Payroll

Stormy weather: How to pay when Old Man Winter causes absences

12/02/2013

When harsh winter weather bumps up against the FLSA, the result can be a blizzard of pay problems for you. Employees often come in late, leave early or miss work altogether. How should you count their hours—and their pay? Here’s a flowchart that breaks down your options.

December 2013: Employer’s business tax calendar

11/29/2013

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.

How should we handle time tracking for nonexempt telecommuters?

11/27/2013

Q. We try to be a flexible workplace and sometimes get requests from employees to work from home for a day or two during school breaks and so on. I don’t have a problem with this for exempt employees, but what about hourly ones? How do we track that time?

Don’t let year-end duties ruin your Thanksgiving dinner

11/25/2013

Take a few minutes now to run down this Payroll checklist and your Thanksgiving feast will be unperturbed.

Payroll 2014: You’ll withhold something, but what, exactly, we don’t know

11/22/2013

The shutdown of the federal government earlier this autumn meant that the IRS was very late in releasing the 2014 personal exemption amount, which doubles as the annual withholding allowance amount. Also late, but now in the bag: the 2014 amounts for qualified transportation fringes.

Ex-worker didn’t return property: Can we tap his PTO?

11/22/2013

Q. After an employee quit, he failed to return certain company property (badge, access card, etc.). Can we legally withhold his PTO balance because of this?

Holiday bonuses: Pass the bucks

11/18/2013

Good, bad or sluggish economy, there are valid reasons—mostly sustaining employee morale—to pay holiday bonuses. If your company will be doing so, now’s the time for Payroll to plan for them.

Regs continue to outline affordability under the ACA

11/18/2013

Under the Affordable Care Act, employees who don’t have access to affordable group health insurance that provides minimum value may obtain individual insurance through the exchanges. As part of their core responsibilities, exchanges determine whether employees qualify for advance premium tax credits and other cost-sharing reductions. Two sets of regulations relate to the concept of affordable health insurance.

Don’t let court take employee’s word on hours; keep your own time records for all staff

11/15/2013

Here’s a case that should send chills down your spine if you don’t keep meticulous records of every hour worked. A court has allowed an employee’s lawsuit to proceed based on little more than her vague allegation that she wasn’t paid overtime for hours in excess of 40 per week.

Final New York wage deduction regulations now in effect

11/14/2013

The New York State Department of Labor has published final regulations—effective Oct. 9, 2013—governing employee wage deductions under Section 193 of the Labor Law.