I am opening a new sales location for The Payroll Department in Zionsville!
As all of my clients already know, The Payroll Department recently completed a complete conversion to a new software that allows us to better serve them. It was a huge process and one that offers complete transparency and accessibility to our client employers and their employees.
While it has been a challenge to get every little detail in place, it was well worth every hour and every bit of effort. We now have more capabilities and options than ever before. (more…)
You know you’re having a bad day when a mistake you made gets covered by the local newspaper. Not exactly the kind of publicity you want! As this article reports, the town of Windham, Connecticut, recently found themselves in the middle of a payroll mess that resulted from problems with a new accounting system. (more…)
Unfortunately, too many small business owners stubbornly decide that once the doors officially open on their new venture, they will try their best to do everything on their own. That means they interview, hire, train and fire employees, create and follow a business plan, develop marketing strategies, secure some type of community presence, find a way to work with all types of vendors, repair whatever is broken, order whatever supplies are needed… oh, and also take care of payroll while also staying abreast of any changes in business and payroll taxes. Whew. (more…)
You may have heard of National Payroll Week. Started in 1996 by the American Payroll Association, it celebrates “many things important to each of us who work” according to their website, nationalpayrollweek.com. During National Payroll Week, workers are given a chance to share their opinions on current topics in the areas of work and payroll. This is a good chance for today’s workers to share their thoughts. (more…)
As we all know, changes in the world of small business are not only inevitable, they are also constant. More than likely, if you are an entrepreneur, you already have your hands full, just trying to get through your daily responsibilities. That’s one reason why The Payroll Department stays up with the trends. We want to always provide small business owners with the education and information you need. (more…)
Internships can be beneficial to both the student and employers. The student gets the opportunity to explore a career interest, apply what they’ve learned in the classroom in a professional setting and develop new, transferable skills. Employers gain new, innovative perspectives to their small business, help with project work and increased productivity. However, the big question employers may have is, whether to pay or not to pay for internships. (more…)
What happens when you pick up the mail and there is an envelope from the IRS? Entrepreneurs and small business owners in every stage of development open it immediately. Those three letters definitely promote that piece of mail to priority status. (more…)
Does your small business have to comply with the rules and regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act? Well, of course, but which parts apply to your business and YOUR payroll?
Businesses considered covered enterprises, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act, are those who employ “workers engaged in interstate commerce, producing goods for interstate commerce, or handle selling, or otherwise working on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for such commerce by any person.”
For instance, under the Basic Wage Standards provisions, employees are entitled to a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour (effective June 24, 2009). However, some special provisions apply to workers in American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands.
In addition, nonexempt workers must be paid overtime at a rate of no less than one and one-half times their regular rates of pay after 40 hours of work in a workweek.
So then we have to ask, what defines a nonexempt worker?
To understand the Handy Guide, it might be better to ask who is an exempt worker? Now that includes a wide variety of workers when it comes to minimum wage and overtime pay, not limited to:
Executive, administrative, and professional employees
Outside sales employees
Employees in certain computer-related occupations
Employees of certain seasonal amusement or recreational establishments
Employees of certain small newspapers, fishing operations, or those engaged in newspaper delivery
There is a grey area covered by the word “certain” that makes entrepreneurs shiver.
When you are concerned with overtime pay only, there is another entire list and there is also a provision for those workers who fall under the category of “partial exemptions.”
Once you determine who does and who does not qualify for overtime pay, there is another section dedicated to computing overtime pay. It depends on how that person is paid – by the hour, by the piece or by salary. And, if salaried, you must consider if the employee is paid weekly or otherwise.
Yes, if you make a mistake or overlook something in your payroll, there are provisions in the Act for Enforcement and prosecution. Investigation, legal remedies, litigation and criminal procedures are outlined in the Act. And, as a final note, there are provisions in the Handy Guide to remind you that there are a number of other labor laws that require employer’s compliance.
The point is, simply, that every employer must comply with federal (and state) rules and regulations and IT IS COMPLEX and COMPLICATED. And, as we all know, it changes and you have new laws to understand and implement.
That is one of the reasons so many small business owners outsource payroll. The thought of making an error and being directed to those enforcement provisions is frightening. Business owners are focused on getting customers, getting work done and keeping employees and customers happy in the workplace.
One of our new clients explained his reason for outsourcing his payroll during one of the initial meetings he had with me here at The Payroll Department. We often hear how small business owners are eager to have someone else take care of payroll, payroll taxes and the payment and reporting of it to the government. They want to be sure they don’t make a mistake and end up paying out fines and penalties for an oversight. However, when Sam* talked about the problems of handling payroll in-house with his small business, he made no mention of those issues.
He talked about whispers and personnel problems.
Whispers between co-workers may indicate an issue. Co-workers spend more time together on a daily and weekly basis than most families. Certain people become close and sometimes, cliques or unofficial groups are formed. When employees become close, they share confidences and confidential information.
Confidentiality inside organizations, especially small business operations, can be a real challenge. When personal issues become community knowledge employees can be embarrassed, ridiculed and judged. And those type of situations can have a direct impact on production – quality and quantity – and therefore, the bottom line.
Sometimes alliances are divisive and “sides” are taken. That’s when things tend to spiral downward and confidential matters become valuable collateral.
One of the most difficult areas to manage confidentiality is in payroll. It’s not just keeping pay rates confidential, but keeping personal matters such as garnishments for child support or other court ordered payments private.
It’s not uncommon to discover that private information is shared with the general office in the form of gossip, whether it is intended to be malicious or not, gossip always ends up hurting the organization.
Outsourcing your payroll is one easy and affordable way to manage the confidentiality of payroll. In fact, at The Payroll Department it is a policy to only discuss payroll matters with specified people within an organization. We respect the private matters of each individual on your payroll as well as the overall payroll and payroll tax matters of your business.
Sam saw his outsourcing payroll as being a proactive step to eliminate the potential of divided employees. He said there are enough issues with personalities without adding the potential for explosive situations around very personal matters in the workplace.
We like his thinking and I bet his employees would like it, too, if they realized he was working to protect them. But he keeps that confidential.
