CheckWriters

Pandemic prevention is not typically on the radar of employers and HR professionals - but it's certainly on everyone's mind as the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreads throughout the US and the world and significantly impacts employers.

Have you had the chance to review important tax facts for 2020?

Take a look at our Tax Facts Guide - a tool that allows you to select your state and view relevant tax facts for 2020 and changes from the prior year. Select your state for the tax facts that apply to your organization, and view federal tax facts as well!

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage and overtime requirements for employers in the private sector and federal, state, and local governments. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 per workweek (any fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods) at a rate not less than one and

 

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage and overtime requirements for employers in the private sector and federal, state, and local governments. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 per workweek (any fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods) at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay.
Many states and localities also have minimum wage laws. If an employee is covered by more than one minimum wage law, the employee is entitled to the higher minimum wage.

This chart from the HR Support Center reflects the current state and local minimum wages in effect as of November 1, 2019, as well as future enacted increases for 2020 and beyond. Click to review >

 

Employees classified as exempt from overtime (OT) under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must be paid a salary of at least the threshold amount and meet certain duties tests.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced the final overtime rule that will increase the minimum salary for certain white collar exemptions. These new minimums will take effect January 1, 2020.

On December 5, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service released a final Form W-4 for use in 2020. Employees who have submitted Form W-4 in any year before 2020 are not required to submit a new form merely because of the redesign. Employers should continue to compute withholding based on the information from the employee’s most recently submitted Form W-4.

The DOL has announced the final rule that will increase the minimum salary for certain white collar exemptions. To be exempt from overtime under FLSA, employees must be paid a salary of at least the threshold amount and meet certain duties tests. These new minimums will take effect January 1, 2020.

The addition of the EEO-1 Component 2 was a highly debated topic in the business and HR worlds, as the additional collection of detailed data is not only controversial but cumbersome. Just this week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it will not collect EEO-1 Component 2 data in the future. The EEOC determined that the burden imposed on employers outweighs the usefulness of the data.

Despite this announcement, Component 2 data for 2017 and 2018 must still be submitted by September 30!

Here's some important general information regarding EEO-1 Component 2.

Managing time off requests can be a nightmare without an organized process. The CheckWriters Time Off Calendar is just the tool for the job: one place to manage and schedule employee time off requests.

Many of our customers have already discovered how the Time Off Calendar can help make their job easier. Indeed, Charity, the Administrative Assistant at our customer Benhaven School, said "I LOVE the Time Off Calendar - it's my favorite feature in the CheckWriters platform!"

So of course, our Development Team decided to enhance its functionality - and add a few new features along the way!

Employers in many states may look at paid family leave as a distant and remote possibility. However, HR professionals across the country are already managing the realities of state-mandated paid family leave laws, while still others are preparing for the regulatory changes stemming from recently-passed state leave laws that have yet to go into effect.

The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 – the landmark federal regulation that mandates large organizations offer up to 12 weeks unpaid leave – is the last major initiative that dealt directly with employee leave at the federal level.

Last week, CheckWriters sent a note announcing the MA PFML delay in contribution collection until October 1^st − this document has been updated with the most current information on the program. Read this post for a full explanation of the latest updates.