HANDBOOK RED CENT TEAM MEMBER
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RED CENT
TEAM MEMBER
HANDBOOK
1
Updated 09/15/20Job Responsibilities
As a team member of Red Cent Inc. d/b/a Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, your main
responsibility can vary from servicing and greeting clients, the preparation and
processing of tax returns, implementing our technology, safeguarding funds, transferring
items between offices, answering phone calls, cleaning, or filing. While these may be
primary responsibilities, our philosophy of teamwork creates the opportunity to perform
many other job functions for which you may be held accountable.
One of the keys to all of your responsibilities is our dedication to outstanding customer
service. RC differentiates itself from the competition not only because of Jackson
Hewitt’s proprietary software which captures the maximum deductions for our clients, but
also because RC treats each client as they themselves would expect to be treated when
filing their tax return.
Team Member Conduct
As a RC team member, your clients will give you proprietary information. All information
is considered confidential and should not be discussed with anyone other than an Office
Manager as needed to resolve tax preparation questions. Under no circumstances shall
client files or client lists be removed from the office.
Each team member has a responsibility to represent Jackson Hewitt Tax Service in the
most positive manner possible. You are an ambassador for the Company, wherever you
go. In dealing with client complaints, it is important that you listen, acknowledge the
problem, and apologize for any errors on behalf of the company. Never make
disparaging remarks about any client, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service or any team
member of RC. Member conduct that, in the opinion of RC interferes with or adversely
affects our business is sufficient grounds for disciplinary action and forfeiture of any
potential bonus. Depending on the conduct, disciplinary action may include: verbal
warning, written warning, suspension, or termination and forfeiture of any potential
bonus.
We will consider several factors when deciding on a course of action, including the
seriousness of the conduct, previous record, your ability to correct the conduct, and
actions taken previously for similar conduct. Actions that may result in immediate
dismissal and forfeiture of any potential bonus include but are not limited to:
• Theft of Company property including but not limited to any revenue collected,
client files, or client lists.
• Falsifying timecards or clocking another team member’s hours in or out of
ProFiler.
• Using another team member’s id and/or password
• Arguing with clients or team members
• Unprofessional interaction with clients
• Excessive tardiness or absenteeism
• Absenteeism without notice
• Using alcohol or drugs at work or coming to work under the influence
• Violating any Company rules and policies which may change from time to
time at the discretion of the Company
• Tax preparation or transmission other than via the Jackson Hewitt system
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Updated 09/15/20• Unlawful discrimination, harassment, or any other unlawful behavior
• Dress code violation
• Unauthorized use of the telephone or any Company equipment
• Not exercising Due Diligence per IRS, JH, and RC
• Not keeping supporting documents and/or preparer notes when necessary
• Any fraudulent tax behavior or the appearance of it according to the sole
discretion of the Company
You may terminate your team member status at any time, and the Company reserves
the same right, subject to the terms of any contract in force, including forfeiture of any
potential bonus.
Confidentiality
As a team member of RC, you must keep all information relating to Jackson Hewitt and
its proprietary system confidential. This includes, but is not limited to, client lists, Profiler,
its File Transfer System, and processing system. Once you are finished with this
information, if it is not to be filed away securely, it must be destroyed.
Dress Code
All team members must dress professionally. This means ties, dress shirts and dress
pants for men. For women proper dress means dresses, skirts or dress pants and dress
shirts for women. Hats are prohibited from being worn in the office. All other dress wear
is strictly prohibited including, but not limited to any color or style of denim, collarless
shirts of any type (except women’s dress shirts), sneakers, tennis shoes, and work
boots. Exceptions will be made for health or religious reasons. Also, proper hygiene is a
requirement (i.e., properly bathed, clean breath and clothing).
Disciplinary action will be as follows:
• First violation - written warning from the Office Manager; team member sent
home to change and expected to return immediately to work the assigned shift.
• Second violation – written warning from the Office Manager; you will be sent
home until you meet with the General Manager, which may result in suspension
or termination and forfeiture of any potential bonus.
All future violations will result in termination and forfeiture of any potential bonus.
Cell Phones, Pagers, Personal Calls and Visits
Personal cell phones and pagers are to be either turned off, in silent mode or in vibrate
mode. If you are paged or called for personal reasons you cannot answer the phone or
page on Company time. The telephones provided in the office are for business purposes
only. Personal calls during working hours are prohibited. Team members may not have
personal visitors stop by the office during their scheduled workday. Personal visits must
be restricted to break times.
