Unlike many other areas of employment law, there is a very small amount of “grey” area when it comes to the laws of payroll. Simply put, as a payroll professional you must be aware of payroll mistakes that can get you in trouble. Even the most attentive payroll professionals can make mistakes sometimes or overlook payroll laws; it can be easy to carry on business as usual when you are unaware that you are actually violating the law. For instance, did you know that under Florida law if an employee resigns or if they are involuntarily terminated they only need to be paid on the next regular payday? Some illegal payroll activities include: misclassifying worker status to avoid paying employment taxes, paying an employee in cash in efforts to avoiding income and employee taxes, discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, age and/or race, failure to pay for certain travel time, docking pay of salaried employees and inadequate record keeping.
As a payroll professional it is your responsibility to make sure you know the rules and laws of payroll for your company. You either do it right or you risk being caught with no real defenses and you had better be ready to pay to resolve a claim if one is finally raised because, that is not a fight your company is going to want be in. It can result in time and substantial funds lost. So brush up on what you shouldn’t be doing as a payroll professional and make sure you stay on top of any possible mistakes. We know it is hard to protect yourself against what you don’t know & that’s why we are here to help. We can process your payroll for you as we understand the laws governing payroll. We can also help you with any & all aspects of Human Resources. Contact us today for a free consultation.