A Pinnacle Update

Important news and information for Employers

Employers may deduct up to $4,500 per eligible worker hired through Pinnacle from your federal and state taxes.

Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)
The Federal Government is now allowing business to deduct up to 40% of the first $6,000 of wages that they pay to eligible workers. This amount is deducted from the taxes the company owes the IRS, up to a maximum of $2,400 per person.

Who is Eligible?
There are eight groups of individuals who can be certified for the WOTC, including individuals with disabilities, recipients of AFDC, SSI and Food Stamps, veterans, ex-felons, high risk youth and youth in summer employment. These individuals must work a minimum of 120 hours to receive a partial credit of 25%. The full credit becomes available after 400 hours of employment. Summer youth are exempt from the minimum hour restriction.

Workers with Disabilities Employment Tax Credit (WETC)
WETC is a New York State tax credit that can be as much as $2,100 or 35% of an individual’s first $6,000 in wages. This can be used alone during the first year of employment, or when combined with the WOTC, used in the employee’s second year of employment.

Workers with Disabilities Employment Tax Credit Information Guide
The WETC was enacted to provide New York State employers with an incentive to hire individuals with disabilities into the New York workforce. It provides an additional incentive beyond that provided by the Federal WOTC.

Employee Qualifications for the WETC?

1.	An employee must meet the eligibility requirements for certification for the WOTC as a vocational rehabilitation referral who is certified by the New York State Education Department’s Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID), or the Office of Children and Family Services of the Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped (CABV);
2.	An employee must have worked on a full-time basis for at least 180 days or 400 hours during the year of qualifying wages; and
3.	An employee must have begun employment on or after January 1, 1997.

WORKPLACE ACCOMMODATION PROCESS

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that employers with 15 or more employees make reasonable accommodations in the workplace for employees with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations must be made on a case-by-case basis and are not required when costs would constitute an undue hardship for an employer.

What are Reasonable Accommodations?

Reasonable accommodations are adjustments or modifications, which range from making the physical work environment accessible to restructuring a job, providing assistive equipment, providing certain personal assistants (e.g., a reader for a person who is blind, an interpreter for a person who is deaf), transferring an employee to a different job or location, or providing flexible scheduling.

What is Undue Hardship?

This legal term is defined in the ADA as an action requiring significant difficulty or expense for the business/employer, considering the following factors:

• The nature and cost of the proposed accommodation,
• The overall financial resources of the business and the effect of the accommodation upon expenses and resources, and
• The impact of the accommodation upon the operation of the facility.

When May a Job Accommodation be Required?

A workplace accommodation may be requested by an employee with a disability at any time during employment. After initiating the workplace accommodation process, the individual and the employer should discuss the request. After both parties agree that a workplace accommodation is needed, an appropriate one must be selected.

Step 1: Decide if the employee with a disability is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job with or without an accommodation.

Step 2: Identify the employee's workplace accommodation needs.

Step 3: Select and provide the accommodation that is most appropriate for the employee and employer.

Step 4: Check the results.

Step 5: Provide follow-up if needed.

What Tax Credits are Available to Assist with Workplace Accommodations?

Disabled Access Tax Credit: This is a tax credit available to an eligible small business in the amount of 50% of eligible expenditures that exceed $250, but do not exceed $10,250 for a taxable year.

Architectural Barrier Tax Deduction: Businesses may deduct up to $15,000 of the costs incurred each year to remove physical, structural, or transportation barriers in the workplace.

For more information about the ADA go to: www.eeoc.gov/ada/adahandbook.html.

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