National Funeral Directors Association

NFDA's offices will be closed December 24-25 for the Christmas holiday. The NFDA Executive Board and staff wish you and your family a very happy holiday!

While 2009 has proven challenging for job seekers and employers alike, there are indications that conditions will improve in 2010. A CNNMoney.com report concerning a new Manpower survey states that the hiring rate for the first quarter of 2010 will be 6%, an improvement vs. the -2% rate for the fourth quarter of 2009 (see: http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/08/news/economy/Manpower_first_quarter_hiring/index.htm).

If your firm is planning to hire in early 2010, take advantage of NFDA's Funeral Career Center, http://www.funeralcareercenter.com, the funeral industry's exclusive resource for online employment connections. It's easy for employers to post job openings and search for potential employees using the resume bank. If you want to get a head start on filling roles in 2010, NFDA's Funeral Career Center is offering a 15% discount on a single job posting product. Just enter coupon code “NEWGEAR” during the checkout process to receive the discount. (The discount can only be used once, cannot be combined with any other discount offers and expires February 1, 2010.)

And if you're looking for a job, NFDA's Funeral Career Center is for you, too! Job seekers can search job openings, post their resume anonymously and obtain career advice; best of all, these resources are FREE! Visit http://www.funeralcareercenter.com to find your next career opportunity!

Finally, employers need to screen candidates more thoroughly than ever. According to Bill Ford of SESCO Management Consultants, NFDA's endorsed human resources consultants: “As jobs become more competitive, applicants are willing to do whatever it takes to make their resume stand out to employers. Whether it's exaggerating the time spent working at a firm, or changing a past-job title to look more noteworthy, more and more jobseekers are falsifying the information they provide on their resume to stand out from other applicants. As such, employers must be proactive in hiring practices by conducting thorough reference checks of previous work history and professional references.” NFDA members who would like more information on how to effectively screen job candidates and conduct reference checks may contact NFDA's SESCO HR Hotline at 800-764-4127 for free advice.

The Internal Revenue Service issued the 2010 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Beginning January 1, 2010, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 50 cents per mile for business miles driven
• 16.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

The new rates for business, medical and moving purposes are slightly lower than last year's and reflect generally lower transportation costs compared to a year ago. To learn more, visit the IRS Website (http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=216048,00.html).