16Mar 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Are You Unknowingly Violating the Fair Labor Standards Act?

IRS Information, Payroll Tips
Common everyday business practices result in unpaid "work" hours that 70% of employers have no idea are unlawful, but do in fact, violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Below are 5 example of what is considered to be a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act: Punching in early (or punching out late) - for example an employee punches in 15 minutes before starting time. If you are audited, you would have to prove that employee who punched in early was not working.  The Department of Labor assumes that an employee who has punched in is working. Downtime - for example an employee's normal workday starts at 9, but they have a long drive and have to drop children off in two different places, so they end up getting…
Read More
22Feb 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Employer Responsibilities for Completing an I-9 Form

IRS Information, Payroll Tips
Employers are required to complete an I-9 form at the time of hire for all employees that have been hired on or after November 6, 1986.  The employer must complete Section 1 prior to the end of the first day of employment.  For example, if an employee starts working on a Monday, Section 1 of the form must be completed by the close of business on Monday. The employer must review the original documents and complete Section 2 within 3 business days of the first day of work.  Additionally, if the employer has enrolled in E-Verify, the E-Verify inquiry must be initiated before the end of the third day of work. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released an updated 69 page version of The Handbook for Employers…
Read More
18Feb 2011 by Nancy Smyth

#Freebie Friday – Employee New Hire Checklist

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Payroll Tips
It's FREEBIE FRIDAY!  Wow wasn't it Friday just a couple of days ago?  Feels that way to me.  Where has the week gone? This weeks Freebie Friday giveaway here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog is an Employee New Hire Checklist. One of the hardest things about being a bookkeeper or payroll clerk, is that we seldom receive any information about new employees - other than the information that comes from their Federal W-4, State W-4, and their I-9 form. As a bookkeeper in the construction industry, a lot of times the ONLY information that I ever received was a scrawled note with the employees name on it - and I'd spend the rest of my week trying to chase down the rest of the information that I needed, because…
Read More
15Feb 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Fair Labor Standards Act-Employee Record Keeping Requirements

IRS Information, Payroll Tips
Employee record keeping requirements must include proper time and payroll records for it's workers.  The Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as most state wage and hour laws, are the ones who determine what is or is not "proper". In January, the USDOL (United States Department of Labor) announced that it had recovered $1 million in unpaid overtime from federal defense contracts in California.  This recovered money was based, in part, on the DOL's findings that the contractors had violated the record keeping requirements, which are part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  Specifically, the DOL found that the contractors in question had failed to maintain proper time and payroll records for it's workers.  Read the entire article by clicking here. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets minimum wage,…
Read More
02Feb 2011 by Nancy Smyth

#Payroll Tip – Snow Days and Pay, Questions & Answers

Payroll Tips
Yet another massive winter storm is threatening snow and freezing rain from Colorado to the East Coast this week. Do you know what your obligations are to employees who cannot get to work on these bad weather days? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Q: We are expecting more snow and ice this week and anticipate that employees may have a difficult time getting to work. Several of our employees have already used up their paid days because of bad weather this winter. How should we deal with these absences? A: If you have operations in areas that experience severe weather, such as winter storms, flooding, or hurricanes, you should include provisions in your policies for weather-related absences. Most employers discuss weather-related absences in their attendance policies. Any policy dealing with attendance during periods of…
Read More
01Feb 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Payroll Tip-What’s Your Responsibility for Unclaimed Paychecks?

Payroll Tips
Unclaimed or returned paychecks are a real hassle; just ask any bookkeeper, especially one in the construction industry.  They mess up your bank reconciliations because they are always outstanding; and seriously, what are you supposed to do with them other than throw them in a desk drawer and hope you remember where you put them! Can the company keep the money? Can you just void the checks and be done with it? As a bookkeeper or business owner do you know what your responsibilities are for handling unclaimed or returned paychecks? The answer is pretty simple -- NO, you cannot keep an uncashed or unclaimed paycheck; believe it or not, you MUST turn them over to the state where that person last worked.  Oh, it gets even better; you can…
Read More
13Jan 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Payroll Tip – Davis Bacon Wages & Holiday Pay

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage
Payroll which involves the payment of Davis Bacon or prevailing wage can be quite complex, especially for non-union or open shop contractors, who work on both private and prevailing wage jobs. When a contractor works on both prevailing wage and non-prevailing or private jobs there is often times two different sets of hourly wage rates that an employee might be paid; one for when he works on a Davis Bacon project and another, usually lower rate, for when the company works on a non-prevailing wage job. One specific and complex issues involves the question of whether or not the contractor is required to pay his/her employees the Davis Bacon wage scale rate for the holidays that they are eligible for OR if they can pay them their normal non-scale rate…
Read More
08Dec 2010 by Nancy Smyth

Payroll Tip – Time off for School Activities and “Small Necessities”

