Navigating the evolving world of the wedding industry just got a whole lot easier. Join Aisha Garnett, Certified Educator and Master Certified Wedding Planner, as she teams up with Laurie Hartwell, CEO and founder of the Certified Wedding Planner Society, to bring you a timely and in-depth conversation. Ever wondered about the impact of the US Department of Labor’s proposed rulemaking on the wedding industry? Look no further. Learn how this could influence the classification of workers as employees or independent contractors, and the ramifications it may have on your business.
Dive deeper into this subject with a closer look at the IRS classification for independent contractors. Listen to Laurie Hartwell as she unpacks the importance of understanding how to pay workers, and the implications of incorrect classification. What does this mean for you in the wedding industry? This episode promises to leave you well-informed and better equipped to handle these potential changes.
But that's not all. Aisha switches gears to tackle the potentially contentious issue of adult-only weddings with Krisy Thomas, Vice President of the Certified Wedding Planner Society. Learn how to manage expectations without causing conflict, and the importance of having open communication.
Plus, get your creative juices flowing with innovative ideas for wedding bouquet and garter toss alternatives. Whether you're a seasoned wedding planner, or new to the industry, this episode is a treasure trove of knowledge and inspiration. Tune in, listen up, and stay ahead of the curve in the wedding industry.
www.cwpsociety.com | info@cwpsociety.com | IG: @cwpsociety | FB: @cwpsociety
Navigating the evolving world of the wedding industry just got a whole lot easier. Join Aisha Garnett, Certified Educator and Master Certified Wedding Planner, as she teams up with Laurie Hartwell, CEO and founder of the Certified Wedding Planner Society, to bring you a timely and in-depth conversation. Ever wondered about the impact of the US Department of Labor’s proposed rulemaking on the wedding industry? Look no further. Learn how this could influence the classification of workers as employees or independent contractors, and the ramifications it may have on your business.
Dive deeper into this subject with a closer look at the IRS classification for independent contractors. Listen to Laurie Hartwell as she unpacks the importance of understanding how to pay workers, and the implications of incorrect classification. What does this mean for you in the wedding industry? This episode promises to leave you well-informed and better equipped to handle these potential changes.
But that's not all. Aisha switches gears to tackle the potentially contentious issue of adult-only weddings with Krisy Thomas, Vice President of the Certified Wedding Planner Society. Learn how to manage expectations without causing conflict, and the importance of having open communication.
Plus, get your creative juices flowing with innovative ideas for wedding bouquet and garter toss alternatives. Whether you're a seasoned wedding planner, or new to the industry, this episode is a treasure trove of knowledge and inspiration. Tune in, listen up, and stay ahead of the curve in the wedding industry.
www.cwpsociety.com | info@cwpsociety.com | IG: @cwpsociety | FB: @cwpsociety
Welcome to the Wedding Planner podcast brought to you by the Certified Wedding Planner Society.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to the Wedding Industry News. It's September 2023 and I'm your host, Aisha Garnett, Certified Educator and Master Certified Wedding Planner with the Certified Wedding Planner Society, when each episode covers something old, something new, something borrowed and some new. Let's jump right into some news. In October of 2022, the US Department of Labor issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would provide guidance to help employers and workers determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act, also known as FLSA, establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in federal, state and local governments. Covered non-exempt workers are entitled to no less than the $7.25 minimum wage.
Speaker 2:According to the Huffington Post, if the new federal guidelines are implemented, this would make it easier for more workers to pursue complaints or lawsuits against their employers if they believe they've been shorted wages.
Speaker 2:This could also address the concerns that employers are categorizing their employees as contractors in order to bypass workplace laws, not having to pay state or federal payroll taxes for independent contractors or avoid providing the usual employment benefits to their workers, such as retirement and health benefits and workers' compensation. This could also open the doors for state and local officials to create legislation that would crack down on such misclassification of workers. According to Thompson-Ruders, the final rule was set to be issued by the Department of Labor in May of 2023, but on June 9, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a 120-day delay to further proceedings related to the DOL appeal in response to the federal district court ruling back in March of 2022, to allow the DOL sometimes to complete its rulemaking. There are more than 54,000 comments received on this rule which are in review by DOL. This 120-day delay gives DOL until October 2023 to finalize the rule. Joining me to discuss this a bit further is Laurie Hartwell, CEO and founder of the Certified Wedding Planner Society. Welcome, Laurie.
Speaker 1:How are you, Aisha Good, how are you?
