The Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration recently announced a new website to provide information on how a Health Savings Account (HSA) can help businesses meet their employees’ health insurance needs. The new website gives an overview of HSAs,...
Please be advised that the Online Employer section of our website will be unavailable Friday, September 19 from 8:00 pm EDT until noon on Saturday, September 20. This extended downtime is a result of our move to Switch and Data, our new colocation facility and...
Governor David Paterson recently signed the New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN) into law. The law (Labor Law Article 25-A) is patterned after, but more stringent than, the federal WARN act. Effective February 1, 2009, private employers with...
In late June, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the eligibility criteria listed in the state law were not exclusive. Therefore, if applicants for unemployment benefits had other good reasons to quit their jobs, it was within the discretion of the...
The General Services Administration updated the maximum per diem rates for travel after September 30, 2008 and before October 1, 2009. For destinations or counties not specifically listed, the lodging per diem is $70 and the meals and incidental expenses per diem is...
This week’s question comes from Harold, a business owner. I own a business in Massachusetts. Can I switch from a weekly to a bi-weekly pay period? Answer: Under Massachusetts law it is allowable to change to a bi-weekly pay period as long as employees are provided...
According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending September 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 445,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 451,000. The 4-week moving average was 440,000, an increase...
Do you reimburse employees for travel and meal expenses? Reduce paperwork and substantiation requirements through the use of a per diem reimbursement. By using a per diem that does not exceed the applicable federal per diem rate for the area of travel, the amount of...
The Oregon Supreme Court recently ruled in Necanicum Investment Co. v. Employment Department, SC S055231, July 24, 2008, that directors’ fees paid to a company’s board of directors are not wages for unemployment tax purposes, since the “directors are not ‘employed by’...
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed into law SB 940 which clarifies when temporary agencies must pay their employees. Under the law employees of temporary agencies must generally be paid on a weekly basis. If the temporary employees are assigned...
The US District Court for the District of Columbia granted summary judgment to the defendants in a lawsuit by two lifeguards seeking overtime pay. In Miroslav Ivanov, et.al., v. Sunset Pools Management, Inc., et.al., DDC, 07cv410 RJL, July 29, 2008, the two...
This week’s question comes from Crystal, an office manager. I have an employee who wants to have his paycheck direct deposited into his account. How long will it take for the direct deposit to become active? Answer: Vision Payroll will prenote all Automated Clearing...
The unemployment rate rose from 5.7 to 6.1 percent in August, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down (-84,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. In August, employment fell in manufacturing and employment...
According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending August 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 444,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 429,000. The 4-week moving average was 438,000, a decrease of...
Identity theft is a problem that’s not going away. At Vision Payroll, we offer and pay for LifeLock protection for all our employees. And while no one can offer 100% protection against identity theft, LifeLock also helps prevent the problems that arise if someone...
A New York City garment contractor was cited by the New York Department of Labor with wage and hour violations that resulted in underpayment of almost $3 million to more than 100 workers. Jin Shun Incorporated, which was reported to have produced women’s garments for...
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin recently signed Senate Bill 120 into law. Under the new law, for new unemployment insurance benefit years beginning after December 31, 2008, the maximum weekly benefit will increase from $248 to $370 and the qualifying amount for...
Responding to a request from Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the IRS stated that there is no dollar limit imposed by law on de minimis fringe benefits. A constituent had written to Shelby and stated that the constituent’s employer required all non-cash gifts valued...
The wage base for New Jersey unemployment insurance, temporary disability insurance, and family leave insurance will increase from $27,700 to $28,900 for 2009. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any question on this increase.
This week’s question comes from George, a business owner. We’re planning an end-of-summer party with bonuses for our employees. I’d rather give them live checks for their bonuses. Can I stop an employee’s direct deposit one time only? Answer: You can easily stop...
According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending August 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 425,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 435,000. The 4-week moving average was 440,250, a decrease of...
Are you wasting time stuffing checks into envelopes and sealing them? Do you worry that employee pay data is not safe from prying eyes? Have employee paychecks delivered in pre-sealed checks with tamper-evident seals and you can save time and improve security too....
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees must be paid a minimum hourly wage and an overtime premium of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of forty per week. This is the one of a continuing series that discusses FLSA...
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees must be paid a minimum hourly wage and an overtime premium of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of forty per week. This is the one of a continuing series that discusses FLSA...
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees must be paid a minimum hourly wage and an overtime premium of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of forty per week. This is the one of a continuing series that discusses FLSA...
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