News

W2 tax statements for all temporary employees who worked for GoodTemps during the 2010 tax year will be sent by mail to the home address we have on file by January 27th. Please allow 1-3 days for delivery.

Due to the current forecast of heavy snow during Tuesday night and Wednesday daytime, GoodTemps and all Goodwill offices and locations throughout Northern NJ, New York City, Hudson and Long Island will be closed Wednesday, January 12th.

All locations will reopen at their regular time on Thursday, January 13th.

On January 8th 2011, GoodTemps will be moving its New York City office to a great new location! Don’t worry though, we’ll still be conveniently situated in mid-town Manhattan between Lexington and Park Avenues on East 59th Street.

As of January 8th, our new business address will be:
111 East 59th Street - 10th Floor,
New York, NY 10022

Please direct any and all correspondence to that new address as of that date.

Our phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses and web site will all remain unchanged. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at customerservice@goodwillny.org.

Because many businesses, including our office were closed yesterday, the approve deadline for submission of last week’s timesheets have been extended to twelve noon today.
If you have not yet submitted your hours, please do so now so that your supervisor can log in and approve. The gTimesheet website can be accessed from any PC with an internet connection.

After that crippling storm Sunday night, mass transit is slowly beginning to return. While MNR is running on a limited schedule, LIRR is running a holiday schedule on the Babylon, Huntington, Port Washington and Ronkonkoma lines.

NYC transit is steadily recovering service:
5 Dyre Ave service has been restored.
A service has been restored to the Rockaways.
Shuttle service remains suspended.
C service has been restored.
D service has been restored.
F service has been restored.
G service has been restored.
Staten Island Railway is running limited service between St. George and Tottenville every 30 minutes.

Buses in the outer boroughs, because of the state of most streets, are out of the question at the moment.

If you’re one of the people trying to get to work this morning, and need confirmation to show to your employer of an MTA service delay, you can use the MTA’s delay verification tool to confirm the hold up.

Allow extra time, be safe, and mind the puddles of slush!

http://enterprise.mtanyct.info/DelayVerify/

Please be aware that due to the current blizzard, and predicted hazardous travel conditions tomorrow, GoodTemps and all GoodwillNY/NJ offices will be closed on Monday December 27th.

Everybody enjoy the snow and be safe.

Edit: Please also be aware that LIRR and Metro North will run on limited schedules tomorrow. At the moment, NYC Subway service is planned to operated on a regular schedule.

All the staff at GoodTemps would just like to wish a very merry and happy holiday to all of our employees, clients and business associates. Whatever your holiday plans, may they be peaceful and full of good fortune.

We’d also like to give an extra shout out to our employees, who work so hard each day in a myriad of positions at hundreds of organizations all across New York and New Jersey. You make us, and the organizations you work at great, and we can’t thank you enough for your true dedication.

Best wishes from the staff at GoodTemps!

GoodTemps was recently mentioned in a New York Non-Profit Press article about the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s awarding of a new temporary staffing contract to GoodTemps/NYSID. This new agreement is expected to create approximately 150 new jobs in the administrative and service fields.

Read more here

Ten quick year end tax tips to lower your tax burden, from Mint.com.

Mint.com Tax Tips

The most recent Department of Labor BLS report indicates that hiring in the private sector has slightly increased in recent months - a sign that the jobless recovery may be not so jobless anymore.

During October, 151,000 jobs were filled throughout the US, with ADP reporting a 93,000 hiring figure in the private sector for November. The number of new unemployment claims also dropped in November. It’s not all roses however, government agencies have been freezing pay, or giving workers pink slips in recent weeks, with over 11,000 employees released last month.

Read more at CNN.com

A reader asks the Wall Street Journal what to do when faced with an interview after having over-exaggerated her skills on her résumé.

Exaggerating will always come back to bite you - according to ADP, over 45% of reference checks showed some discrepancy between actuality and that claimed by the applicant. Even if you feel you can get away with it in the interview, it can have dramatic repercussions down the line if it is discovered later. Not only is it dishonest and reflects poorly on the applicant’s moral character, there have also been many examples of companies having no qualms in dismissing an employee years later once they discovered inconsistencies in résumé claims.

So what to do if you submitted a slightly outlandish résumé to a potential employer and then land an interview? Update it to be more accurate, and provide it to the interviewer as a fresher, updated version with more clarity. As the article states, "neither dwell on it, over-explain or apologize."