Speaker 2:I'm great All right now. When it comes to the wedding industry, there are many small business owners such as wedding planners, photographers, videographers and so on, some of whom usually bring on additional assistance during their events, especially for the day of the event. In the wedding industry. In some cases, these workers are considered independent contractors or freelancers instead of actual employees. Could you speak a little bit more to what the differences are when it comes to an independent contractor versus an employee in the wedding industry?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. There are several differences between the two. First, if your worker is truly an employee, you would be withholding their taxes. That includes income tax, social security and Medicare. You may pay them hourly rather than by the project or job. If they were to be independent contractors, you would be able to set their hours and control how you want things done and when they should be done. So there really is a difference in how much control you actually have.
Speaker 1:The important thing to do here is to know that you have to consider what the IRS seems to be the difference between employee and independent contractor, as well. As each state See, every state has their own rules. I'm gonna go ahead and break down the difference here. So the IRS looks at common law standards, which are mapped out into three prongs. The first is behavioral. So you have to ask yourself does the company that you own control or have the right to control what your worker does and how that worker does their job? The general rule of thumb here is that an individual is an independent contractor If the person who is asking them to work has the right to control or maybe direct only the result of that work and not necessarily what will be done and how it will be done, even if you tell a worker that they have some sort of freedom. So they really come down to that behavioral. So that's the first prong.
Speaker 1:The second prong is financial. So are the business aspects of the worker's job controlled by the person who's paying them? These things include, like how the worker is paid, whether the expenses are gonna be reimbursed, or who provides the tools or supplies, et cetera. And then there's that third prong, which is the type of relationship. So are there any written contracts or employee type benefits? For instance, are you providing them a pension plan? Are you paying for their insurance? Are you paying for them to be able to go on vacation? If so, that's an employee and not an independent contractor. And then will the relationship continue on a forever basis or is the work performed in a very specific short-term period of time?
Speaker 1:If the employer you who owns the business wields any of these controls over the worker, then that worker is an employee, not an independent contractor. But then on top of the IRS, so those are just the three prongs that the IRS looks at. Then each state has its own standards and some fall in line under the common law standards, while other states have taken a different approach and go by something that's called the ABC standards. This is where it presumes that a worker is an employee automatically unless the facts and circumstances provide evidence of independent contractor status based on the criteria. So they also have three prongs. Their first one is absence of control. So absence of control exists if the worker is free from the direction of the control of the hiring organization or company, both by a contract or agreement and an actual fact.
Speaker 1:The second prong would be the business of the worker. So in order to be classified as an independent contractor, the worker must perform work that is unusual in regards to the employer. So I'll give you a quick example here If you owned a restaurant and you wanted to have that restaurant painted, when you hired the painter, they would be considered an independent contractor because they're not doing the same type of business as that restaurant is. So it's very easy to see the difference between those two. So the business of the worker can easily. If they pass that prong, it's like oh well, then that person's obviously an independent contractor.
Speaker 1:The third prong would be customarily engaged. So what this means is various professions and trades are customarily independent contractors and they're available on a per job basis, since they have their own business identity and because they engage in business for profit on the open market. But the Department of Labor also looks at what they call economic realities. So the more dependent that worker is on a particular employer for income, the more they lean towards giving that person employee status rather than independent contractor status. So let me just give you a really quick example here.
Speaker 1:If you have an independent contractor that's how you're classifying them now and they're not working for any other company, they're not working for themselves or any other wedding planners at all. That would mean that they would be considered more as an employee under that state law than independent contractor. So that should tell you right away you're misclassifying that worker. It is possible for a worker to be an independent contractor under common law and an employee under the ABC test, for example, an employee can be classified as an independent contractor by the IRS under the common law standard. But then when trying to get covered for unemployment, let's say the same worker that was just classified as an independent contractor could be classified as an employee because of the state that they live in. So the state is the one who's handling all that unemployment and if that state uses the ABC test, then poof. Now we have a little bit of a discrepancy, so it can get kind of complicated and confusing.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so what can wedding pros do to make sure that they aren't misclassifying their workers and or team members, or is this the time to consider expanding their team so that they aren't stepping into any IRS trouble?
Speaker 1:Well, even if you're expanding your team, you have to make sure you're expanding your team and classifying them as either employees or independent contractors. And, honestly, we hear all the time like I want a huge team, I want to make sure that I'm growing, but you have to grow in any way that you want. I support it. I just need to make sure that we're classifying people the correct way. So it's really important to make sure that we, as business owners, familiarize ourselves with this topic and what our state laws are, as well as what the IRS is going to consider an employee versus an independent contractor, because we want to make sure that we're not accidentally misclassifying these people that are going to be coming and working for us. Here's the thing misclassifying workers. It's a huge mistake that could cost a business owner an enormous amount. If it is determined that you misclassified a worker, you will have to pay back taxes, but you could also face criminal penalties, and that includes payment penalties of up to $1,000 per misclassified employee or even jail time up to a year. So this is not like a lighthearted thing. We need to be looking at this very, very seriously and you know, it's interesting, aisha there are misconceptions that I hear all the time I call you. We can call them myths, we can call them misconceptions, but there's three that I hear all the time that says no, I'm an independent contractor because so here it is.
