Jeannine Dubiac is the owner of Priority One
Payroll LLC based in Malta.

BY JEANNINE DUBIAC, FPC

Payroll should be that process that just flows.
As a business owner you know first-hand that
your employees need to be paid on time, correctly,
every time.

Unfortunately, for many companies, it’s anything
but smooth. Staying on top of payroll can
be a time-consuming and stressful process, especially
when relying on outdated payroll methods
to get the job done. With the multiple of IRS and
state penalties looming over every business, and
great employees anxiously waiting for payday, it’s
best to adopt the most efficient payroll tools and
resources at an organization.

To avoid unnecessary payroll-induced headaches,
for employers and employees alike, here
are a few suggestions to help improve efficiencies
in your payroll process.

1. Managing payroll.

Issue: Undertaking various job duties and
titles is often a necessity skill for business owners.
Unfortunately, the more tasks there are to juggle,
from marketing to human resources to accounting,
the greater likelihood of dropping the ball
on one of the many fine details related to payroll
and payroll taxes.

BY JIM MARCO

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the
piece of federal legislation that established
minimum wage and overtime requirements, and
defined which employees are exempt from the
minimum wage and overtime provisions of the act,
and which employees need to receive overtime pay.

The FLSA provides definitions under which employee
can be exempt. These exemptions fall under
certain categories such as executive exemption,
administrative exemption, professional exemption,
outside sales exemption, and the computer
employee exemption. Exempt employees are often
referred to as salaried employees.

In order to qualify for exempt status, employees
must meet three critical criteria related to job duties,
a minimum level of weekly pay, and they must
be paid on a salaried basis, which is also defined
by the FLSA. Companies who pay all employees a
weekly salary, thinking they are avoiding overtime
payments, are taking a substantial risk. Both the
federal and state departments of labor enforce
these laws, although it is usually the state that you
will be dealing with during an audit.

This can result in back pay, for several years,
fines and other penalties. Your best defense is an
accurate and compliant job description, good job
analysis, and a thorough documented review of
the requirements.