NaCCRA Forum: General

Interesting.......that question has been raised by a couple of new residents, I can only say that the policy was developed early in this community's life, i.e., around 1990, and has continued since then. The only employee omitted is the Esecutive Director.

Nancy Eddy

nbeddy@gmail.com

Curious as to why Managers are included in your resident appreciation policy--normally applies to hourly wage employees who are not "tipped" as Managers are usually on salary/not subject to tipping.

At Applewood (non-profit, Massachusetts) we also have a contract with Sodexo and we have had a staff appreciation fund for many years. Yes, we DO include the Sodexo emplyees - in our case there are only 2 - a dining services manager and a housekeeping manager..

Nancy Eddy

nbeddy@gmail.com

Some CCRC/Life Plan communities contract with organizations such as Morrison’s or Sodexo for dining services. How many Communities with such Contractor services provide Resident Appreciation Funds to be distributed to these contractor employees? Comments would be appreciated from members who live in such communities.

At Charlestown, they moved from giving out checks to including it in the direct deposit that many employees use. As residents we are told that contributions are considered a gratuity and are not tax deductibe according to IRS guidelines.

We tip separately for outside contractors such as massage therapists, salon operators.

Ann MacKay

I'll try to answer your questions Jennifer. First perhaps I need to explain that our CCRC differs from many in that our resident association is self supporting with our own treasurer, bank accounts, charitable funds, etc. We raise funds in a variety of ways with the largest single source being our semi-annual Barn Sale wherein we sell items that residents, or their families in the case of deceased residents, have contributed. These items range from kitchen tools and appliances to large pieces of furniture, jewelry, clothing, fine china and crystal, etc.

Since the residents conduct all of our own activities (over 50 separate activities) the administration provides a lump sum to us in lieu of the salary they would pay to an Activities Director.

The checks to employees are written by our treasurer from the resident association checking account. We work in cooperation with the Administration Finance Officer to determine amount of withholding tax for each employee. We give the administration the total amount of the withholding and the administration then issues a W-2 to the employee at the time we present the checks to them. We pay the withholding tax so that the amount the employee receives is tax free.

We follow IRS guidance that inasmuch as the gifts to the employees are in lieu of tips they are not tax deductible to the resident donating to the Employee Appreciation Fund.

We do not include outside contractors.

In our case, these checks come from a special account set up by and maintained by the Residents' Association. So they do NOT go through any payroll system, do not have any witholding, and are not reported to IRS or anyone. It's up to the employee to report gifts. Residents are told that they are not tax deductible. We include only employees - no beauticians, massage therapists, etc.

Nancy Eddy

nbeddy@gmail.com

I am interested in knowing "what type of checks?" these are for employee recipients.

Are they payroll checks? If so, does the fund "reimburse" the employer for its payroll load (employer contribution to Social Security; employer payments to state Unemployment funds, Workers Comp premiums, etc.)? Is the special gift a line item on one's regular paycheck (say, the first paycheck in December), or is the check generated by a special payroll run? If a special payroll run, does the amount of withholding tie to the employee's W-4 elections, or are "flat percentage," say, 20% for federal withholding and a specially-determined withholding amount for the state?

If the checks come out of Accounts Payable, are 1099's issued if the "gift" is greater than, say, $600?

What if some services are not provided by employees, but "outside contractors" (examples: security guards, beauticians, nail techs, massage therapists, etc.) Are they eligible, if they can't be tipped (or, can they accept tips?). If eligible because of "no tipping policy," they're not on the payroll, so are they paid out of Accounts Payable?

Are residents contributors told that their contributions resulting from fund drives (or added to their monthly fee) are tax deductible to the giver? I've heard CPAs differ on this. Some have said that even if a resident contributes to this special fund held by their tax-exempt community, the end recipients are employees and this gift is compensation to non-charities.

I am not a Maryland CCRC resident, per the first poster's inquiry.

There is no tipping at our CCRC. Charlestown does conducts a Staff Appreciation Fund drive every year in October for all hourly employees. Residents are also encouraged to set up monthly payments that are automatically charged on the monthy bill. That is what I do. The Residents' Council has a Staff Appreciation Committee that manages the effort with the Philanthropy Department. Over $278,000 was collected last year with a 71% rate by residents. Employees receive an amount based upon some formula taking into account length of employment.

We also fund a Scholar's Fund for the Dining Servers who are high school and college age. That program funds between 20 - 40 students every year. They can receive payments each semester for their 4-year program.

Applewood is a 30 year old non-profit in Massachusetts with 103 apartments. From its fouinding it has had a no-tipping policy and very shortly after opening it developed a staff appreciation fund. Contributions are solicited once a year and checks are given out at a pre-holiday party in November. We provide residents with information about the average size of contribution and the median contribution as well. This last year, the average contribution was c.$750 per resident. Gifts are based on the number of hours worked with a slight preference given to lower-paid employees (including a minimum gift of $50.). The largest gift is c.$1600.

Nancy Eddy

nbeddy@gmail.com

My CCRC has a very active employee recognition program. Because of a very firm "NO TIPPING" policy, the residents hold two fund raising drives annually and provide checks to employees based on the number of hours worked in the previous six months. Recently checks have been in the $600.00 range for employees who worked the maximum number of hours, based on a 40 hour week. Additionally we have a tuition assistance program for employees who are pursuing higher education and several other minor programs to assist employees.

We are interested in what other CCRCs are doing in terms of employee recognition. Is the no tipping policy fairly standard? What programs do you have to recognize employees?

We are particularly interested in Maryland CCRCs, but will welcome replies from all.