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October, 2008 Volume 2, Issue 9 |
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Newsletter of the |
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2008
Calendar January No Meeting February 2– CPP Review Class 16– CPP Review Class 21—Chapter Meeting Compliance Auditing March 1– CPP & FPC Review Class 15--CPP & FPC Review Class 29– CPP & FPC Review Class April 12– CPP Review Class 25—25th Anniversary Celebration May 13-17 – 26th Annual Congress, June 5– Chapter Meeting Payroll Basics 20-21-
Relay for Life July No Meeting August 8 – Chapter Meeting Payroll All Day Meeting Officer Elections September 1-5 National Payroll Week Celebration 15th Annual October 29—Chapter Meeting Preparing For Year End November Official newsletter of the Chicago
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Don’t Let Year-End Scare You!
Attended the
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Speaker:
Martin Rule, CFP, CPA, CPP |
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2008
Chapter Officers
President Chris O”Hara, CPP Vice President Mary Kazmierczak, CPP Recording Secretary Gabriel Vergara, CPP Treasurer Hank Mazik, CPP Gov. Liaison Katie Staffeldt, CPP Correspondence Secretary Mary Weiner, CPP Education Director Carolyn Kerkman CPP |
Silver Bells –Ringing in the Future!! The
invitations have been sent out! The
plans are made! Have you marked your
calendar for an Enjoyable Evening of Fun Food, Recognition, Awards, Prizes
and Entertainment? When: Where: At the Time: Guest Speaker: Emily Rook, CPP President
American Payroll Association Entertainment by: Sidney Friedman ”Psychic & Mentalist
to the Stars Music by: DJ Rob!! Collection for: Off the Street Club Cost for the evening: $55 for Members $60
for Non-Members. Join us in
Congratulating our newest FPC/CPP individuals who will be receiving their
Pins. |
New Educational Grant: Winner to be announced at the Recognition
and The
Chapter will be offering a chance to earn an Educational Grant for our
CPP/FPC Class for 2009. All attendees
to our up coming meetings, Golf Outing, Sept. 5th, Year-End
Meeting, Oct 29th and the Holiday Party, Nov. 22nd will
be entered into this drawing. We
will have a winner for both the CPP and the FPC class. If you have taken the CPP test and passed,
the grant will be used for your RCH (Recertification Credit Hours). The winner
will be announced at the end of the Holiday Party. Winner need not be presented to win. An email will be sent to the winner. Prize must be claimed
by Nov. 25th Anymore Pop Can
Tabs.-We are almost there!! 2 more
Events to bring your POP TOPS!! The
Year-End meeting and the Recognition Celebration will be the last time to
bring your saved POP TOPS. We almost
have a full 50 lb. container
filled with pop can tops. Please ask
your family and friends to continue to save pop can tops. We will be donating them to the Ronald
McDonald House at the end of the year. Thanks for your continued support in
this project. FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE!!
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Upcoming Chapter
Meetings
February 21 Compliance Auditing Kronos Continental
Breakfast April 25 25th Anniversary Special Guest: Dan Maddux Exec Dir APA June 5 Payroll Basics Continental Breakfast June 20-21 Relay for Life American Cancer Society Oak Brook August 8 Tax Day Officer Elections Continental
Breakfast White Eagle Banquet October 29 Preparing For Year End ADP Continental Breakfast November
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The Greater Meeting
Invite to their NOVEMBER
CHAPTER MEETING
Feature Vendor: LTtax Speaker: Charles ‘Chip’ Lutz, MSEd, CLL – Fun Squad, Inc.
Topics: X and Y Go BOOM! Generations in the
Workplace Talk
‘Bridging
the Generation Gap’ ~ Understanding
the
Generation Differences and Learning to Appreciate Our Diversity Date:
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QUESTION
CORNER Last
month’s questions: “Do you
use a payroll pay card?” There
was only one company that replied that they used Pay Cards. This
month’s Question: “When you cannot make a chapter
seminar is it because of the location?”
What location would you prefer?
