California Payroll Report articles from October 2006

California Payroll Report archives from October 2006

How to figure W-2 wages for the new deduction.
October 21, 2006... If your company is involved in domestic production activities, you may be asked to crunch some special payroll numbers at year-end. Here's why those numbers are important and how to calculate them. How the Deduction Works For 2006, a...

Minimum wage rises in many states.
October 21, 2006... The states are not waiting for the federal government to take action. Instead they have been increasing their minimum wage amounts. You can add to the list California, where Governor Arnold Schwarznegger raised the minimum wage by 75 cents to...

IRS considers changes to electronic filing of W-2s.
October 21, 2006... At the annual conference of the National Association of Tax Reporting and Payroll Management, Tony Tullo, Director Federal Compliance at ADP and a member of the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) gave an update about...

Official ban on overtime won't necessarily block overtime claims.
October 21, 2006... Turning a blind eye to employees voluntarily working overtime won't protect your company from lawsuits for overtime pay. In a recent case, an employer tried to get an ex-employee's overtime claim dismissed but failed. The court ruled that the...

Reduced bonuses for family leave-takers get thumbs up.(Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993)(Report)
October 21, 2006... A federal appeals court recently allowed a company to reduce its annual bonuses for employees who took leaves under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)--despite the fact that there was no similar reduction for those taking vacations and...

'Improper' white-collar pay docking is OK--in some cases.(Brief article)
October 7, 2006... The white-collar exemption from the wage-hour requirements may be lost if a company makes "improper" deductions from pay. To qualify for the white-collar exemption, an employee must be paid a guaranteed salary of $455 per week. >>> OK TO...

Form 940 gets a makeover.
October 7, 2006... The IRS recently released its final draft of the 2006 Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return. And, as expected, the 2006 version represents the biggest overhaul in Form 940 since the introduction of Form 940-EZ...

Unemployment update.
October 7, 2006... States are continuing their crackdown on SUTA dumping. SUTA dumping is practice used by employers with high employee turnover to lower their state unemployment insurance tax. How it works is that employers with high experience rates create...

Hurricane-affected businesses get another tax extension.(Payroll News and Views)
October 7, 2006... The IRS has announced that it is granting businesses on the Gulf Coast that were affected by Hurricane Katrina an additional postponement of filing and payment requirements [IR-2006-135]. The deadline is extended to October 16, 2006. The...

What does the IRS have in store for payroll managers?(Payroll News and Views)
October 7, 2006... Around this time each year, the IRS reveals a list of guidance projects it expects to release during the next 12 months. The recently released list for 2006-07 contains a number of projects that will be of interest to payroll managers....

New law bars states from taxing nonresident retirees.(Payroll News and Views)
October 7, 2006... President Bush has signed a new law (P.L. No. 109-264) clarifying that state taxation of retirement income is limited to the state where the retiree resides. This treatment applies whether the retirement payments are made to a retired...

Electronic pay stubs.(Payroll News and Views)
October 7, 2006... Minnesota law requires employers to provide employees with a statement of earnings at the end of each pay period. The law was recently amended to require employers that choose to provide earnings statements by electronic means to provide...

Temporary employment subject to payday law.(Payroll News and Views)
October 7, 2006... A recent decision by the California Supreme Court addressed an interesting issue: If a worker is hired for a short-term job, has the worker been "discharged" for payroll purposes when the job ends? California's payday law provides that "if an...

Whistleblowing managers not protected under wage-hour laws.
October 7, 2006... The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) makes it unlawful to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee for filing a wage-hour complaint. State wage-hour laws often contain similar prohibitions against retaliation by employers. ...

What to do if you receive a medical support notice.
October 7, 2006... If one of your employees has child support obligations, a state child support enforcement agency may send you a National Medical Support Notice (NMSN). The NMSN is a standardized form that advises you when an employee has been ordered to...

New 'Fed' rule protects payroll card users.
October 7, 2006... The Federal Reserve System recently issued a final rule providing consumer protections to employees who participate in their employer's payroll card program [12 C.F.R. pt. 205]. Background. Payroll cards have become increasingly popular...

Four issues to keep in mind about payroll card implementation.
October 7, 2006... Are you ready to go paperless with your payroll? Gary Lott, general manager of TotalPay Card at ADP (San Dimas, California), suggests that all companies can benefit by implementing the paycard approach. However, there are four key issues you...