State Laws & Charts

The problems with the U.S. Postal Service are legion. Letter carriers misdeliver letters, they won’t cross streets to deliver mail because of barking dogs, they won’t go into certain neighborhoods because they’re afraid. Now is the time to approach employees whose paychecks are mailed home about direct deposit or paycards.

Janitors, security guards and employees who work at fast-food restaurants are often subject to noncompete agreements when they terminate their employment, even though they probably don’t hold any of their employer’s trade secrets or knowledge of its key business processes. The Federal Trade Commission has released regulations proposing to ban noncompete agreements in most circumstances.

Employee self-service portals are a great innovation for Payroll. But they are risky because they open up more points of entry into your computer network, through which phishers can create havoc. The Maine Supreme Court has put the burden of ameliorating this havoc squarely on your shoulders.

You know who they are. They’re the same employees who call every year saying, oops, they lost their W-2s and need new ones. You have now entered the W-2 reissue zone. Your best bet is to have a solid policy on reissued W-2s.

Flying planes is complicated, so student pilots are taught to fly the plane and not worry about talking to air traffic control. Year-end is just as complicated, but you’re your own air traffic controller. Here are the final tasks you must accomplish now.

Children going to sleep with visions of sugarplums in their heads. Good. Employees going to sleep with visions of year-end bonuses in their heads. Also good. Payroll managers going to sleep without visions of W-2s in their heads. Great. Here’s the scoop on what you need to know to ensure a smooth W-2 process.

Internet retailers and fintech companies are pressing HR to offer employees the opportunity to pay for goods and loans in installments via paycheck withholding, selling it as a way for employees to build up good credit. Payroll should be leery of this new benefit.

Trick or treat! It’s a pretty simple menu. To avoid a huge year-end trick and ensure you have a sweet year-end, cross off these tasks from your to-do list.

Election Day is a scant two months away and everyone should exercise their franchise. You can help by letting employees take time off from work to vote. Of course, you may not have much choice in the matter; some states require you to give employees this time off.