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Is This Your Situation: You Want to Reduce Overtime

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Reduce overtime

As you prepare your payroll each period, do you wince when you see all the time-and-a-half money you are paying out because of overtime? It could be that it’s a temporary busy time, but maybe you need to be more proactive in overtime management.

Avoiding unauthorized overtime

Are you taking steps to keep employees from putting in extra hours that you haven’t approved? If you did not give an employee permission to work overtime but he or she does so anyway, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, you still must pay the employee overtime wages. Make sure you do the following:

  • Create an overtime authorization policy, put it in the company handbook and enforce it.
  • Remind employees about the policy in periodic emails.
  • Post notices about the policy in the company breakroom and by time clocks, for example.
  • Discipline employees who violate your clearly stated rules. Although you have to pay unauthorized overtime, the FLSA does allow employers to discipline those who ignore company policy.

Other overtime pitfalls

Even if you have a policy and everyone is adhering to it, there are other potential problems — but they have solutions.

  • Are you tracking time? You need to have a system, typically a software program, that will let you keep on top of who is working when. For example, you’ll be able to see that Employee A is already slated for 40 hours and so shouldn’t be given an additional shift. You will also be able to see that Employee B is otherwise working only 35 hours and thus is available for five more non-overtime hours.
  • Are you paying overtime unnecessarily? For example, sometimes you, or managers under you, give unnecessary priority to certain tasks. Consider whether a certain task can be done within normal time in the following workweek instead of being done in the current week when the required nonexempt staff is already approaching 40 hours.
  • Do you cross-train? Maybe workers in Department A are working into the night in a certain week while those in Department B can go home at 5:00. You may be able to cross-train your Department B employees to do Department A tasks (and vice versa), so no one goes over the 40-hour limit.

These are just a few thoughts about a complex situation — and there may be even more stringent state rules in your area. Give us a call and we’ll help you take charge of your overtime to keep it as low as possible.

 

Copyright 2018

Is This Your Situation: Feeling Overwhelmed with Payroll Regulations

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Your company is growing, and that’s great! You now have an office full of employees—and the headaches that come along with that: figuring out each person’s tax liability based on their W-4 forms, calculating overtime for nonexempt staff and more. Did you know you can outsource this whole task to a third-party provider?

Here are some of the advantages:

  • It frees up your time to do other things, like product development, sales and marketing.
  • You don’t have to become an expert. Managing payroll requires specialized knowledge and there are a lot of pitfalls that can lead to regulatory nightmares.
  • You don’t have to depend on one employee. Even if you have a staff member handling payroll, if that person suddenly leaves or is absent for an extended illness, you’ll find it nearly impossible to bring someone in immediately to take over. Meanwhile, problems will crop up.
  • You can actually save money by doing by outsourcing. Let’s say you and perhaps a staff member—both untrained in the nuances of payroll—incorrectly file paperwork. Before you know it, you could find yourself hit with penalties ranging from $500 to $1,000. The penalty costs will soon be higher than outsourcing would’ve been in the first place.

Of course, some companies try to save money by handing payroll over to an outsourced administrative assistant, who may be organized but unfamiliar with payroll rules. You’re still not off the hook! Even if this assistant makes a mistake, in the eyes of the law, you’re still responsible as the employer. You need an outsourced provider that is familiar with the many payroll rules.

To find out a little bit more about what the IRS requires, have a quick look at the payroll section  on the IRS website. If nothing else, it should convince you this is one task you don’t want to take on all by yourself. Give us a call today, and we’ll be happy to have a no-obligation talk about your particular situation and how qualified outsourced payroll solutions can help—no matter how small you are today or how big you’ll be tomorrow.

“Copyright 2018”

Beware of Tax Scams as Tax Season Starts

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Both businesses and individuals can be subject to tax scams from criminals who often impersonate the IRS or other government agencies in an attempt to extract money. It’s an old trick, but it seems that the scammers get more sophisticated every year. Soon we’ll be in the middle of tax season, when we’re especially anxious about money and often easy prey for scammers.

According to the IRS, scammers may pose as IRS agents and target especially vulnerable taxpayers, such as older Americans, newly arrived immigrants and those whose first language is not English. But even more sophisticated individuals can be victims: criminals have been known to threaten CPAs with immediate suspensions of their licenses if they didn’t immediately send money, even though individual states, and not the IRS, license CPAs!

The IRS has also reported that some sophisticated scammers can fake a caller ID so it appears you are getting a call from the IRS. They even may copy official IRS letterhead for use in email or regular mail.

