Grateful and giving thanks

November 10, 2009 by bryandear

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.     – Brian Tracy

In my periods of doubt – and they do happen – I can forget this attitude of gratitude. I have everything – good health, a great partner in my marriage, good family ties, wonderful friends, wonderful co-workers, great community, lots of recreational time, learning time and a successful business by all sorts of measures.

How can there be doubt? Because in whatever situation we find ourselves, there is a tendency to want more. Gratefulness re-orients us. Wow – I am fortunate. I am grateful. And the next step from there is to:

Give thanks. I don’t give enough thanks through either saying so or through actions. It’s one thing to say “Thank you.” And that may be appreciated. It’s another to say thank you through actions.

A note, flowers, a gesture out of our way can mean so much to those we live among. Even a detailed comment regarding why I am thankful such as, “That was such a great method you showed us for that different, and more effective, way to enter that time off accrual.”  Don’t forget, we’re in the payroll area, but it can be in any part of your life.

Thank someone in a special way today – you’ll be amazed how it impacts you.

Thankfully yours,

Bryan Dear

www.payrolldept.biz

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Identity – What identity?

October 29, 2009 by bryandear

We learn geology the morning after the earthquake. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 – 1882

I’m not sure where my house key is and that’s because we don’t lock our doors. I mean really, what would a thief take? Our TV? Our furniture? They could take the laptop, but even there we don’t keep much personal information on it and we certainly don’t keep passwords on a file in our computer. If someone did break into our house, we would at least have the option to start changing account information to prevent loss of data or money from falling into the wrong hands.

It’s a different set of rules for the cyber world. You may not realize your identity has been stolen. It’s a much quieter theft. The theft can occur from somewhere you have no control over.  It can be scary to realize how much information is available in the electronic world that concerns you. And there you sit comfortably at home or at the office thinking that all is safe and secure when in reality the stuff is about to hit the fan.

So what are you to do? Drop out of society? Do you move all of your electronic data to paper and create a tremendous amount of inconvenience for yourself while still making yourself vulnerable to a different kind of theft from paper? I doubt it. What follows is a game plan for your life when it comes to data protection.

You are entitled to a free credit report from one of the three credit agencies once a year (beware of the free credit report agencies that want you to sign up for a paying service). You may go order this free service by going to www.annualcreditreport.com

Review your report carefully for accuracy noting any activity from creditors that you did not initiate.

You may place a “Fraud Alert” on your credit report by calling any one of the following agencies – a call with one will place the alert with all three agencies. The number is: Equifax – 800-525-6285 / Experian 888-397-3742 / TransUnion 800-680-7289

We here at The Payroll Department, Inc. deal with incredibly sensitive information. From a thief’s perspective, we are a gold mine. We do everything we can to keep your data confidential including multiple firewalls, strong passwords, data encrpytion as well as many dual controls in the office. And still, we are vulnerable. Recently, our software vendor, Paychoice, was attacked and our online clients were provided with a phishing email noting they needed to update their software. If you have one iota of doubt about whether something is from us, contact us. We would not ask you to download something from an email without contacting you by phone, fax or written notice.

I don’t sleep well when I think our data could be hacked. It’s an amazing world full of grace, but evil lurks there too.

We’ll protect from evil – we’ll love the grace – and we’ll keep our data safe.

Sincerely,

Bryan Dear

www.payrolldept.biz

Posted in Payroll - General | Leave a Comment »

27 Bi-Weekly Payrolls – what to do?

October 1, 2009 by bryandear

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749 – 1832

When you run a payroll every two weeks, you can reliably compute twenty six payrolls a year (26 x 2 = 52 weeks). If you pay salaried employees on this bi-weekly schedule, you may have taken the annual salary (e.g. $52,000 and divided by the 26 weeks for a bi-weekly salary of $2,000 per payroll). This is all fine and good for most years.

However, every so often there are twenty seven payrolls because three hundred sixty five days divided by fifty two leaves a remainder of one day. Leap year enters into the equation so really it’s only every eleven years or so that twenty seven bi-weekly payrolls will occur in your payroll calendar.

Do you pay the salaried person for the “extra” payroll ? In the first example, you could pay your salary person the additional $2,000 and proceed as normal. Many employers, however, believe they have contracted with their salaried employee an annual salary or a monthly salary. The reasoning goes that the fact that there happens to be an additional payroll should have no bearing on their annual or monthly salary.

If you choose to forgo paying your salaried employees, you’ll want to be very clear in your communications with them including providing them with plenty of notice so they can plan their finances accordingly. Look ahead in the calendar.

January 1, 2010 falls on a Friday. Depending upon your bi-weekly pay schedule, next year might be the 27 payroll year. Or if you move January 1,2010 to December 31, 2009, you may have 27 payrolls this year (2009).

Take a peek at your calendar for this year and the next. If you see twenty seven payrolls, you’ll have a head start on whichever way you proceed.

Cheers,

Bryan Dear

www.payrolldept.biz

Posted in Payroll - General | Leave a Comment »

What you don’t know, might….

