Payroll Problems

Whether your company payroll is distributed bi-weekly or twice monthly, the last thing you want to hear is that payroll issues are causing unhappy employees. Payroll issues occur for several reasons, some of which cannot be resolved as quickly as others. As a small business owner, making sure your business processes are taken care of will ultimately lead to employee satisfaction.

Holidays
Bank closures on federal holidays can sneak up on you at the time when payroll processing needs to be completed. Planning ahead for delays caused by holiday closures is very important. If you have a printed schedule for pay periods and payroll dates, indicate on what day payroll is distributed when there is a holiday. Texas has specific laws about employee paydays. Chapter 61 of the Texas Labor Code provides for the following: "Notices indicating the paydays must be posted in conspicuous places in the workplace. If an employer does not designate paydays, the employer paydays are the 1st and 15th of each month. If an employee quits, she/he must be paid in full at the next regular payday. If an employee is terminated, he/she must be paid in full within six days. If an employee is not paid on a payday for any reason, including the employee absence, the employer shall pay those wages on another business day as requested by the employee."

Time Records
In businesses where work hours are recorded by automatic readers, there exists the chance of error, misreading of a time card or maybe an employee forgets to time out at the end of her shift. In these cases, it is a good investment to have time records verified and scanned for errors by a payroll expert.

Leaves of Absence
When an employee is on a leave of absence due to health or family issues, calculating payroll may be difficult. The human resources specialist typically coordinates employees leaves of absence. Ensure there is communication between your benefits specialist and payroll personnel about exceptions that must be reflected in the payroll records.

Overtime Errors
Navigating overtime requires a series of calculations, including regular rate of pay, overtime rate of pay and the amount of overtime pay due. This can be a big challenge for a payroll team to ensure it is accurately calculated. Overtime hours are defined as all hours worked above regular time, which are calculated separately for each week. More people are starting to work from home, making it difficult to report and calculate overtime hours. Calculating regular hours worked and overtime hours at the appropriate rates are one of the biggest errors auditors look for. To avoid miscalculations, it is important that set practices are in place for both the payroll team and the employees being compensated.

As a business owner, there are only so many hours in the day to handle all your business needs. There are many important aspects of a business that keep it running smoothly, and payroll is not one that should fall behind. In order to make sure everything is taken care of while you run the front line of your business, hire professionals to handle your payroll needs! As your Growth Partner, WSC Business Solutions will make sure your payroll needs are met. We are here to relieve stress of the tedious behind the scenes tasks, and to help your business GROW to its full potential.

What are you waiting for? Contact one of our Growth Partner Associates at WSC Business Solutions today.

Stay Focused. Grow Confidently.

Written by: Lindsey Baird | Pro Advisory Business Solutions