Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff


State offers quick help to jobless bus workers

Union members laid off on Oahu when Gray Line Hawaii shut down its tour bus business Monday can get their unemployment compensation claims processed faster if they go to a special registering and job assistance session tomorrow, the state Labor Department said.

Nonunion workers who were laid off should go to their local unemployment offices.

Lorraine Akiba, state labor director, said only the union members could be contacted in time for the department's rapid response program. The meeting is at 9 a.m. tomorrow in room 111 at 830 Punchbowl St., the department's headquarters. Former Gray Line employee should bring a signed identification card, social security number and a recent pay stub.

Some 250 workers lost their jobs when Gray Line closed. Many are Teamsters Union members on Oahu or ILWU members on neighbor islands.

IRS extends hours of tax assistance lines

The Internal Revenue Service has extended the hours of its tax help telephone lines for Hawaii taxpayers.

The lines at 1-800-829-1040 are open from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Hawaii time, the IRS said. However, the agency cautions that callers after 4 p.m. must have a touch-tone phone to access the automated menu.

The agency says callers between 4 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. have a better chance of getting through the later they call.

The IRS also a 24-hour information line, 1-800-829-4477, with recorded information on 150 tax topics. That line, which is open seven days a week, can also be used to check the status of refunds.



For more details on these and other local, national and international business stories, please see the Hawaii Inc. section in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.




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