Payroll

Can an “additional amount” on the W-4 be a percentage?

05/03/2013

Question: We recently acquired a new company. Our payroll system kicked out an acquired employee’s W-4 form. He claims single status-99 with an additional 20% on his form. This W-4 seems contrary to wording on the W-4 itself. What do we tell him?

Know the regs that help avoid ACA free-rider penalties

05/02/2013

The bottom line for you to avoid free-rider penalties under the Affordable Care Act is not to have employees obtain health insurance on the individual exchange and qualify for premium tax credits or other cost sharing reductions.

Can the company ‘profit’ from the share of health premiums charged to employees?

05/01/2013

Q. After several large health insurance claims last year, our president decided to increase the premiums deducted from employees’ paychecks. However, the rate he has directed to be deducted is higher than the rate at which we are billed for the spouse and dependent coverage. Is it legal to make money off of the “premiums” we ask employees to pay?

AFL-CIO opposes banning deductions for PAC funding

05/01/2013

The Texas chapter of the AFL-CIO is opposing a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives that would criminalize payroll deductions for contributions to political action committees.

Sequester hits tax-exempts’ health tax credit

04/25/2013

The automatic federal budget cuts that took effect on March 1, known as the sequester, reduce the refundable portion of 501(c) tax-exempt organizations’ health care tax credit by 8.7%, according to the IRS.

May 2013: Employer’s business tax calendar

04/24/2013

NOTE: Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays as observed in the District of Columbia are taken into account to determine due dates. Under the federal deposit rules, you’re allowed a deposit shortfall of the greater of $100 or 2% of your tax liability. Semiweekly and monthly deposits are for the deposits of FICA and withheld income taxes due on wages paid during the time periods indicated.

$1 million: The cost of not having enough time clocks

04/24/2013

Do your employees have to wait in line to punch their time clock? Heads up: Long lines of workers punching in and out has cost a California employer more than $1 million.

Workers ignoring our time clock rules: Can we dock their pay?

04/23/2013

Q. Many of our 60 employees fail to correctly clock in or out and it’s creating major payroll issues. I’ve met with employees who are chronic time-clock abusers and placed warnings in their files. Can we dock an employee for failing to clock in or out?

Check no longer in the mail: The case for direct deposit, paycards

04/22/2013

Most employees ditched paper checks in favor of direct deposit decades ago. So your job is done, right? Wrong. Some employees remain wary of direct deposit. How can you eliminate those pesky paper checks once and for all?

Beware payroll ‘phishing’ schemes

04/19/2013

Federal law enforcement authorities urge employers that outsource payroll operations to be on the alert for phony emails from third-party providers.