News, Hints and Tips

By law, nonexempt employees — whether paid hourly or salaried — must be paid at least 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduces a tax break for certain workers who earn overtime, using an above-the-line deduction. An above-the-line deduction […]

The OBBBA law is long, but the IRS has summarized some of the most significant provisions: No tax on tips Effective for 2025 through 2028, employees and self-employed individuals may deduct qualified tips received in occupations that are listed by the IRS as customarily and regularly receiving tips on or before December 31, 2024, and […]

Did you know sick leave can help your company attract talent? That said, paid sick leave isn’t always optional — in some states, the law requires you to provide a certain amount of paid sick leave for all employees. There are broad similarities in state laws, though they differ in terms of minimum sick time […]

The U.S. Department of Education has resumed collections on defaulted federal student loans as of May 5, ending a pause that had been in place since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) restarted the Treasury Offset Program, allowing the federal government to recover unpaid loans […]

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OBBA, was signed into law on July 4, bringing with it sweeping changes to the U.S. tax code for both individuals and businesses. Widely viewed as pro-business, the legislation makes permanent several provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and introduces new deductions, credits and caps. […]

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has issued a field assistance bulletin outlining how agency investigators will determine whether a worker is classified as an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act. While the department reviews the 2024 final rule, “Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair […]

On your employee’s first day on the job, you are required to ask them to complete federal Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate. (Multiple language versions are available here.) The employee enters various data onto the form — including their tax filing status, whether they have multiple jobs, any credits they have, the amount of other […]

Are you sure you know whether your employees are considered exempt or nonexempt? It’s important to classify workers correctly because their status determines their eligibility to receive overtime pay. Even if you think you know the difference between exempt and nonexempt status, there are some fine points of which you may be unaware. The Fair […]

Before we can fully understand what overtime is, we need to understand how the Fair Labor Standards Act defines a workweek. FLSA says that an employee’s workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It doesn’t have to coincide with the calendar week, but may begin on […]

Are there any misconceptions that you’ve had about payroll? Did you end up finding out the reality of the situation after experiencing a series of unfortunate events? Hopefully, your answer is no, but whether you have been duped by nonfactual information or not, staying informed is the key to protecting yourself. So, keep reading for […]