Payroll

Taxes and W-2 reporting after death?

10/01/2011

Question: We owe wages to a former employee who died this year. To whom do we make the check payable? What about filing a W-2?

IRS grants generous treatment to business use of cell phones

10/01/2011

Employers that have a noncompensatory business purpose for providing cell phones or related equipment—that includes smartphones and personal digital assistants—to employees may treat their business use as a tax-free working condition fringe benefit and their personal use as a tax-free de minimis fringe benefit.

Feds offer partial amnesty for contractor misclassification

09/27/2011

If you’ve been worried that some of your workers may be incorrectly classified as independent contractors, but leery about opening a legal can of worms to fix potential problems, Uncle Sam is offering to cut you a break. Learn about a new program designed to help you get your records in order—and avoid penalties.

Year-end payroll planning: 10 steps to ease the crunch

09/19/2011

Year-end can be a hectic time for HR and payroll professionals. Accomplish these year-end tasks now, and the last few months of 2011 will run much more smoothly.

How can we recoup stolen money?

09/16/2011

Q. We just fired an employee after discovering that he stole $5,000 from the company. Do we have to pay the employee his final paycheck or can we apply that paycheck toward the $5,000 he owes us?

Employees’ SSNs off limits in FLSA litigation

09/13/2011

The time to confirm employees’ Social Security numbers is when they’re hired, not when you’re slapped with a lawsuit for unpaid overtime and minimum wage violations. A federal trial court has ruled that an employer was out of bounds in requesting this information.

2012 FICA wage base, employee tax rate

09/02/2011

The Social Security Administration has announced that the taxable wage base for the Social Security portion of FICA will increase to $110,100 in 2012. That’s a 3.1% hike over the 2011 wage base of $106,800. The tax rate for the employee portion of payroll taxes stands at 4.2% … at least through Feb. 29.

Pizza Hut employees clock in using fingerprint biometrics

08/25/2011

At 118 Pizza Hut restaurants in South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, employees give their fingerprints instead of ID numbers to clock in and out for the day. The restaurants are using DigitalPersona fingerprint readers for transactions like overrides, voids and discount authorizations.

How far must we go to deliver a final paycheck to a former employee?

08/23/2011

Q. Over the past six months, we have made several attempts to mail a former employee her last paycheck by certified mail. We believe we have the correct address because we mailed her other items by regular mail during this period and none has been returned. What legal obligations do we have, if any, to get this check to her?

It’s not your money! Never demand employees hand over their tax refunds

08/18/2011

Employees are entitled to their wages—and they can’t be forced (or persuaded) to turn over tax refunds to an employer.