Payroll Law

In one intensive day of training, we'll cover today's most challenging payroll management issues including:

• The latest regulation changes that impact how you determine which positions are "overtime eligible"
• What the DOL expects when determining if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor
• The red flags auditors, inspectors and investigators look for in your payroll procedures
• How to prepare to answer the "Top 3 Questions" asked during an audit or investigation
• Finding and documenting "Reasonable Basis" in your payroll-related policies and procedures
• Who the Fair Labor Standards Act defines as an "employer" and why
• Your state law says one thing and the federal government says another — now what?
• Ways to secure your internal processes against the most common misinterpretations of Wage and Hour laws
• And much more!

With this payroll management training workshop, you'll learn how to better interpret state and federal wage and hour laws and, most important, how to keep your company out of hot water with the DOL and state agencies. Everyone makes mistakes. Auditors and investigators are charged with catching and cleaning-up these error. Together, we'll make sure you are prepared with an impressive level of “good faith” efforts that turn a potentially expensive audit or lawsuit into a much less costly educational experience.

Payroll processing sounds like a simple proposition. Employees work at a certain rate of pay. You take out taxes and give them the rest of what they've earned. Sounds like basic math, right? Unfortunately, the Department of Labor’s wage and hour regulations regarding worker classification, minimum wage, overtime and what actually constitutes “hours worked” can be confusing and do not rely solely on “math” to determine compliance when conducting an audit. When you add in the various IRS requirements surrounding taxation and the proper view of government “trust fund” monies a simple task turns into a legal landmine. With this payroll law seminar, you'll gain strategies to handle payroll accurately, legally and with complete confidence.

What you don't know can hurt you. That's never more true than when dealing with payroll law. The first step to complying with regulations is understanding them. You'll begin your class with a crash course in payroll's legal basics. Find out what areas fall under state, federal and joint regulation and learn how to avoid the often staggering penalties and fines of non-compliance.

Payroll Management: Beginning With the End in Mind

• Why payroll administration is not just about the numbers
• The high cost of improperly classifying employees
• The QETP (Questionable Employee Tax Practices)
• The top three questions auditors and investigators will ask – and why
• Establishing good faith efforts that reduce penalties and fines
• Five vital internal audits that are not about the math
• What to do if you get an FLSA complaint

Making Sense of the FLSA Overtime Exemptions

• Exempt vs non-exempt employees – What’s the difference?
• Three tests to help determine overtime exemptions – salary, highly compensated and standard duties
• Types of exemptions: Executive, Professional, Administrative, Outside Sales and Computer Professionals
• Understanding the overtime-exempt payment and docking rules

Worker Classification: Employee or Independent Contractor - How to Decide?

• Creating a worker classification process
• W-9 Compliance
• What is back-up withholding and when should you use it?
• 1099-MISC Hot Tips
• Auditing your W-4 process
• E-verify and New-Hire Reporting
• Your payroll department and the I-9

Payroll and the Non-exempt Employee

• Paid and unpaid leave policies that payroll must understand
• Recognizing compensable time
• Rounding and adjusting the timeclock: The Rule of De Minimis Time
• Overtime requirements and options employers should consider
• Spotting and correcting wage and hour violations
• Gone to the Guard for the week — what to do when military pay and your payroll overlap
• Tips and uniform allowances — what's considered income, what's not?
• What you're required to pay when an employee is dismissed

Special Payroll Considerations and Hot Tips for Maintaining Compliance

• How to determine the order of multiple garnishments for an employee
• When and how to tax fringe benefits
• The legal ramifications of paycheck advances
• Compensation and fair market value — what the law says you must do
• Gifts that must be reported to the IRS
• Withholding and reporting rules for cash fringe benefits vs. non-cash fringe benefits
• Cell phone supplements – taxable or not?