Internet Access
Internet access is monitored. Access is permitted only for the transfer of RC client files
and any security level access your manager has permitted on JHnet and the JH
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Updated 09/15/20Learning Center. The addition of any software programs other than the Jackson Hewitt
proprietary system is strictly prohibited. Any other use without manager authority will
result in disciplinary action. Such disciplinary action includes, but is not limited to, a
written warning and/or immediate termination.
It is your responsibility to check JHnet for JHmail, view your timecard, verify your
schedule and check for IRS updates. In some cases, access will be granted by the
manager to view reports and trainings.
Smoking
Smoking is strictly prohibited inside or in front of any RC or RCE storefront or retail
location.
Accidents
In the event of an accident in the office in which you or a client sustains any type of
injury, you are required to notify a member of management within 1 hour of the
occurrence.
Equipment or Building Maintenance Problems
In the event that you have an equipment failure or there are issues with electric, heating,
water leakage or any other building maintenance, you are required to notify a member of
the management team immediately or no more than one (1) hour.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is illegal and violates RC policy. Unwelcome sexual comments and
conduct will not be tolerated. This includes co-workers, clients, and anyone else that
may relate to the business. Such conduct must be brought to the attention of a manager
immediately.
Sexual harassment is harassment, whether between individuals of the same or different
sex, which includes unwelcome behavior or conduct of a sexual nature (including
unwelcome sexual activity) that is made, either explicitly or implicitly, a condition of an
individual’s education, employment, or participation in employee-sponsored programs or
activities or the submission to or rejection of such behavior or conduct is a factor in
decisions affecting that individual’s education, employment, or participation in employee
-sponsored programs or activities. Sexual harassment is also unwelcome behavior or
conduct of a sexual nature (including unwelcome sexual advances or activity), which is
sufficiently severe or pervasive as to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
environment for any pursuits, employment, or participation in employee -sponsored
programs or activities.
Personal Information
It is a team member’s responsibility to update personal information, such as: change in
address, withholding, or direct deposit information. All changes are to be given to the
Employment Specialist/HR in writing on the appropriate form(s) at least ten (10)
days before the next pay date so that any changes can be made.
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Updated 09/15/20Personal Property
The office you are working in will have a great many people entering and exiting during
the normal business day. It is impossible to account for all the actions of our clients or
other team members, and therefore it is highly recommended that you do not bring
personal items, which may be easily lost, into the office.
RC will not be responsible for lost, damaged or stolen personal property.
Retail Locations
You must adhere to all the policies of the locations in which you are preparing tax
returns (i.e. lunchroom, parking, entering and leaving the store, etc). Remember we are
guests in their locations and must respect our contractual obligations. We must follow all
the rules of the store and operate our offices during the hours we have committed to
them.
Shopping on company time is strictly prohibited.
Keys
If you receive keys to any office as part of your responsibilities, you must sign for them in
our key log when you receive them and when you return them. If you lose any keys or do
not turn them in when required to, we may deduct the cost of changing the locks from
your compensation.
State Laws
Many states have specific laws regarding handling of claims, hiring and firing
procedures, etc. Where a conflict exists, the written laws of the state in which you are
working in shall take precedence over this manual.
Schedules and Payroll
Your Office Manager is responsible for establishing a weekly schedule based on the
needs of the business and the available hours you identified on your availability form.
Team members with the greatest availability and flexibility, as well as those best
exemplifying excellence in client service and tax knowledge will be given first priority for
available hours.
Schedules cover a weekly period of Sunday through Saturday and will be posted in your
office and on JHnet by Thursday of the week preceding the effective date of the
schedule. Each team member is responsible for checking their own schedule, and can
be viewed both online and in the office. If you are unable to report to work as scheduled,
you must notify your manager at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the start of the shift
you will miss. This is so alternative coverage of that shift can be arranged. During, our
peak season, your manager may ask you to call in before your shift to see if there is
work available or you may be asked to be available “on call”. If you are preparing a tax
return at the end of your shift, you must complete the return prior to ending your shift.
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Updated 09/15/20The office is to be staffed during all open hours. In the event your relief is late you must
wait for them and call your office manager for guidance.
All requests for time off should be requested at least two (2) weeks prior to the dates and
must be approved by management.
You are responsible for your own timecard. You must clock in on the time clock that is
accessible in the Tax Year 2020 menu of Profiler. It is your responsibility to make
sure your timecard information has been transmitted through e-services on JHnet.
