The IRS introduced a new W-4 form effective January 1, 2020 that eliminated withholding allowances. The form was redesigned to allow taxpayers to make their own calculations, especially when taking into account multiple sources of income. Employees who have furnished Form W-4 in any year before 2020 are not required to furnish a new form merely because of the redesign. However, with many employees surprised with either large tax bills or large refunds last year,…
Anyone who works at a job for a living is likely familiar with the W-2 that arrives in the mail and that must accompany their tax returns. We thought it would be useful to provide a quick review of this essential IRS form – its purpose and employer responsibilities for distributing it. The purpose of the W-2 The W-2 tax form is also known as a Wage and Tax Statement. It shows the amount of…
If you are hiring – or have hired – summer interns, are you up to date on how you need to compensate them, if at all? Traditionally, most interns worked over the summer for the experience and to build their resumes. However, unpaid internships have come under more scrutiny in recent years, not only regarding wages but also for potential benefit eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. Historical guidance, as reflected in the Department of…
One of the most common questions for employers determining compensable time is how to handle on-call situations. If an employee is on-call, is he or she eligible to be paid for the on-call time? The answer lies in the restrictions the employer places upon the worker during the on-call period. To make this determination, there are two key questions that employers should consider. 1. Does the employer control the location where employees must wait? Per…
As the year draws to a close, company personnel charged with record-keeping should collect their corporate health insurance information in preparation for W-2 and other tax form reporting. For S-Corporations (S-Corps), this information should be segregated by payments made to employees, and their spouses and dependents (which are not wages and are therefore not subject to withholding), and payments made on behalf of officers, owners or employees who own more than two percent of the…
In the past, we have written about a variety of requirements and forms, from OSHA form to payroll and other accounting documentation. Today, we’ll cover some general guidance related to payroll recordkeeping. This task isn’t easy—although the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are straightforward, other state and federal laws can be complicated and confusing. Additionally, most of them change from time to time. As with so many workplace laws, one principle overrides…
The end of any year is always challenging, between juggling personnel holiday vacation schedules, preparing year-end paperwork, and making adjustments for the upcoming year. From Affordable Care Act compliance and reporting to adjusting compensation strategies, there is no shortage of things to do. In case you are overloaded or running behind this year, here’s a handy list of items to review and determine if you have outstanding work for any of them. To simplify things,…
It’s always amazed us at MarathonHR how many restaurants—even fairly large ones—don’t have a Human Resources (HR) department, or even an HR professional on staff who handles payroll, workers’ comp claims, and other issues that restaurants face. They also may not outsource any of their HR functions to another firm. In the most bare-bones situations, the owner does it all. We have worked with a lot of restaurants and have seen, firsthand, that not having…
“Punching the clock” has long been a euphemism for “going to work,” since it comes from the practice of personnel “punching in” by sliding timecards into a mechanical device. Salaried employees may not need to “punch in and out,” but for hourly employees, it’s the only way to measure their time and ensure they are paid accordingly. However, older mechanical time clocks aren’t always accurate and are susceptible to “buddy punching.” Additionally, processing their time…
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has taken effect and you and your employees may have noticed a change in take-home pay. This happened because the marginal tax rate dropped for the average individual, but that doesn’t mean they can keep the extra money. If most of your employees received an increase in their pay, it might be prudent to caution them not to celebrate, just yet. An increase in take-home pay will not necessarily…
Buffalo's Cafe Ends Human Resources Headaches;