On December 19^th, Sage is scheduled to release an Interim Release Download (IRD) with year-end program updates for Accounts Payable and eFiling – as well as a Tax Table Update for 2020.

With a new year come a lot of new changes and updates to payroll requirements. 2020 is quickly approaching, so - as in the last few years - we compiled the following list of items that may initiate some payroll changes in your organization. You might start thinking about these and take action sooner than later.

Oh no! The IRS is changing the W-4! While the final version of the form isn't expected until November, the current draft gives us a good idea of what employers and employees will begin using starting in 2020.

What does this mean for my employees and the taxes they pay (because you know they're going to ask you those questions)? Taxes, payroll, the IRS, their forms, and everything associated with these requirements can all seem so confusing and stressful to employees. These things are often referred to as “adulting” because they bring with them anxiety and fear, and they seem to encourage avoidance. In reality, the changes aren't as daunting as they seem. Here's an overview of what you should know when your employees ask.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final ruling today for overtime pay when employees work more than 40 hours in a week. Employees who make less than $35,568 will be eligible for overtime effective January 1, 2020. This is expected to affect approximately 1.3 million American workers.

The research* provided by The Aberdeen Group on successful approaches to managing a workforce has so far focused on automation of employee management tasks and integration of workforce management systems.

The final and least technical practice is for an organization to always be improving an its approaches and methods of managing their overall workforce. Such improvement is a long-term proposition that takes place gradually. It requires persistence and a commitment to merging modern HCM tools with a consistently advancing workplace culture. As both become more developed and in aligned with one another, an organization's workforce shifts from a practical cost to a strategic and competitive advantage that provide the business with a true edge in the marketplace.

This four-part series takes research* done by The Aberdeen Group on successful approaches to managing a workforce and presents it in graphical form. Businesses that practice all of these behaviors tend to function efficiently and reduce - or eliminate - the wasteful costs involved in managing people.

Integration is the second beneficial practice. Many organizations still manage time and attendance with one automated system, payroll with another, and human resources with no intelligent business system at all. The systems that are in place tend not to communicate well, which is unfortunate, since they all fulfill critical functions with regard to workforce management and coordination, and miscommunication just means more time and more cost spent on otherwise simple tasks. Implementing a unified Human Capital Management system can store all of your employee information in a single location and transform your workforce from an expense to a strategic asset. Here are just some of a unified system.

“At-Will” Employment State

Oregon, along with most of the U.S. (with the exception of Montana), is an at-will employment state. At-will employment means employers can terminate employees at any time without reason, explanation, or warning (except for wrongful termination reasons, like race, religion, and disability). It also means an employee can quit at any time for any reason...or no reason at all. Typical exceptions to this include the following: Employment Contracts, Implied Contracts, Good Faith and Fair Dealing (i.e. employers terminating employees to avoid their duties like paying for healthcare, retirement, or commission-based work), and Public Policy.

In this four-part series, we're sharing visualized research* on the impact of efficiently managing an organization's workforce by practicing three habits. The first habit, automation, can mean many things, from building a performance review workflow system to deploying electronic timecards to offering Employee Self Service tools that your employees can access wherever they are and whenever they need to. Implementing a unified Human Capital Management system can provide all of these benefits to your organization and transform your workforce from an expense to a strategic asset. Here are just some of the advantages of doing so.

People quickly and understandably become very confused when it comes to reviewing Workers' Compensation policies and rates from insurance carriers. At its most basic, the following formula is used to calculate Workers' Compensation premiums:

Payroll (per $100) X Class Code Rate X Experience Modifier (MOD) + State Fees/Surcharges = Premium

Let’s break down each of these elements and explain where the amounts come from.

It’s that time of year when the impact of the recent Oregon Legislation Session is starting to be realized by employers. Several new laws (and at least one that previously was implemented) are, or will be, affecting employers and employees. Following is a summary of just some of the changes on the horizon.