Speaker 1:Some people say they're an independent contractor because they got a 1099 or they give a 1099, so that person's an automatically an independent contractor. That's a myth. Someone might be misclassifying you. That's literally all that means. We have to make sure that we're looking at the prongs under either the ABC test or the common law test. Another misconception would be well, but the person who hired me calls me an independent contractor, so obviously I am one. Now that just means that they could be calling you the wrong thing. That's all that means. Some people say but I've signed a contract and actually it was called entitled independent contractors agreement, so that automatically makes me an independent contractor. Unfortunately, that's not true either. That just means you signed a contract without actually looking into what your state laws and what the IRS requirements are. So we have to really look into these things to ensure that we are not misclassifying people and we're being very, very careful.
Speaker 2:I agree. Now, do you think this proposed ruling could heavily impact the wedding industry?
Speaker 1:I think it can. I mean, I look at what wedding planners are doing. So if we have to have absence of control, that's under the state rules, and then, if we look under IRS, there's that behavioral, which means we have the right to control. If we think we have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does their job, that can get misconstrued in a lot of ways. So how do we see timelines? How does the IRS see timelines? If I am telling my let's just call them worker for right now, because we have no idea how we're going to be classifying them. If I tell my worker I need you to use this very specific software to do this timeline and I want you to fill in this timeline according to what I think is the best way for this wedding to go, and that's what you're telling your worker, you're now exhibiting control over that worker. You're telling them how it's to be done. It's okay, though, under the IRS common law, to simply say what you want the outcome to be. You know what your outcome is I want this to be a successful, well-planned wedding. If that is the only control you are okay with having, then you might be able to classify that person as an independent contractor under that one prompt. But I can tell you how most wedding planners are a little bit on the more controlling side. We want to make sure that we are analyzing how much control we're actually putting on someone, because a lot of times we're saying, well, no, I want you to send out an email during this time period. Then I want you to ask them this and this is how we typically schedule our meetings, and this is all under the umbrella of this company.
Speaker 1:If you're telling your worker that that's how you want it done, that's an employee, that's not an independent contractor. So it's a very interesting way of kind of going about things. And if you're having your worker utilize your own software, like Timeline, genius, rock Paper, coin Mary, even Ioplanner, dipsado, honeybook If you are telling your worker that you want them to log in utilizing your system, I'm sorry, but that falls under employee rather than independent contractor. Also, how do you pay this person? You really can't pay an independent contractor an hourly wage. Why? It confuses the issue. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, the IRS is going to say that's a duck. I'm sorry, that's very duck-like, and so what we have to do is make sure that we are avoiding looking like a duck at all if we're trying to pass ourselves off as a goose, and so it's very, very important that we are aware of how we're running our business. And so if you're paying someone hourly, that's an employee.
Speaker 1:You very rarely would ever pay an independent contractor an hourly wage. You have a job for them and you're willing to pay them a set fee for that job. Maybe it's a percentage of something or what have you, but that's what you're looking at. So look at how you're willing to pay people, even on just assistance for a day of you have to think about how you're willing to pay them. If you say I'll pay you $20 an hour, okay, well, that sounds like an employee to me. And especially, think about our day of assistance. We're telling them how to set up, what to set up, why to set up, when to set up. We're controlling the whole thing, that's it for me.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 1:So we have to be very careful. Most of this we can't really get around. And then you have to ask yourself if you're reimbursing them. Am I reimbursing them for gas to get to and from this wedding, or reimbursing them for an air travel expense, or am I reimbursing them to stay in that hotel? If you're reimbursing them, then that's. I'm sorry, that's an employee that's on an independent contractor. So these are some of the things that I think it's going to actually impact the wedding industry in a big way.
Speaker 1:Think about this, aisha. What about photographers? A lot of photographers cannot get around that prong that talks about the customarily engaged side of things or the type of relationship I kind of gave that example of, or even the business of the worker. You can't get around that one at all, because I give the example of restaurant versus painter. Well, a photographer is not going to hire a DJ to pick up a you know, a camera. Yeah, I need you to get some shots here. You have to hire another photographer. So how do we classify that photographer? So it's going to be very interesting how to how we proceed.
