Vision Payroll

This week’s question comes from Perry, an office manager. I’ve registered my business with the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA). How do I register Vision Payroll as my TPA in QUEST? Answer: Once you have completed activating your QUEST account on-line and established your permanent password and PIN at www.mass.gov/uima, log in to your account, select and execute the following:

From the Employer Home page:

Select the Account Maintenance page

Select the Third Party Administrator (TPA) Authorization link

Click the ‘NEW’ button

Enter Vision Payroll’s ID Number 100028 and click ‘NEXT’

Vision Payroll’s name will appear.

Select the current day’s date (mm/dd/yyyy) when asked when services are commencing

Leave the service end date field blank

Assign the following roles to Vision Payroll by clicking on the appropriate boxes displayed:

• Account Maintenance Update and Submit
• Payments Update and Submit
• Employment and Wage Detail Update and Submit

Click the ‘Save’ button

Return to the home page and log off the web site

Vision Payroll will then have authorization to provide the same filing services through QUEST as have been performed in the past. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on QUEST.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending January 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 434,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 433,000. The 4-week moving average was 450,250, a decrease of 10,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 460,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6% for the week ending December 26, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.8%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 26 was 4,802,000, a decrease of 179,000 from the preceding week’s unrevised level of 4,981,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,005,750, a decrease of 95,250 from the preceding week’s unrevised average of 5,101,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.565 million.

Last December, President Barack Obama had authorized to deploy more than 30,000 troops for military service which would impact a greater number of employees and their employers. Earlier in October, President Obama had signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which includes provisions expanding military leave entitlements of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by broadening the “qualifying exigency” leave and military caregiver leave that became effective in January 2008.

Do you know what qualifying exigency leave is and which employees are eligible? Are you familiar with military caregiver leave and how the benefits to employees have been expanded? Have you completed the action items needed to update company policies and your employee handbook?

If your answers to these questions make you realize there’s work to be done, be sure to read this month’s featured article by the HR pros at MyHRSupportCenter, Expanded Military Leave and the FMLA. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

This is one in a continuing series on the 2009 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, which employers must generally furnish to employees no later than February 1, 2010. Forms mailed on the due date are considered furnished if properly addressed. Employers unable to meet that deadline may file a request for extension of time to furnish the forms. Today we review Box 5, Medicare wages and tips.

Box 5 shows the total amount of wages subject to Medicare tax. For most employees, this amount equals the sum of boxes 3 and 7, with one exception. There is no limit on the amount of Medicare wages as there is with social security wages. Additionally, depending on the date of hire, some governmental employees may have Medicare wages, but not social security wages.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 6, Medicare tax withheld. Contact Vision Payroll with any questions on the 2009 Form W-2.

Monday, January 18, 2010 will be the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a federal holiday. Although the offices of Vision Payroll will be open and payrolls will be processed, most banks will be closed in observance of the holiday.

Payrolls dated January 18 will be paid January 15 unless a previous change in schedule has been submitted. Payrolls submitted after these processing deadlines will be pushed back until the next available processing day. No changes are required for payrolls dated January 21.

The next federal holiday will be Monday, February 15, 2010, Washington’s Birthday. Contact Vision Payroll as soon as possible to make changes to or for questions on your processing schedule.

This is one in a continuing series on the 2009 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, which employers must generally furnish to employees no later than February 1, 2010. Forms mailed on the due date are considered furnished if properly addressed. Employers unable to meet that deadline may file a request for extension of time to furnish the forms. Today we review Box 4, social security tax withheld.

Box 4 shows the total amount of employee social security tax withheld, including the amount withheld on tips. It does not include any employer contribution toward social security on the employee’s behalf. Since the 2009 rate was 6.2% and the taxable wage base was $106,800, the amount in this box should not exceed $6,621.60. If the employer paid the employee’s share of such taxes rather than withholding them, the tax must be grossed up and included in boxes 1, 3, and 5.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 5, Medicare wages and tips. Contact Vision Payroll with any questions on the 2009 Form W-2.

This is one in a continuing series on the 2009 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, which employers must generally furnish to employees no later than February 1, 2010. Forms mailed on the due date are considered furnished if properly addressed. Employers unable to meet that deadline may file a request for extension of time to furnish the forms. Today we review Box 3, social security wages.

Box 3 shows the amount wages paid subject to social security tax. It does not include social security tips reported in box 7 or allocated tips reported in box 8. Wages should be reduced by amounts withheld for non-taxable benefits elected under §125 plans, certain clergy housing allowances, and third-party sick pay after the end of six calendar months after the calendar month that the employee last worked for the employer. For 2009, the combined total of boxes 3 and 7 cannot exceed $106,800. Since social security benefits are based on the amount of social security wages reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA), it is important that employees periodically review their social security earnings record and provide the SSA with the Form W-2 to update any incorrectly posted earnings records.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 4, social security tax withheld. Contact Vision Payroll with any questions on the 2009 Form W-2.

This week’s question comes from Tim, a Director of Payroll. One of our employees is the spouse of a military member. She is claiming exemption from state withholding for 2009. How do we treat employees who claim exemption under the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (the Act)? Answer: President Barack Obama signed the Act (Public Law 111-97) into law in November. Under the Act, spouses of military personnel who are present in or absent from a domicile due to compliance with military orders will not have their tax residence impacted by such presence or absence. The Act generally affects tax years 2009 and beyond. Affected employees should file an amended withholding form with their employers to claim exemption from withholding. Employers must not withhold taxes on employees who claim exemption under the Act. For 2009 tax years, affected employees should receive a refund of any tax withheld by filing a non-resident tax return in that state. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending December 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 432,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 454,000. The 4-week moving average was 460,250, a decrease of 5,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 465,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.8% for the week ending December 19, unchanged from the prior week’s revised rate of 3.8%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 19 was 4,981,000, a decrease of 57,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 5,038,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,101,000, a decrease of 122,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 5,223,250.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.621 million.

There were many changes in employment laws during 2009 with more anticipated for 2010. These changes require employers to review and establish new company Employee Handbook policies to address emerging workplace issues. Is a handbook required in 2010? What are the risks of having an out-of-date handbook? Do you understand the importance of the following in making your handbook more relevant to your company and its employees?

• The Basic Elements
• The Business Relevance
• Employee Communication

You’ll learn much more about how addressing these three areas make your handbook more relevant in this month’s HRCast, a recording provided by our team of HR Pros and available exclusively on MyHRSupportCenter.

Visit MyHRSupportCenter regularly not only for our HRCasts, but also to get late-breaking compliance alerts, best practices to implement, and HR tools to use every day. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.