Please
sure to send your answer to the Chapter mailbox. chicago_chapter_apa@hotmail.com Need
a way to get your RCH Credits before the end of the year? "Recently Dale
Carnegie and the American Payroll Association have created a partnership to
offer our members as a resource when completing your professional development
hours or RCH (Recertification Credit Hours). All of the core classes
have been approved by the APA. Areas include: *Human Relations *Leadership *Communication *Presentation Skills
The local Dale
Carnegie To enroll as an APA
member and to receive your RCH hours and discounted rate,
please contact: Jennifer Champer, Dale Carneige Chicago: jennifer_champer@dalecarnegie.com
; #630.390.6029. Additionally, The
APA has included Dale Carnegie Training on their website as an approved
provider. Here is the link:
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Government Corner Strategic
Plan Fiscal Years 2008 – 2013
In this
strategic plan, we lay out the incremental steps we must all take to reach
our greater vision for the Social Security Administration. We are an
organization of great skill and accomplishment; we know what needs to be done
and how to do it. This strategic plan charts the course that will enable us
to maintain a strong level of performance on core workloads and work toward
long-term improvement of our service to the public by concentrating on four
goals: 1) eliminate our hearings backlog and prevent its recurrence; 2)
improve the speed and quality of our disability process; 3) improve our
retiree and other core services; and 4) preserve the public's trust in our
programs. Additionally, the plan recognizes that our employees and
information technology are absolutely critical to our success. Only by
investing properly in both our employees and new technology can we hope to
achieve our ambitious goals. To read
more details please visit Social Security at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/asp/index.htm (The
article is too long to publish here.) Announced on Today, Social Security announced that
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries will receive
a 5.8 percent benefit increase in 2009. The 5.8 percent increase
is the largest since 1982. The Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)
for 2009 is based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index from the third
quarter of 2007 through the third quarter of 2008. |
Government Corner
–(con’t) Recently
Released Rates for 2009
The Social
Security Administration announced on 401(k): Annual
Compensation Limit: increased from $230k to $245k 401(k)
contribution increased from $15500 to $16500 Catch-up
contribution increased from $5000 to $5500 Commuter: Parking Limit:
increased from $220 to $230 per month Voucher
Fare Media Limit increased from $115 to $120 The Department of Revenue (DOR) is
discontinuing the pilot program that began on
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Mailing Address: Chicago, IL 60690-0836 Phone: (773) 631-8480 {24-hr. Recording) E-mail : Chicago_Chapter_apa@hotmail.com NPW Corner : Tell us what you are planning for NPW. |
THE UN-COMFORT ZONE
by Robert Wilson, Jr Don’t Get Stuck in Reverse I love this quote by
Gandalf the Gray from the book Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, “When
we despair we cease to choose well.
We give in to short cuts.”
It’s so true and we all know that we have been guilty of it at some
point in our lives. It reminds me of the
Dot Com Bubble that burst in March of 2000 and caused the stock market to
crash, I remember those heady days of “irrational exuberance” as Federal
Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan referred to it. It seemed like everyone was
worried they were going to miss out on the digital revolution. They were motivated by the dreams of easy
money. It was all about taking a
short cut. Several start ups
approached me to help them promote their new Internet businesses in exchange
for stock options. I looked at a
couple of cobbled together companies that were little more than a guy with a
website and the hopes of mining some venture capital. The idea was to generate web page hits
with a clever name or gimmick, sell a ton of stock at the Initial Public
Offering, then retire a millionaire.
I decided to stick with those willing to pay in cash. After the burst, I
read about a repo man in Beverly Sills, the
famous opera soprano, once said, “There are no shortcuts to any place worth
going.” But, too often when times are
good we pile on the responsibilities.