If you neglect to clock in or out, you must inform your manager immediately by phone or
email. If a team member neglects to notify their manager in a timely fashion, the
correction will not take effect until the following pay period after notification. Proof of
hours worked may be required.
All team members are paid bi-weekly. You will be given a user id and password enabling
you to access and print your payroll information, copies of your paystub and W-2 from
the My Pay Solutions website. You must retrieve your paystub from your personal MPS
web portal. You may choose to have your pay direct deposited to any account or card
belonging to you, or you may select a Rapid Pay card.
All timecard changes are due on Sunday following the Saturday which is the last day of
the two (2) week pay period. If you do not submit your timecard changes when due,
we cannot ensure your payment until the next pay period.
Overtime
Overtime must be scheduled or authorized by the Field Manager.
Pay Dates for the Tax Season:
Week Ending : Pay Date:
December 19, 2020 December 24, 2020
January 2, 2021 January 8, 2021
January 16, 2021 January 22, 2021
January 30, 2021 February 5, 2021
February 13, 2021 February 19, 2021
February 27, 2021 March 5, 2021
March 13, 2021 March 19, 2021
March 27, 2021 April 2, 2021
April 10, 2021 April 16, 2021
April 24, 2021 April 30, 2021
Compensation
RC team members are compensated by salary or hourly wage. Tax preparers and Office
Managers are paid according to the terms of their contract.
As a team member benefit, you are entitled to one(1) free tax return. This free tax
preparation must be performed off the clock and with office manager approval.
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Updated 09/15/20If you are not a tax preparer, you must request one to be approved by your Office
Manager. You will be responsible to pay for any bank fees charged to you. Contact your
field manager on how to apply the employee discount. Please call to make sure a
computer is available to prepare your return.
In addition, tax preparers can earn one (1) free additional tax return, for every 100 paid
tax returns accepted by IRS, you complete. This free tax preparation must be
performed on your own time and with office manager approval. The tax payer is
responsible to pay for any bank fees or additional products charged. You must call your
field manager on how to enter the discount, at the time the return is submitted.
If any portion of this benefit policy is violated, RC reserves the right to collect any
discounted tax preparation fee from your paycheck.
Absence and Tardiness
Your dependability is critically important to the entire team. Your failure to report to work
as scheduled will impact clients and team members alike. If you must be absent due to
illness or family emergency, you must notify your manager by calling the office at least 4
hours prior to your shift (or calling your manager at home the night before or in the
morning, outside of regular office hours). Team members must personally report their
absence. Do not have a family member or friend call for you.
Since the tax season is so compressed, absence in excess of two occasions may result
in dropping you from the schedule permanently. If you are absent more than four days in
a week, a doctor excuse and/or release will be necessary before you will be placed on
the schedule again.
Tardiness is a reflection of poor planning and is inexcusable. Be sure to plan to leave
home earlier if travel conditions warrant it. In the event that you do know you will be late
for work, make sure you advise your Office Manager (or another team member in that
office if you fail to reach the manager) so adjustments can be made for coverage until
your arrival.
Paid Sick Leave
Beginning July 1, 2017, employees are entitled to earn paid sick time and accrue a
minimum of one hour of earned paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, with a
maximum accrual of 24 hours per calendar year. These accrued hours can be carried
over into the next calendar year subject to the maximum 24 hours per calendar year.
Earned paid sick time may be used for the following purposes: (1) medical care or
mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or (2) a public health emergency;
and (3) absence due to domestic violence, sexual violence, abuse, or stalking.
Employees may use earned paid sick time for themselves or for family members.
Employees exempt from overtime under Section 213(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards
Act are assumed to work 40 hours each work week, unless their normal work week is
less than 40 hours. In that case, the employee accrues paid sick leave based on her or
his normal work week.
7
Updated 09/15/20The following rules apply to using accrued sick leave:
• Employees hired after July 1, 2017 must wait a 90-day probationary period
before using their accrued paid sick leave.
• An employee may use accrued paid sick time in hourly increments.
• If using paid sick leave, advance notice must be given to ensure to schedule the
leave in a way that does not “unduly disrupt” operations. No paid sick leave
requests will be approved during peak weeks.
• Accrued sick time may be used as it is earned.
• Upon termination from the company, any accrued and unused paid leave shall
be forfeited, regardless of reason of termination.
• The Employment Specialist/HR MUST be emailed, at least four (4) hours before
your scheduled shift you are requesting paid sick leave for.
• You must notify your manager at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the start of
your shift, to ensure alternate coverage can be arranged.