Payroll Tips
Many states require you to give employees time off to attend school functions, take family members to the doctor, and even to volunteer to be organ, bone marrow, and blood donors. Find out what these laws cover. You are probably familiar with your obligations under federal law to grant employees time off for family, medical, or pregnancy-related leaves or military service. (These leaves are covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.) (Download free Short-Term Absences model policy including HR best practices and legal background.) But are you aware that many states have passed “small necessities” laws that also require you to grant employees time off on a short-term basis for a…
Read More
10Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

5 Tips for Effective Reference Checks

Payroll Tips
A great article that I just had to share from a newsletter that I subscribe to. There are many reasons why you should check the references of prospective employees. Often, applicants’ resumes and application forms are incomplete or even contain misrepresentations that could lead to a bad hiring decision. So, if you check references, you can help eliminate undesirable applicants, identify the best candidate, reduce turnover and training costs, and even prevent liability for negligent hiring. At a minimum, carefully conducted reference checks can help ensure that your hiring decisions are more informed. Generally, reference checks should be made before the offer of employment is extended so that you have as much information about a candidate as possible. However, it may be difficult to get a reference-giver to provide helpful…
Read More
23Jul 2010 by Nancy Smyth

Frequently Asked Questions – California Prevailing Wage

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, Construction News, The "Sunburst" Website
California prevailing wage laws and certified payroll reporting requirements are quite complex and can be mandated by any of the following agencies or organizations, each with their own unique set of reporting requirements. The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and the filing of Form A-1-131. The California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) and the filing of a modified WH-347 form. The U.S. Department of Labor and the filing of a standard WH-347 Form. Electronic filing requirements on specific construction projects through the use of LCPtracker, TRS Consultants, and/or Elation Systems, Inc. D-BAS Labor Compliance Software. Additional "paper filing requirements" by Labor Compliance Organizations, such as, Golden State Labor Compliance, LLC or CalLCP. Electronic filing requirements being introduced on August 1, 2010 through the California Department of Industrial Relations Compliance Monitoring…
Read More
12Jul 2010 by Nancy Smyth

Calculating & Displaying Fringe Benefits on a Certified Payroll Report

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, QuickBooks 2010 - What's New?, The "Sunburst" Website
One of the biggest causes of confusion for contractors working on government funded construction projects is “how to calculate and display fringe benefits” on a certified payroll report. In recent months, I have repeatedly seen posts from QuickBooks users on the Intuit Community Forums asking how the fringe benefit rate is calculated and then displayed on the Certified Payroll Report in Excel, which is now a standard function of QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise when used in conjunction with Enhanced Payroll, and I really haven’t seen any good responses.  Hence today’s blog post. Background: Contractors who work on government funded construction  projects are required to pay their employees a “prevailing” rate of pay; based on where the project is located and the type of work they are performing.  This “prevailing rate…
Read More
02Jul 2010 by Nancy Smyth

The History of Prevailing Wage

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, The "Sunburst" Website
  The act is named after its sponsors, James J. Davis, a Republican Senator from Pennsylvania and a former Secretary of Labor under three presidents, and Representative Robert L. Bacon another Republican from Long Island, New York. The Davis-Bacon act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Herbert Hoover on March 3, 1931. Prevailing wage laws have been the focus of public policy debate at the federal and state levels for decades. They are intended to protect workers and communities by ensuring that contractors compete on the ability to perform work competently and efficiently while maintaining community compensation standards. Prevailing wage laws require that construction workers on public projects be paid the wages and benefits that are found to be “prevailing” for similar work in or near…
Read More
25May 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tips Payroll Mistakes – It’s Not As Easy As 1-2-3 – Part 2

Payroll Tips
Payroll is an essential part of your business – not just a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly annoyance.  Payroll is the primary way that employees are rewarded for good job performance and retained.  If you are issuing late or incorrect paychecks it can lead to dissatisfied, unmotivated workers – or worse.  It’s hard to keep good employees when a company gets payroll wrong. The relationship between employees and employers is highly regulated by the government and many of these regulations involve payroll.  There are literally hundreds of things that you have to know, as well as hundreds of mistakes that you can make.  As a result, the payroll process is much more complicated than anyone who has never done it can possibly know. The consequences of some mistakes can be more…
Read More
24May 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tips Payroll Mistakes – It’s Not As Easy As 1-2-3! Part 1

Payroll Tips
Payroll is an essential part of your business – not just a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly annoyance.  Payroll is the primary way that employees are rewarded for good job performance and retained.  If you are issuing late or incorrect paychecks it can lead to dissatisfied, unmotivated workers – or worse.  It’s hard to keep good employees when a company gets payroll wrong. The relationship between employees and employers is highly regulated by the government and many of these regulations involve payroll.  There are literally hundreds of things that you have to know, as well as hundreds of mistakes that you can make.  As a result, the payroll process is much more complicated than anyone who has never done it can possibly know. The consequences of some mistakes can be more…
Read More