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Payroll

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.

Pay Statements: 50 State Laws

08/11/2011

Most states have laws that require employers to provide workers with regular statements about their compensation. To help you prevent pay-stub violations, this downloadable PDF chart cites the pay-statement laws for all states that have such laws. Plus, it explains whether pay stubs can be provided to employees electronically …

Do child support withholding orders expire?

08/10/2011
Question: A rehired employee will soon be receiving his first paycheck. He had a child support withholding order when he terminated. Should I withhold for that order or wait for a new order?

SSNs or ITINs on W-2s?

08/10/2011
Question: What should employers do if the only ID number they have for an employee is an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), and not a Social Security Number (SSN)?