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Payroll

Leave-based donations allowed for Ebola charities

01/15/2015

The Obama administration has classified the Ebola epidemic in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as a public health emergency. As a result, through 2015, and retroactive to 2014, employers with leave-based donation programs may allow employees to donate their unused vacation days, sick days or personal days.

All-states chart: What to do with unclaimed paychecks

01/14/2015
This chart summarizes states’ unclaimed property laws. Most states require you to report on an employee-by-employee basis, if unclaimed wages exceed a certain threshold, usually $50. Unclaimed wages under the threshold may be reported in the aggregate. To get the full story on your state’s law, consult your state treasurer’s website.

Employer owes $2.6 million on employees’ parking benefits

01/12/2015
As if you didn’t have enough on your plate, you now need to worry about state sales tax. One tax court has slammed an employer with $2.6 million in unpaid sales taxes on the value of parking employees paid for with pretax deductions.

Regs allow reimbursement of local lodging expenses

01/08/2015
Under final tax regulations, employees who aren’t traveling away from home overnight, but who stay overnight at a local hotel, may have their substantiated lodging expenses reimbursed as a tax-free working condition fringe benefit, provided you have a bona fide reason to require them to stay overnight at the hotel.

Proposed rules cover changes in measurement periods/methods

01/04/2015
The ACA allows you to use the look-back/stability measurement method to determine whether employees are full-time employees. You set the length of your periods, provided they’re equal and aren’t longer than 12 months. Although it’s clear that you can’t restart the measurement clock when employees transfer, it’s less clear how you apply the periods once a transfer occurs. The IRS has proposed rules that clarify how differing periods apply to transfers.

Fair Labor Standards Act: Overview

01/03/2015

HR Law 101: The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covers the federal minimum wage, rules on overtime pay and child labor regulations. Since the U.S. Department of Labor recently overhauled the overtime rules, it’s critical to make sure you’re properly classifying workers as exempt or nonexempt …

FLSA: Calculating Hours Worked

01/02/2015
HR Law 101: To ensure you’re in compliance with the FLSA, it’s important to understand the definition of “hours of work.” Any hour when an employee’s on duty is considered time worked. The only period usually excluded: when an employee uses the time for personal reasons …

Must we file a new Form W-2 to correct a newlywed’s name?

01/01/2015

Q: An employee worked for us during 2013, left the company last year, got married and changed her name. So her 2013 W-2 form was issued in her maiden name. She now wants us to reissue her a new W-2 in her married name. Do we have to do this?

January 2015: Employer’s business tax calendar

12/31/2014
Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates. This time around, you can also download our full, free Payroll Checklist to guide you through the entire year.

New timetable on the way for W-2s?

12/30/2014
The Government Accountability Office is urging the IRS to move up its W-2 filing deadline for employers to Jan. 31 and to raise the threshold for mandatory electronic filing of W-2s.