Navigating Complex Payroll Scenarios: Legal Compliance and Ethical Considerations

1. Introduction
2. Session Objectives 00:03:00
3. Understanding Special Pay Situations 00:04:35
4. Employee Loans and Advances 00:13:47
5. Tax Implications of Special Pay Situations 00:17:44
6. Year-End Reporting Concerns 00:30:41
7. Final Pay Concerns for Terminated Employees 00:40:07
8. Payments to Deceased Employees 00:47:25
9. Recouping Overpaid Dollars and Non-Cash Items 00:54:34
10. Compliance with State and Federal Laws 01:07:02
11. Best Practices in Payroll Management 01:13:09
12. Q & A Session 01:23:54
13. Additional Resources 01:28:43
14. Let’s Connect! 01:31:16
15. Presentation Closing 01:32:01

• Accounts Payable (AP) 00:44:08
• Audit 00:08:18, 00:32:44, 00:36:36, 00:55:17, 00:57:52
• Beneficiary 00:12:21, 00:47:42, 00:50:24, 00:53:27
• Cash Flow (CF)  00:41:29
• Compensatory Damages 00:42:49
• Department of Labor (DOL) 00:29:51
• Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) 00:20:17
• Form 941 00:35:12
• Form W-2 00:30:56, 00:33:40
• Form W-4 00:30:54
• Independent Contractors 00:34:33
• Involuntary Termination 00:40:39
• Overtime 01:07:43
• Payroll Overpayment 00:04:55, 00:05:32, 00:20:36, 00:30:59, 01:05:41
• Severance Package 00:24:51, 00:25:37, 00:26:46, 00:41:16
• Severance Pay 00:23:44, 00:41:05
• Voluntary Termination 00:40:38

Accounts Payable (AP): The amount of money a company owes creditors (suppliers, etc.) in return for goods and/or services they have delivered.

Audit: A formal examination of an organization's or individual's accounts or financial situation

Beneficiary: A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor.

Cash Flow (CF): The revenue or expense expected to be generated through business activities (sales, manufacturing, etc.) over a period of time.

Compensatory Damages: A sum of money awarded in a civil action by a court to indemnify a person for the particular loss, detriment, or injury suffered as a result of the unlawful conduct of another. Compensatory damages provide a plaintiff with the monetary amount necessary to replace what was lost, and nothing more.

Department of Labor (DOL): The United States Department of Labor is a cabinet-level department of the U.S. federal government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, reemployment services, and some economic statistics; many U.S. states also have such departments.

Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA): The Federal Insurance Contributions Act is a United States federal payroll contribution directed towards both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare—federal programs that provide benefits for retirees, people with disabilities, and children of deceased workers.

Form 941: Federal form 941, also called a quarterly federal tax return, is an IRS return that employers use to report their FICA taxes paid and owed for the period. The IRS uses this form to calculate the amount of employer tax payments made during the year as well as the amount of taxes due at the end of the year.

Form W-2: Form W-2 is an Internal Revenue Service tax form used in the United States to report wages paid to employees and the taxes withheld from them. Employers must complete a Form W-2 for each employee to whom they pay a salary, wage, or other compensation as part of the employment relationship. - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/)

Form W-4: Form W-4 (otherwise known as the "Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate") is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax form completed by an employee in the United States to indicate his or her tax situation (exemptions, status, etc.) to the employer.

Independent Contractor: An independent contractor is a person or entity contracted to perform work or provide services to another entity as a non-employee. As a result, independent contractors must pay their own Social Security and Medicare taxes. - Investopedia (https://www.investopedia.com/)

Involuntary Termination: An involuntary termination, for purposes of Section 409A, means a severance of the employment relationship due to the employer's independent exercise of the unilateral authority where the employee was willing and able to continue performing services.

Overtime: Overtime is time and a half of what an employee earns for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek. The FLSA salary threshold is the minimum salary employers must pay employees for them to be exempt from overtime wages.

Payroll Overpayment: Payroll overpayment is a type of payroll error where you've paid an employee more than they've earned.

Severance Package: A severance package compensates workers when their employment is terminated through no fault of their own. The usual reasons for this type of termination are layoffs, business restructuring, or a mutual agreement to part ways.

Severance Pay: An amount paid to an employee upon dismissal or discharge from employment. Severance pay is usually given by an employer to its employees who are laid off or terminated for reasons other than firing-for-cause. ... In general, severance pay is up to the employer's discretion and is only legally required under specific circumstances.

Voluntary Termination: Voluntary termination may refer to a variety of actions, but most commonly, it refers to an employee's decision to leave a job on their own accord. It differs from a layoff or a firing, in which the decision to end employment was made by the employer or another party, rather than the employee.