Speaker 1:But there are some loopholes, there are some ways around it and some states have exceptions. I know California. They made a huge list of a lot of exceptions to their ABC rule and law. There's a lot going on. There's so much in depth. You and I could probably talk on this subject for five days straight and still not even touch all of it. Here's the main takeaway it is going to affect our industry. It already has started to affect our industry and if you are a business owner and you want to grow your team, you need to make sure that you are looking at not just the IRS standard, because you have to meet the IRS standard, but you also need to be looking at your state laws for the Department of Labor, because they have their very own. Some of them go with what the IRS does, which is common law, but a lot of states, more than you can imagine, actually go by the ABC standard, which changes things up completely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:What I'm hearing you say, lori, is our wedding pros need to do their homework because we are not fit for jail time.
Speaker 1:No, no. My best friend Absolutely my best friend always tells me she's like girl you do not look good in orange. You need to be careful, right? No?
Speaker 2:that is not our color. Thank you so much, lori, for joining me and sharing your insight on this topic today. You're welcome. Now onto something borrowed.
Speaker 2:In this segment we feature information from an alternate source that I feel you would be interested in. For instance, Metro, a British newspaper, put on an article stating that a bride to be has decided to have an adult only wedding, and her family is not too happy about it. The bride posted on Reddit some unfortunate news that she's experienced, as she just couldn't handle seeing children at her wedding, even if they were related to her. Prior to her posts, her brother, who is also a single dad and a groomsman in the wedding, sent her a text message saying that his two daughters would make great flower girls and that he was going to purchase their dresses. He just needed to know what color to purchase.
Speaker 2:The bride then shared her decision, which got back to her parents. This caused complete turmoil between the bride, affecting her relationship with her brother and parents. Now her parents stated they will not be in attendance at the wedding until she agrees to allow her nieces to attend as well. Here to discuss this with me a bit further is Chrissy Thomas, vice president of the certified wedding planner society. Thanks for joining me, chrissy.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having me. This topic is oh, it's a hard help. I'm glad we're discussing it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Let's get right into it. I'm noticing that some couples are only allowing the children at their wedding or in their wedding to attend their wedding. Rarely have I heard of cases such as this one.
Speaker 3:What's your take on this?
Speaker 2:Are you seeing more couples doing away with having children on their guest list?
Speaker 3:Yes, I actually am. What I'm realizing is that couples are seeing that, while children are cute, they can be a distraction and, honestly, sometimes an added stress on their wedding day. And here's the thing I am a mother with two young boys seven and three so I understand the importance of family and wanting your children to be included in those certain moments of your life, such as someone's wedding day. But I also understand that children can sometimes misbehave or be disruptive, and typically this isn't intentional. They are children after all. This can be crying during the ceremony, going straight to the wedding cake with their tiny little dirty fingers, you know. And once the reception begins, it can sometimes turn into a nightclub with lots of drinking and some not so kid friendly dance moves. These are the things that tend to take place at the wedding receptions, and couples know this and they want to avoid this happening. So, yes, I'm seeing a number of couples opting to host a child free event and making their wedding an adult only affair.
Speaker 2:Now some parents put the bill for their children's wedding day and they feel privileged to add to the guest list. What's your take on this? Do you think it's fair?
Speaker 3:This is so hard because I know there's this mentality of it being you know your day and all about you and who you're getting married to. But when someone else is footing the bill, they do have a voice in the decision making and as planners we sometimes get caught right in the middle of those disputes between the person paying and the engaged couple. So sometimes our planner role quickly turns into that of being a mediator, and I try to encourage my clients and the person paying the bill to have an open and honest communication with each other, but to also be respectful of their individual views of what the wedding day is going to look like and, most importantly, really to try to compromise. As a planner, I try to present solutions that will take into account both of their preferences because, at the end of the day, the person paying, I think, does in fact have a role and a key into the decision making of the wedding day.
Speaker 2:I agree this particular couple is choosing to have a child free celebration and they mentioned that they didn't want children to be around the partying and drinking at the reception. And we can. We can definitely relate to that. But in hearing about this story, do you think this bride took the best approach in letting the guests and her family know her decision of not having children at the wedding?
