Rest and recovery features added to Batch Check Entry

The Batch Payroll Check entry window now has some new features to support paying Rest and Recovery wages to employees.  Previously, you needed to use the Daily Payroll Entry window and perform all calculations for Rest and Recovery pay rates using the Daily Payroll features.  The new features added to the Batch Payroll Check entry allow customers that prefer to use this entry method to perform the same calculations.

In addition, we have added a new long-requested feature to the Batch Payroll Check entry window:  automatically calculating the break time due employees and adding the lines automatically to the payroll check.  (This feature will soon be added to the Daily Payroll Entry window as well, in case you are wondering.)

These features are available in the current release of the program.  Use the Tools->Check for Updates option to download and install the current release.

Adding Break Lines

The Add Break Line Items option allows you to enter the total time the employee worked without having to subtract out the break time when entering the hours and manaully entering the break time on separate lines.  To show how this works, here is a check that was entered where the employee worked on four separate days:

Based on the hours worked, the employee should have taken one break on the first day (23rd) and two breaks on the other days.

Clicking on the Breaks button at the bottom of the window will activate a popup menu with three options:

When you select the Add Break Line Items option, that is when the magic happens:

 

By entering the total time that the employee worked on each day, the program can consult a table that tells it how much break time the employee is due based on the hours worked.  (Of course you will need to set up that table yourself based on your company’s break policies–see below.)  Then it subtracts out the break time due to the employee from each of the days and creates a new line with the break time.  Day by day, here is what happens:

1/23/2017 – The employee worked 5 hours, and is due one break.  A break line is created for 10 minutes (.1667) using the BR wage type, and the 5 hours is changed to 4.8333.  (Remember that if an employee has any piecework wages in the pay period, all breaks must be paid at the average hourly pay rate according to AB 1513.  That is why the breaks time is subtracted from the hourly wages and paid separately for this day.)

1/24/2017 – The employee worked 10 hours earning piece wages, so the employee should have a total of two breaks.  The piecework hours amount is reduced from 10 to 9.6667, and a break line is added  for 20 minutes (.3333).

1/25/2017 – The employee worked a total of 9 hours earning piece wages at two different rates.  Again, 20 minutes of break time is due for the total hours worked.  The program takes the break time out of the line with most number of hours, so the line for 5 hours is reduced to 4.6667 and a break line is added for this day for 20 minutes (.3333).  The piecework line for four hours is not changed at all.

1/26/2017 – On this day, the employee didn’t make minimum wage.  Before the program can determine the employee’s average hourly pay rate, it must perform the minimum wage verification and add in any needed minimum wage adjustments.  That is why the MW line is added on this day for $22.67.  As on the other days, the break time while earning piecework wages is 20 minutes, and this is subtracted from the total of eight hours worked on this day.

How It Works

To create the break lines, the program needs to know two things:  how much break time should be paid to employees, and what the break line items should look like.

To set up the table defining how much break time employees should get, click on the Breaks button and select the Setup Break Time option.  The following window will appear:

If you issued Safe Harbor payments last year, this table will look similar to the break table definition used for the AB 1513 Safe Harbor Report.  It is a separate table however, so it will not have any entries by default.  You will need to set up the hours worked and break time amounts according to your companies break time policies.  For instance, if you give employees fifteen minute breaks, you would enter .25 and .50 instead of .1667 and .3333 as shown in the example above.

When creating the break lines, the program simply looks up how much time the employee worked in the Hours Worked column of the break table.  If the employees worked at least the number of hours that you entered in this column, then the employee is due the number of regular and overtime breaks entered in the 2nd and 3rd columns.

(Note:  At this time, the Doubletime Break Time is not implemented.  If you need to set up break times that should be paid at double time, contact Datatech customer support to let us know.)

The program also must know what a break line should look like.  This can include what wage type, job code, cost center and G/L # should be used on the break lines.  This is handled by a new Default checkbox on the Rest and Recovery/Non-Productive Time Definitions table:

This table lets you define what you Rest and Recovery line items look like in terms of the wage type, job code, cost center and G/L # used on the line item.  It has been used by the Daily Payroll options that update the pay rates for rest and recovery lines.  The Default checkbox needs to be checked on a single line to tell the program what template it should use to create the break lines.  If you have separate wage types for overtime or double time breaks, then you should check the Default box on the line to use for those breaks.

In our example, the break lines are simply set up to use the BR (regular breaks) or BP (overtime breaks, which was not used because there was no overtime).  Because this table does not specify a Job ID, Cost ID, or G/L # to use on break lines, when the break lines are create the same Job ID, Cost ID an G/L # entered on the original lines are used for the break lines.

The Default checkbox only applies to lines items that are set to Rest/Recovery.  It will not have any effect if you check it on a line that is set to Non-Productive time.

The example above is very simple, there are only two lines in the table.  In some cases though, customers have multiple Rest and Recovery entries in this table.  There may be different wage types or phases used for regular breaks vs. heat illness prevention breaks, or there may be other definitions set up for breaks for other reasons.  In those cases, having the Default checkbox allows you to tell the program what you want the breaks lines to look like when you have multiple entries.

Recalculating the Rest and Recovery Pay Rate

After adding the break lines, any further edits to the check line items may change the employee’s average hourly pay rate.  If this happens, click on the Breaks button again and select the Calculate R&R Pay Rate option.  The program will recalculate the employees average hourly rate and update the break lines accordingly.

Editing Hours After Adding Break Lines

If you change any hours on piecework or regular hour line items after you have created the break lines, just remember that you are not editing the total hours worked anymore.  Once the break lines have been created, the hours left on the line items will be the time spent working exclusive of breaks.

