Blog Archives

The Summer of Wichita Outsourcing: Payroll Risk Management Is a Matter of Time

The difference of a few minutes can make a huge difference to your company. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, thousands of employers unnecessarily expose themselves to risk in the form of fines and even lawsuits because of improper recording or rounding of time.

Keeping accurate time records can save you trouble.

There are actually recorded cases in which judges have found in favor of employee plaintiffs who worked for companies that rounded time entries exclusively to the companies’ advantage.

Federal rounding guidelines state that rounding must, over time, result in compensating employees fully for the time they worked. Most states, according to SHRM, follow these guidelines, and staying within them is important to minimizing your exposure to lawsuits or penalties.

For many companies, trying to keep accurate time records and remain compliant is not only a matter of risk–it’s a real hassle. Maintaining good records, managing the data and auditing records is easily delegated to an outsourcing firm like Syndeo. And not only that, it allows business owners and executives to do the things they do best: managing and growing the business.

There are other factors involved, too. Not only are audits important, but so are policies and procedures. Properly educating employees about the company’s prerogative to alter timecards for early and late punches is key. Working with your Wichita outsourcing firm, Syndeo, you can develop these policies and protect  your company from harm.

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The Summer of Wichita Outsourcing: Federal Unemployment Tax Act Rate Decreases

Human Resource Outsourcing ChartIn the whole scheme of things, 0.2 percent might not seem like a whole lot, but now that the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) rate has been lowered from 0.8 percent to 0.6 percent, employers with any number of employees should be rejoicing.

This kind of tax help is welcome news. So, what should an employer who is looking to become more efficient do to take advantage of this windfall? Well, first it’s important to make certain that the assessment amount is changed in your payroll system. You don’t want to be trying to recover overpayments later on.

Obviously, the savings accrued will be greater for some employers than others, but it’s a great opportunity to take a windfall and put it to work making your human resource management strategy more efficient. Consider engaging a human resource outsourcing company to make things even more efficient without increasing your net outlay.

It’s also important that you review and understand the IRS 940 Unemployment Tax form. You can review the instructions for completing and submitting the form here at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i940.pdf.

If you have difficulty making sense of the form or if it is just too much of a hassle to make the switch to the lower rate. Or, if you want any help at all with your payroll, especially unemployment taxes, please contact Syndeo, the Wichita human resource outsourcing leader.

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