In a recent memo, the IRS says that fear is one of the principal tactics scammers use: “Many phone scams use threats to intimidate and bully a victim into paying. They may even threaten to arrest, deport or revoke the license of their victim if they don’t get the money.” It is true that some states will suspend the drivers’ licenses of those who are delinquent in their taxes, but that only happens after the state has exhausted all other collection methods over a long period of time.

The IRS notes that it will never:

  • Call you to demand immediate payment. The IRS will not call you if you owe taxes without first sending you a bill in the mail.
  • Demand that you pay taxes and not allow you to question or appeal the amount you owe.
  • Require that you pay your taxes a certain way. For instance, require that you pay with a prepaid debit card.
  • Ask for your credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
  • Threaten to bring in police or other agencies to arrest you for not paying.

If you think you are the victim of a scammer, you can contact the IRS with the “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” web page. You can also call 800-366-4484.

Copyright 2018

Investigating the Advantages of Outsourcing Payroll

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As fulfilled and engaged as your employees may be with their jobs, if they have any issues with their paychecks, it won’t take long for them to become frustrated. Some companies have dedicated payroll departments and others find it useful to outsource this process to one of many companies that specialize in payroll. How do you know which option is right for you? Here are some things to consider.

  • How big is your company? One of the biggest concerns when it comes to answering this question is how many employees your organization has on staff. However, the answer isn’t cut and dry. Small companies like to use payroll services so they don’t need to employ a dedicated payroll department. Larger companies like to use them to maintain consistency.
  • Do you need more than just payroll? There are other reasons to consider an outside vendor, especially if your small company also wants insurance or other services. An outside vendor may be able to meet a wide variety of your needs.
  • Are your employees exempt or nonexempt? Exempt employees are traditionally paid an annual salary. Nonexempt are usually hourly employees who receive hourly pay and qualify for overtime. The more complicated the payroll process, the more important it might be to outsource it.
  • How often is payday? Another thing to consider is how often you pay your employees. Salaried employees are frequently paid twice a month. Hourly employees might be paid every two weeks or every week. This is something a payroll service can work out with you to be the most effective for your type of business.

Do you have more questions about outsourced payroll? Call us today! 916-550-8174

Copyright 2018

Is This Your Situation: Concerned About Time and Attendance Tracking

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What do you do to keep track of your employees: a program, old-fashioned time cards or just a yellow legal pad and a pen? No matter what you use, do you really take the time to study the results and consider whether you’re losing money due to inefficiency? Did you ever bother to calculate how much money you may be losing just in one month? It may be time to think more strategically.

First of all, you have to become more sophisticated. An automated time and attendance system isn’t a guarantee of perfect efficiency, but it’s a start. If your employees are still filling out time cards, it could be costing your business a lot more than just the cards themselves. Are you thinking a new system might be expensive? Just think about how much such a system could save you, and you might be surprised at how it might actually more than pay for itself.

Meanwhile, no matter what method you use, consider the following headaches you may be giving yourself:

Headache #1: Too much time spent by supervisors approving time sheets. Is there a way to create a more automated system?

Headache #2: Employees who don’t always write down their true time worked. How can you fix this?

Headache #3: Hand-keying issues that lead to errors and fraud. Again, automation may be the key.

Headache #4: Managing overtime. How can you keep employees from going into overtime hours before you even know about it?

Headache #5: Perhaps the worst of all, exposure from an audit or employee complaint.

A better scenario evolves when you convert to an automated time and attendance management system — and learn how to interpret the data. Consider the benefits:

  1. Classifications, labor contracts and policies are automatically applied when processing each employee’s paycheck
  2. Easier determination of benefit eligibility under the Affordable Care Act.
  3. You’ll pay employees for their actual time worked, avoiding lawsuits and back wages.
  4. Payroll errors from manual data entry are virtually eliminated.

How much less stressful would it be to run your business knowing that you are not only saving a considerable amount of money by automating, but you are also protecting your assets from potential employee lawsuits and maybe, even worse, an IRS audit?

Give us a call. We’ll show you how to choose the right system for your particular needs and how easy it is to integrate that new system into your business. Even more, we can teach you how to interpret the results.

Source: Industry Newsletters A Division of Home Actions LLC

What Every Business Owner Should Know About Wage Garnishment (And How We Can Help!)

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Wage garnishment—it’s never a pleasant subject. When business owners are asked by the courts to garnish an employee’s wages, they must comply; but compliance can cause workplace stress and conflict with the affected employee. Most business owners would rather not think about such predicaments, let alone participate in them. But the reality is clear: the stress and distraction of wage garnishment cases happen to most business owners, and you are better off knowing what to expect ahead of time.  Read more