Later on when we encounter adversity, we look backwards instead of
forward. We attempt to go back to
where we enjoyed success in the past even when it is counter-productive to
our current goal. |
In my seminars on
innovation I conduct a fun exercise that demonstrates how we frequently feel
we must go backwards before we can go forward. A volunteer from the audience is selected and sent out of the
room. The audience chooses a simple
behavior they want the volunteer to do (like jumping up and down on their
left foot). What makes it fun is that the volunteer must guess the
behavior. The audience can only help
by saying the word, “yes” when the volunteer does anything that comes close
to the desired behavior. They are not
allowed to say, “no” or give any other hints. Once the volunteer
performs the desired behavior, the audience rewards it with a round of
applause. I ask for a second
volunteer, but this time we change the rules after the person leaves the
room. When the desired behavior is
reached, the audience goes silent, says nothing, and gives no applause. Since
the volunteer is no longer getting feedback in the form of “yes” he or she
will go back and repeat behaviors that did elicit a “yes.” The audience, however, remains silent. As we watch the
volunteer, we can see despair forming on his or her face. The volunteer will then go further
backward to find a previous behavior that generated success. Eventually the volunteer quits going
backwards and starts initiating brand new behaviors in the hopes of regaining
another, “yes.” It is after several
new behaviors are performed that the audience is signaled to applaud and
reward the volunteer for his or her efforts.
The purpose of the exercise is to force the volunteer to backtrack to
the point that they realize success can only be found by moving forward. In life, the trick
is to stay focused even when our luck seems to be changing. We may have to slow down or make changes
in our methods, but the goal must remain the same. Henry David Thoreau observed, “We rarely hit where we do not
aim.” In other words, if you’re
moving backward you are moving away from your goal... and it’s hard to hit a
target when you’re facing the wrong direction. Robert Evans Wilson,
Jr. is a motivational speaker and humorist. He works with companies
that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like
innovators. For more information on Robert's programs please visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com. Page 5 |
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Time to Join or Renew APA Memberships
2009! Who needs to pay
dues? Per our by-laws Chapter Dues apply to everyone – board members, CPP
& FPC attendees and teachers, continuing members, etc. To maintain
benefits, members are required to renew their membership each year. Like the rising gas costs, Chapter Dues for 2009 are increasing to
$50.00 beginning This year only, we
are offering an Early Bird Special! If you join or renew your membership
between Chapter Purpose and Member Benefits The Chicago
Chapter exists to share and promote knowledge, professionalism, high
standards of performance, networking and communication among payroll
professionals in the Chapter Benefits
include: ·
Organization website www.chicagopayroll.com featuring chapter educational events,
compliance updates, job opportunities, networking events and vendors; links
to National APA site and other key payroll websites ·
Monthly Newsletter – keeps
members up to date with the latest and upcoming events ·
Hotline Service –assistance
with payroll topics provided by member volunteers ·
Education and training –
members receive admission discounts and recertification credits for attending
quarterly educational sessions, FPC & CPP review and study groups and the
IL Statewide conference ·
Access to 200 local Members
- networking with professionals in your same industry, size, software
services and expertise on various payroll topics ·
Participation in
award-winning Chapter that is acknowledged at APA National level for their
achievements; past presidents who have also become presidents at the national
level ·
Promote community service
through payroll education for various groups and charity events |
·
· National Payroll Week – chapter
participates in special events and community education events that recognize
payroll professionals and their support of the payroll withholding system. ·
· Annual Recognition & Holiday Party –
celebrate/award member and chapter achievements; members receive discounted
admission National APA Membership 2009 If you have not
joined the National APA Membership or you were a member and let your
membership lapse, now is the time! Through This option is
not available for current members who are renewing their membership for 2009.
Membership renewal for One Year is $195; Two Years $390. Don’t let your
membership lapse! Go to www.americanpayroll.org and renew today! ---------------------------------------------------- Exclusive! For Want to be able to attend an educational
session and earn recertification credits for free? Beginning To receive your
coupon, you must provide us with proof of membership join/renewal to Chicago
Chapter (Acknowledgement Email) and to the National APA (Order Confirmation
and National ID Number) that documents both membership payments were made
before
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Mailing Address: Chicago, IL 60690-0836 Phone: (773) 631-8480 {24-hr. Recording) E-mail : Chicago_Chapter_apa@hotmail.com NPW Corner : Tell us what you are planning for NPW. |
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