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Payroll

Multistate payrolls still causing payroll confusion

06/20/2024
The pandemic turbocharged multistate payroll administration. The end of the pandemic, however, hasn’t made things easier. Lots of employers now have remote employees they want to retain, and also allow in-office employees to work hybrid schedules. A little finesse can cut down on some interstate payroll headaches.

Check paid-leave policies before employees take military leave

06/20/2024
Employees in the National Guard or Reserves usually serve their military stint in the summer. An urgent question is whether you must provide short-term paid leave to these employees. The answer may be yes, according to a federal appeals court that ruled the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act’s rights and benefits clause may compel you to extend short-term paid leave to military employees if short-term paid leave is available to other employees.

The rise of third places and how payroll must tax them

06/20/2024
Private clubs used to be for the rich, and many still are. But there’s a new type of private club—those charging as little as $2,500 annually—and many employees are joining. Employees often conduct business in their clubs, which means you must know the payroll rules.

July 2024: Employer’s business tax calendar

05/31/2024
Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

Summer Work Wednesdays: Who gets paid this summer and who doesn’t

05/29/2024
People don’t work for free. Most of your summer hires will go on the payroll, and taxes will be withheld from their pay, like everyone else. The one exception is interns.

Employees reclassified? Time to start training managers

05/20/2024
You say you have already responded to the Department of Labor’s new overtime salary threshold by reclassifying some white-collar employees as overtime-eligible nonexempts? Congratulations! Now comes the hard part—training managers in the finer points of the Fair Labor Standards Act before the new rules take effect on July 1.

Food for thought: What can health FSAs reimburse for?

05/15/2024
Some aggressive marketers say employees’ food bills can be reimbursed tax-free through their health flexible spending accounts. The IRS says no.

In the Payroll Mailbag: June ’24

05/15/2024
Are old laptops given to employees for their personal use taxable? … Must we tax employees who bring spouses to a company event?

Too hot to handle: Teen labor & summer jobs

05/15/2024
Wage-and-hour enforcement is a delicate balance between federal and state law. Federal law always overrides state law when it provides more protection to employees, like teens working longer hours than the Fair Labor Standards Act allows, or in jobs prohibited by the FLSA’s hot-goods provision. It’s wise to keep this interplay in mind if you’ll be hiring teens this summer.

I now pronounce you married filing jointly

05/15/2024
June weddings may bring unintended problems with the Social Security Administration. Newlyweds who change their names or couples who hyphenate their names must get new Social Security cards with their new names.