Read more as WSJ.com

Flexible Spending accounts are a superb way for those with frequent dental, medical drug and procedural needs to make significant savings by paying for those electives pre-tax. However, new changes coming in 2011 will make it more difficult for you to spend the money you contribute to the plan - for example, requiring a prescription for simple over the counter meds such as Tylenol.

Read more at SmartMoney.com

December sure did roll in today with cold winds! While the majority of us are wrapped up warm while we go about our business, we should take a moment to think about those in the city who are less fortunate. A warm coat isn’t a luxury in a New York winter, it’s a necessity of life, especially to those who are homeless or who have a home but have to decide between buying a coat or buying food.

The New York Cares Coat Drive is an annual drive where New Yorkers can donate their lightly used coats to those in need. They estimate alone that 90% of homeless people in the New York area need a warm coat every winter, and distribute tens of thousands of coats to adults in need each year.

How you can help
If you have a lightly worn, unneeded coat you’d like to donate, you can find a donation center at the New York Cares website. If you don’t have a coat to spare, you can contribute by donation or by volunteering at a collection center.

In financial hardship? Need a coat?
More importantly, if you are in need of a warm coat this winter, you can go to Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station, or Port Authority Bus Terminal between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. until December 31st to receive a voucher to pick up a free coat from one of the distribution centers.

More information at NY Cares

From all the staff at GoodTemps, we want to wish all of our customers, employees, jobseekers and partners a very peaceful and restful Thanksgiving full of warmth and family cheer. Whether staying at home or travelling to be with family and friends this holiday, we wish you all the best.

Happy Thanksgiving from the GoodTemps team!

Finance blog GetRichSlowly has an interesting article about an interview Forbes magazine did with Mark Cuban. In case you don’t know who Mark Cuban is, he’s the multi billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team.

Forbes asked Mark a question - "If you came across $100,000, what would you do with it?" - The answer was quite surprising coming from a billionaire. To me, anyway.

So what would he do with it?

1. Pay off his credit card debt
2. Pay off his credit card debt
3. Consider paying off other debts
4. Stick the rest in the bank

Pretty much an everyman response, or at least a response from someone grounded in reality and fiscal sensibility. Mark expands further though - he hits the grocery sales:

I try to create as much transactional value as possible from that cash. I look at my annual budgets for everything and anything, and I look to see where I can save the most money on those items. Saving 30% to 50% buying in bulk — replenishable items from toothpaste to soup, or whatever I use a lot of — is the best guaranteed return on investment you can get anywhere. Then whatever I have left I keep in the bank and let it earn nothing. Why? Because then its available for when I get a good opportunity.

The old adage holds true, a penny saved is a penny earned!

From GetRichSlowly

Don't hit the snooze button!

UPS is reporting that they expect to hire up to 50,000 seasonal workers for the holiday season, due to a predicted surge in the amount of deliveries. A portion of those hires are expected to be based in New York City.

Last week saw Amazon announce that they would hire an additional 15,500 seasonal workers at their distribution centers located around the country.

From Reuters

Disclaimer: GoodTemps is not involved in staffing or recruiting efforts for any company mentioned in this article. This data is provided for informational purposes.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the guns fell silent, and World War One ended with more than 16 million dead.
Thus today, November 11th, was decreed to be Veterans Day. A day that celebrates and remembers the brave members of the military throughout the decades who fought and put their lives on the line for our freedom.

If you have some free time this morning and are in the city, stop by Madison Square Park (5th Ave and 26th St) at 11.30am to watch the Veterans Parade. Each year, the heroic elderly attendees from all wings of the military get fewer and fewer, a sad reminder of the inevitable progression of time. Alternatively, stop by Grand Central Terminal at 11am, and listen to the MTA Police Pipe and Drum Band.

Most importantly, remember.

With winter comes sniffles and sneezing. Read this great Lifehacker summary to learn the best ways to combat or prevent yourself from catching a cold. Stay healthy and on your feet this winter, not sniffling and shivering under the blankets.

http://lifehacker.com/5686387/how-to-most-effectively-battle-the-common-cold

Whatever your political leaning may be, if you’re eligible to vote on November 2nd, you should take a stroll down to your local voting station. Every vote counts.

Google has a handy maps application that will show you your nearest voting station to your registered address.