Speaker 3:I think this could have been approached differently. You know, for this particular case and this story that you mentioned, even just a direct conversation between the brother and the sister who was the bride in this, instead of just a no hard feelings text I don't want your kids at my wedding day I think just a direct conversation would have allowed this family to not fall apart, because that's essentially what's happening with their decision to not attend this wedding. A direct conversation of why they're decided not to have children at their wedding and just having some type of mutual understanding would have been better, I think, than a text. But as a wedding planner, one way that you can let your couples know that, hey, you can still have this child free wedding day but still allow your guests to actually bring your children to the wedding is by offering on site babies and services. If your couples maybe have family members who are children that they want to include in the wedding ceremony but not be part of the wedding reception similar to what the you know the bride that you mentioned here in the story ensure that they have someone to come pick them up after the ceremony or maybe post ceremony photos. They can also set age restrictions so, for example, they may be allowed, or be open to allowing, teenagers, but not young children. This can accommodate older children who you know, let's be honest may be a bit more behaved than younger children.
Speaker 3:You know, as wedding planners, we must be sure that we are educating our clients and also being their advocate.
Speaker 3:If they decide to have a child free wedding, we need to have an open discussion with them about their preferences, listen to their concerns and also provide alternative options.
Speaker 3:Like I mentioned before, we need to prepare them in knowing that they're probably going to get a lot of questions and possibly some pushback from their wedding guests. So maybe create templates with some polite responses that they can use to address these guests. We also need to remind them to be sensitive to their wedding guests needs. They need to communicate their child fee wedding decision as early as possible. This can be listed on the wedding website or the details card of their wedding invitation and for me, this is the topic where there should be no beating around the bush with this. It needs to be clear, it needs to be direct, so make sure the wording is polite but clear on the preference for an adult only event. At the end of the day. It's our clients wedding day and our role as their wedding planner is to help navigate their decision and execute their wedding day vision with grace, but also with respect for the wedding guest attending the wedding.
Speaker 2:I totally agree with you, chrissy. Thank you so much for weighing in on such an interesting topic. You're so welcome. All right, next up is our old and new segment. This is where I'll be discussing an old trend and what's replacing it Today.
Speaker 2:I want to tackle no pun intended, the famous wedding tradition of doing a bouquet or garter toss. I'm finding more and more couples are tossing those traditions to the side. Let's be honest when you attend a wedding and you get to the portion where the MC or the DJ calls all of the single ladies and gentlemen to the dance floor for either the wedding bouquet toss or the garter toss, there's usually that one guest that's more eager to catch the bouquet than anyone else and the groomsmen? Well, they aren't really racing to the floor. Let's face it. Catching the floral bouquet does not guarantee that you'll be the next person to get married, and catching the garter doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be the next one to propose. But we've seen it many times where ladies are gathering around just ready to tackle one another down and dismantle a perfectly beautiful bouquet, more than likely taking home fragments of a floral arrangement or maybe even a few scars. On the other hand, groomsmen, who often have to be called multiple times, make their way casually to the dance floor only to stand as far back as possible, making sure that garter lands everywhere but at their feet, and when it does, there's always the awkward pause as to who will pick it up first.
Speaker 2:So instead of continuing to see wedding guests participate in these old age traditions, let's offer our couples a few more ideas to consider For the bouquet toss. The first is simply handing the floral bouquet to a very special person in your couple's life. This way, the bouquet is still intact and there's no personal injury to worry about. There's the anniversary dance, which highlights all of the married couples in the room. The MC or DJ can play the couple's favorite song, invite the beautiful married couples to the dance floor and call out the anniversary year, starting from the newly married couple to those lucky couples that have celebrated their diamond anniversary. The last couple standing takes home the floral bouquet. Have your single guests do a dance off. Your couple can simply invite them to the dance floor and let them engage in a friendly, competitive dance battle. This way we just might avoid the bodily harm tactics. Involve all of your wedding guests and let the crowd decide who gets to take home the bouquet. Finally, give a flower from the bouquet to each single guest. This way, no single person is left out, but they each have a chance to receive a piece of the sought-after bouquet.
Speaker 2:When it comes to the garter toss, not all couples want to be on display in the middle of the reception for all eyes to see how the garter will be removed. So let's avoid any embarrassment from the couple or the guests and toss other items, such as the groom's tie, or add a sports element to it and gently and I mean gently toss an autographed basketball, baseball or football. Let's engage our couples to really think about other items that their guests will enjoy and really go after during this moment in their wedding reception. Or simply toss the boutonniers. This way, multiple guests can take home a special element from the wedding day.
Speaker 2:Either way, there are so many ideas that we can discuss with our couples to get them thinking about the endless possibilities and making the old traditional wedding bouquet and garter toss a new and improved tradition of special, safe and fun moments to remember. That wraps up our September 2023 wedding industry news. Thank you so much for listening. We look forward to having you join us next month here on the Wedding Planner Podcast. This has been Nick Ониay from U247 spacing in and abroad.