You will receive an email from the Employment Specialist/HR advising if the paid sick
leave was approved or declined.
Covid – 19
Until notified in writing by the Company, the following COVID -19 policies apply. Masks
must be worn whenever you are not alone in the office. For Walmart locations, this
means you must wear a mask when inside the Walmart.
Clients are only allowed in the office while dropping off tax documents and while
reviewing and signing returns. Clients are encouraged to use remote options whenever
possible. Clients are required to wear a mask while in our offices.
Daily cleaning duties are much more important now. Be sure to wash your hands for at
least 20 seconds after touching client documents, shared work surfaces, or anything that
could be contaminated. Additionally, disinfecting working surfaces after every client is
required.
Employees are required to notify a Field Manager immediately, if they or a member of
their household has tested positive for Covid, are experiencing Covid symptoms, or has
an exposure to a known positive. Employees who have tested positive will be allow to
return to work when it has been 10 days from the onset of symptoms (10 days from
positive test if asymptomatic) and they have had no fever without medication for at least
3 days with improvement of other symptoms.
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Updated 09/15/20Greeting Clients and Telephones
All team members are responsible for immediately greeting every person who walks
through our doors. If you are at a desk when a client arrives you are to get up and greet
them at the door. On occasion, team members may be asked to temporarily handle
tasks that are not within their immediate responsibilities. It is very important that these
tasks be handled with the same enthusiasm as you would a direct responsibility. The
client's satisfaction is our ultimate objective and is paramount to our success. We are all
responsible for eliminating client wait time and improving product quality. These are the
conveniences our client looks for from our service. Of course, always end any client
experience by thanking them for providing us the opportunity to help them.
Everyone on the team is responsible for responding to calls by the second ring. If you
are busy with another client, excuse yourself and answer the call. Any client who has an
appointment and does not show up must be called to reschedule. Our marketing efforts
are critical to the growth of our business. Team members will be asked to contribute to
our marketing efforts by calling last year's clients to ask if they'd like to make an
appointment for this year or take advantage of one of our products or discount programs.
You also may be asked to distribute discount coupons and other giveaways to
neighboring retail stores, mall employees, local shopping centers, apartment complexes
and more. Please remember that providing added benefits to our clients is an exciting
opportunity. When you are asked to participate in any such activity, please do so with
the same enthusiasm you exhibit in your other tasks.
Email Addresses
As one of our initiatives for this year it is paramount that you receive client’s email
addresses for two important reasons: it will provide them with the most current status of
their tax return; they will be provided with their own portal to a private space for storage,
sending or receiving information. This will also enable them to retrieve a copy of their
tax return whenever they need one.
State and City Tax Returns
The Profiler program contains the necessary information to permit the filing of state tax
returns for all states with filing requirements (AK, FL, TX, NV, NH, SD, TN, WA, and WY
do not have state income tax).
We recommend that the client's state and city tax returns be prepared at the same time
as the federal. The federal return is the source of information for the majority of the state
and city returns. Tax preparers should always offer to prepare a state and city return for
a client.
Some clients will request that we only complete their state return(s). If this is the case,
be sure to select the option “Prepare a State Return Only” from Profiler. Do not use this
option, “Prepare a New Individual Return,” as the client will be charged for preparation of
the federal return as well as the state.
THANK YOU AND WELCOME TO THE TEAM!
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Updated 09/15/20Team Member Handbook Acknowledgment
Welcome to Red Cent Inc. d/b/a Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, a locally owned
and operated franchise of Jackson Hewitt Inc. We are happy to have you as part
of our team and hope you will be with us for many tax seasons to come. To
assist you we are providing this team member handbook. Please read it carefully
as it will help acquaint you with Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Red Cent Inc.
Please realize that as one of our team members there is other information you
will need to know. Information will be provided to you via written memos, emails,
training videos, and verbally.
This handbook is not a contract. In the future, your status as an “at will” team
member can only be changed through a written contract signed by both you and
an officer of Red Cent Inc. No oral statements promises or contracts regarding
the terms and conditions of your employment are valid.
Receipt and Acknowledgment
I have received and read a copy (paper or digital) of Red Cent Inc. Team Member Handbook. I
have read the above information and I acknowledge that it is a true and correct statement of my
team status. My signature below confirms that I do understand and will follow the policies and
procedures outlined in this manual as a condition of team membership with Red Cent Inc.
_______________________________
Signature
_______________________________
Print Name
_______________
3 Digit Preparer ID
_______________
Date
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