Vision Payroll

The employee review process is one that makes many employers cringe and many employees anxious. When is it required by law? Should you do it if not required by law? Can the employee evaluation be an effective tool in business management?

The answers to these questions and many more can be found in this month’s HRCast, a recording provided by our team of HR Pros and available exclusively on MyHRSupportCenter. Learn what you need to know about these five key areas in the employee performance review process:

1. Appraisal System
2. Performance Standards
3. Businesss Goals
4. Individual Reviews
5. Workforce Feedback

Then, log-in to MyHRSupportCenter and click Essentials, Guides, and search “performance”. You’ll be brought to the Performance Management System Guide, a profile that will help you analyze your performance management process and your use of performance appraisals.

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.

Need to learn more about the changes in COBRA changes mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, but unable to attend next week’s seminar presented by Vision Payroll. Take the next best step by reviewing this month’s featured article by the HR Pros at MyHRSupportCenter, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and New COBRA Changes.

This month’s article highlights the changes required by the law, reviews some key provisions, and sets an action plan with recommended next steps. One of those steps is to review The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and the Impact on COBRA Guide (the Guide) also produced by the HR Pros at MyHRSupportCenter. The Guide contains more comprehensive information on the changes and series of FAQs to guide you in implementing the required changes. The Guide can be found by searching “arra” from the Essentials, Guides page.

There are still a few seats available for next week’s COBRA seminar presented by John P. McMorrow, Esq. of Mirick O’Connell and the staff of Vision Payroll. Contact Vision Payroll today to reserve your seat.

To learn more, sign into MyHRSupportCenter and read this month’s featured article. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Publication 15-T, New Wage Withholding and Advance Earned Income Credit Payment Tables (For Wages Paid Through December 2009). Publication 15-T contains revised withholding tables to implement changes mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Act) as well as information on other changes required by the Act such as increased commuter exclusion amounts and changes required to the adjustment to taxes withheld on nonresident aliens.

The IRS recommends making a copy of the notice provided on page 73 of Publication 15-T available to all employees so that they may understand the change in withholding. Employees are not required to file a new Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate or its Spanish equivalent, Formulario W-4(SP), Certificado de Exención de la Retención del Empleado to see the impact of the tax law change, but may wish to do so to ensure the correct amount of tax is withheld.

Vision Payroll implemented the revised withholding tables last week and eligible employees should notice an increase in net pay with their current paycheck.

Over the next several days, Vision Payroll will be posting additional articles on changes to payroll and HR by other sections of the Act. We’re also planning a seminar on implementing these changes, so contact Vision Payroll if you’d like to attend.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released updated withholding tables. Though they won’t be published until new Publication 15-T is made available later this week, the IRS has released Notice 1036, Early Release Copies of New Wage Withholding and Advance Earned Income Credit Payment Tables and encouraged employers to start using them as soon as possible. The deadline for implementation of the new tables is April 1, 2009.

Workers are not required to file a new Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate or its Spanish equivalent, Formulario W-4(SP), Certificado de Exención de la Retención del Empleado to see the impact of the tax law change. The Making Work Pay credit is equal to 6.2% of earned income, up to a maximum of $400 for single taxpayers and $800 for those filing joint returns. Phaseouts of the credit begin at $75,000 of adjusted gross income (AGI) for singles and $150,000 AGI for those filing joint returns and the credit is eliminated for singles with more than $95,000 of AGI and joint returns with more than $190,000 of AGI. Taxpayers in this phaseout range or above due to multiple jobs, a spouse’s income, or unearned income should consider an amended Form W-4 or Formulario W-4(SP).

Vision Payroll has already implemented the revised withholding tables and eligible employees should start seeing an increase in take-home pay as early as today. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any further questions on the impact of the Making Work Pay credit.

Employers must know how to provide reasonable accommodations under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), and state laws they may be even more protective of workers’ rights. What are the recent changes in how statutory terms such as mitigating measures, major life activities, and the regarded as determination are interpreted? How has the focus shifted from a disability inquiry to an interactive process? What should this interactive process include? What five things do employers need to do right now?

Learn the answers to these questions and more 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.

Employers must file the 2008 Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, on or before March 2, 2009 if filing by paper or March 31, 2009 if filing by an approved electronic means.

Employers should check only one box in section b, Kind of Payer. The only exception is for Third-party sick pay, which should be checked along with one other box if third-party sick pay is reported on the Form W-3.

Box c should include only the total number of valid Forms W-2 filed, not including voids.

Box h should contain other EINs (employer identification numbers) used on Form 941, Form 943, Form 944, or Form CT-1 during the year. An example is a prior owner for whom the filer is a successor.

Boxes 1 through 11 should contain a simple arithmetic sum of all the Forms W-2 filed with this Form W-3 for the respective box.

Box 12 should also contain a sum of all the Forms W-2 filed with this Form W-3, but should be totaled irrespective of and without reference to any code.

Box 14 should contain the “federal income tax withheld on third-party payments of sick pay” even though the amount was already reported in box 2.

Box 15 should contain the two-character abbreviation for the state being reported, but if more than one state is reported, only an X should be entered. Likewise, boxes 16-19 should include the total for all such boxes, regardless of how many are reported.

Employers should reconcile Forms W-3 not only to the individual Forms W-2, but also to the sum of Forms 941, Forms 943, Forms 944, or Forms CT-1 filed for the year.

Vision Payroll files Forms W-3 for all clients electronically with the Social Security Administration. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on Form W-3.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a delay in the implementation of the revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, but you shouldn’t delay in learning what you need to know about the rule changes that the new form will bring.

This month’s featured article on MyHRSupportCenter covers the basics of the form, revisions to the form including newly acceptable documents and documents that are no longer acceptable, and how the delay impacts use of the current and revised forms.

To learn more, sign into MyHRSupportCenter and read this month’s featured article. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

If you got married or divorced and changed your name, be sure to give the changes to your payroll or HR department and to the Social Security Administration (SSA). This is true if you’ve changed your name to your spouse’s name, hyphenated your name with your spouse’s name, or changed your name to a previous name after a divorce or separation. If the name on your Form W-2 doesn’t match the name on file with the SSA, there may be a problem posting your earnings record to your social security account. Also, be sure not to include titles such as Dr. or Atty. and suffixes such as Jr. or Sr. with the name you provide to payroll or HR unless they are also listed on your social security card.

To change your name with SSA, file Form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card, with the SSA. This is also a good time to make sure your spouse files Form SS-5, if necessary and also that any children who may have changed their name due to the marriage or divorce do so as well.

Vision Payroll strongly recommends 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.

Employers know that it’s important to keep personnel files, but do you know the answers to these questions?

1. What should go into an employee’s personnel file?
2. What shouldn’t go into an employee’s personnel file, but still must be kept on file?
3. What are the best practices in keeping the information needed both in and out of the employee’s personnel file both organized and accessible to those that need it, but not to those who don’t?

Learn the answers to these questions and more 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.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is warning taxpayers to be on the lookout for phony e-mails that appear to be from IRS employees. The e-mails attempt to get personal information such as social security numbers, account numbers, and passwords that may be used in identity theft or to gain access to financial accounts.

The IRS never sends unsolicited e-mails nor does it request personal or financial information in e-mails. The IRS has set up a special e-mail address to forward such e-mails using instructions provided by the IRS. The IRS recommends you delete such messages after you have forwarded them.

Although no system is foolproof in preventing identity theft, Vision Payroll recommends vigilance in dealing with personal information, combined with a service such as LifeLock® to help detect certain types of identity theft.