurer’s Report - Connie Larson reported for Nancy Tepovich, we have a
balance of $3,151.87 in the account.
Membership Report - Donna Hoffer reported we have 32 paid members and 2
additional people paid today. If you are
a member of SHRM, notify Donna as she tracks this and the Chapter receives
dollars back from SHRM on a quarterly basis.
Legislative Update - Paul Carlson gave an update on the following legal
hot topics:
* Health Information technology - bill in place to move
toward sharing information and patient safety.
* Flex spending accounts - bill to carry over
$500.00/year for flex spending use.
* HAS - improve flexibility to coordinate better services
with other insurance products.
* Pension Funds - need new legislation for income
security.
* Immigration reform - SHRM’s position - don’t create a
paperwork nightmare but be user friendly and be able to
cross state-lines.
* Minimum wage - typically each year a bill is introduced
to increase the minimum wage.
Bylaw Revision - Connie Larson stated that our Chapter bylaws have
been updated, the Board reviewed them and we are awaiting SHRM approval and
they will be brought to the October meeting for membership approval.
Membership Recruitment - Connie Larson reported that the chapter is sponsoring
a full-day seminar in October. This will
help educate participants about the Chapter.
Possibly we could participate in Business After Hours or co-sponsor with
another group. We plan to take photos at
area AHRA meetings/functions to put in the paper. Hand out our AHRA Brochures whenever
possible. We discussed the idea of
having members identify their association with AHRA and the website on their
personal business card.
HR All-Day Seminar Update - Donna Hoffer noted that the speakers committee is
working on solidifying speakers for the day.
The cost is $10/members and $15/non-members. We want to focus on business’ that do not
have designated HR departments, this seminar would help them network with
others. We plan to mail reminder
postcards prior to the seminar. The
location is the Mt. Iron Community Center.
We will accept prize donations and sponsorships from Vendors. The AHRA Board approved $1000.00 to spend on
the seminar expenses. Jim Makowsky is a
member of the Laurentian Chamber and is willing to e-mail notices of the
October 4th, AHRA All Day conference.
AHRA Website - we are looking for any comments on the site. It’s definitely a good start to a fantastic
website.
CEU’s - we will be offering continuing education credits for
(HRCI credits) for the October all-day seminar as well as future quarterly
Chapter meetings. Amy K. will continue
to work on coordinating this.
CAP’s Report - Connie Larson plans to attend the State Board
meeting in Minneapolis as well as the SHRM State Conference in October. We are doing well in meeting the chapter
achievements. Diversity is another goal
of our group, promoting it in our area/chapter, etc. Holly W. continues to serve on a local area
Diversity Committee and will periodically report to our Chapter.
Next meeting will be October
25th at the Iron Range Resources office in Eveleth. The topic is ‘Violence in the Workplace’
presented by OSHA.
The meeting adjourned at