Suppose you discover an entry error where you entered 8.5 hours instead of 9.25 hours after you have created the break lines.  After a break line for twenty minutes has been created, you will have 8.1667 on the original line item.  Do not change this to 9.25 to correct your error!  Instead you will need to subtract the break time from the total time worked and enter that number.  Since 9.25 – .3333 = 8.9167, the line item should have 8.9167.

In some cases, editing the number of hours might change the amount of break time due to an employee.  If that happens, you can use the Add Break Line Items option again to recalculate the break time on the check.  The total time worked by the employee will remain the same, but the break time may be adjusted up or down depending on whether the hours were increased or decreased.

 

Reporting AB 1513 wages to the EDD

Recently we were able to get a few answers on how the EDD wants the AB 1513 wages reported.  We will be creating a special DE-9/DE-9C report specifically for these wages.  It will be a separate process from the regular quarterly reporting workflow.  The late notice that the EDD gave employers means that it will take some time before the this reporting software is ready.  The best estimate that we can provide right now is that it will be ready sometime in February.

This special DE-9/DE-9C will find all of the safe harbor checks that you issued during the fourth quarter by selecting checks issued with the special Safe Harbor wage type.  It will then look at the Safe Harbor Detail file to determine which quarters each employee worked and allocate the total Safe Harbor wages earned among those quarters.

Ideally the EDD would have wanted the AB 1513 wages to be reported separately from regular wages.  However, many customers have already filed their quarterly reports and included the Safe Harbor wages in their regular quarterly report for the fourth quarter of 2016 (a number of employers filed their reports even before the EDD sent the notices out).  To keep things simple, we will not be doing any special programming for the quarterly report to exclude the Safe Harbor wages.  This means that you should not delay filing your regular electronic reports and making tax deposits for all wages issued in the fourth quarter.

When you file your AB 1513 quarterly reports, you will need to include a note to the EDD indicating that your electronic report for the fourth quarter of 2016 included the AB 1513 wages that you are reporting.  This way, the EDD will not double count these wages when entering them into their systems.

The EDD cannot accept electronic reports for the AB 1513 wages.  This means you will need to submit reports on paper (!) for up to 14 quarters (July 2012 thru December 2015) for the safe harbor wages that you have issued.  You should have received a notice from the EDD with a special address for submitting these reports.

If you have any additional questions, please leave a reply to this post.

Bad address tracking update

Some new features have been added to help track bad employee addresses.  Use the Check for Updates option to download the current version that includes these changes.  Note:  This update includes a change that requires an update to the payroll check database table.  This change may take some time to complete, so it may be best to schedule installation of this update before or after normal hours or during a time that it won’t disrupt normal operations.

A checkbox has been added to the employee file to indicate that an employee has a bad mailing address.  You can check this box when you have a W-2 or other piece of mail returned as not deliverable.

If you obtain a new address for an employee that previously had a bad address, make sure to uncheck the Bad address box.

We have also added a checkbox to indicate a bad address on the employee entry window in the Human Resource Management program.

Last year we included a feature to skip printing W-2’s for employees that are missing an address.  This feature has been extended to also skip printing W-2’s if the employee account has had their address flagged as bad.  (Of course, if an employee with a bad address picks up their W-2 in person, you can always print the W-2 on demand.)

Of course, this option should only be used when printing the employee copy.  If you submit W-2’s to the SSA on paper and not electronically, you will need to print all employees regardless of the status of their address.

A similar option is available when printing the 1095-C forms in the Human Resource Management program:

Since many customers have kept track of bad addresses when sending out AB 1513 notices and payments, the program can also update employee accounts with the bad address status that was recorded in the AB 1513 employee file.  Keep in mind that the AB 1513 employee file is a separate database table.  The Bad Address status is not automatically transferred to the main employee file.  To flag accounts in the main employee file that have bad addresses recorded in the Safe Harbor Employee file, right click on the Bad checkbox and use the option on the popup menu to import the status from the 1513 employee file:

Finally, a selection has been added to the Employee List window to select employees to print based on their Bad Address status:

 

AB 1513 Notices from the EDD

Many customers are receiving notices from the EDD regarding reporting AB 1513 wages.  Unfortunately the notice raises several questions that it doesn’t directly address.  We have a copy of the notice and we do not know anything beyond the information in the notice.

We do have a call into the EDD and hope to get a call back and get some answers to these questions as soon as possible.  In the meantime, if you have questions, we recommend calling the number listed at the bottom of the notice, 916-651-9695.

When we have additional information we will post it on the blog.

 

Minimum wage reminder

The minimum wage changed on January 1st to $10.50/hour in California.  Many other states schedule their rate changes for January 1st as well.

The DIR has a FAQ page for the minimum rate change in California that you may want to review.

To double check that you have the correct minimum wage rate for 2017, go to Payroll->Setup->State Tax Rates.  The state tax rates for 2017 should automatically be displayed (assuming you have closed 2016 already).  Click on the Minimum Wage tab page:

The minimum wage settings should show the previous minimum wage rate and the new minimum wage.  The previous minimum wage will be used for minimum wage verification of piecework wages for any days worked in the prior year.

Also, as explained in the Year End Update help file, several states have different minimum wages that apply depending on what region/city you are located in.  In these cases, we are not able to determine which minimum wage rate may apply to your company.  In these cases you may need to override the minimum wage rate provided in the state tax rate updates to use the rate that applies to your operation.

The Year End Help file contains additional helpful information about minimum wage rate changes.  To view this information, go to the Help->Year End Help option in the program and click on the Minimum Wage topic under Year End Update 2016 in the table of contents.