September 23, 2009 by bryandear

His ignorance was an Empire State Building of ignorance. You had to admire it for its size. Dorothy Parker, 1893 – 1967

When it comes to payroll, the following statements would be best to avoid:

I don’t have to pay overtime because I didn’t authorize it. (It doesn’t matter – you may choose to discipline the employee, but you still have to pay them for the hours worked including the overtime premium).

I’m tired of paying overtime. I’ll just put them on salary. (Bad idea. The question is whether the employee is exempt from overtime. Paying an employee a salary is irrelevant to this determination).

It’s easier to pay my employee as contract labor. (Do you like wearing a big bullseye that says, “Audit me.”? The IRS and more importantly, the states are looking for as much money as they can in these times of declining tax revenues – don’t get in their path.)

I don’t need an I9 or an Affirmation of Legal Work Status from the Colorado Department of Labor -  all of my employees are legal. (Doesn’t matter – audits can either be no big deal or a real pain depending on how prepared you are. Get both of the these documents dealt with when you hire each employee).

All retirement plans are not only pre-tax for federal and state, but are pre-tax for social security and medicare also. (No, no, no.)

This garnishment can wait when the employee can better afford it. (Not a good idea unless you want to pay the garnishment instead of the employee).

All of the above done the wrong way could cost an employer a lot of time, aggrevation and money. If you’re unsure, google the question. If we can help, contact us.

We’ll help you keep your head out of the sand.

Bryan Dear

www.payrolldept.biz

Posted in Payroll - Regulations - OT | Leave a Comment »

“Comp Time”

September 9, 2009 by bryandear

You don’t need to interpret tea leaves stuck in a cup, to understand that people who work sitting down get paid more than people who work standing up. Ogden Nash, 1902 – 1971

Comp time is time off earned for time worked over a certain amount, usually 40 hours in a week. What comes as a surprise to many employers is that there is no such thing as legally paid comp time for non-exempt employees unless you are a  municipality. If your employee exceeds the 40 hour work week limit, you must pay overtime.

But let’s say you have exempt employees that you would like to set up a comp plan for. It’s your plan – you don’t have to offer one – so you may be very creative in how you establish your plan.

 You could reward your exempt employee and yet minimize cash flow by offering a comp plan for them to take off hours based on hours worked over 40, 45 , 50, etc. in a week. You could base the plan on billable hours that exceeded a weekly total.  When you award the hours, you could reward hour for hour or at time and a half.

You would want to be consistent with your exempt work force by creating the same plan for employees who could be classified together. And you would want to track comp time earned as well as comp time used – preferably on the employee’s check voucher.

Comp time is a tool to reward your work force. It just can’t be used for your non-exempt work force (unless you work for a muncipality and even then there are rules to live by).

Cheers,

Bryan Dear

www.payrolldept.biz

Posted in Payroll - Regulations - OT | Leave a Comment »

BNTP

September 1, 2009 by bryandear

There is only one way in which one can endure man’s inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one’s own life, to exemplify man’s humanity to man. Alan Stewart Paton, 1903 – 1988

If you haven’t met my Father, then just hold on – eventually you will. My Dad goes out of his way to say hello and strike up a conversation with people he has never met. There is no fear of strangers – he thrives on the interaction itself.

When I was growing up in the family, we on occasion would go out to eat. We rarely would see Dad at our table because he was making the circuit around the restaurant not only with people he knew, but with people he had never seen before. A hello here, an admiring remark there and pretty soon Dad had people feeling good about themselves.

So BNTP comes from my father – Be Nice To People.  It’s a simple dictum. It’s a simple philosophy. It’s easy to remember and it’s easy to recall. About the only thing that isn’t easy is the constant practice of it.

BNTP is easy when we like the person we interact with. It’s a different story when we don’t seem to have the time, we don’t have much of a relationshp with the person or heaven forbid, have not even met the person.

Keep it simple – just like BNTP. A smile, a chuckle, a bended ear or even a twinkle in the eye can all reflect kindness upon any human being.

Here’s to my Dad and to all who put light into our gray,

Bryan Dear

www.payrolldept.biz

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Promptness

August 24, 2009 by bryandear

Ideals are like stars: you will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the seafarer on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you reach your destiny.     - Carl Schurz, 1829 – 1906

I have worked with many people who I genuinely admired who could never arrive on time whether it be a professional or a social occasion. I have also worked with those who didn’t have my admiration and didn’t show up on time, but they always had a wonderful excuse. And I have worked with people who always show up on time – most of the time earlier than the agreed upon time – these are the people I can count on.

Last night at the movies, one of the main characters was a working mother and she was always late to her job. It was a trait I suppose her co-workers accepted, because she was good at what she did.

How do you handle an employee who is always late? Does it make a difference whether they are a great employee or just “doing their job?.” Do you treat them differently in evaluations? Is there a pay differential? Do you make exceptions? Business decisions like these, no doubt addressed in ye olde employee manual are supposed to be cut and dry… but they rarely are.

The larger the company, the dicier this gets with consequences not even considered previously. Make sure you document the tardiness.  Make sure the employee knows why their behavior matters to you and your company. If you don’t have a good time keeping system, get one. They’re  not that expensive and they’ll you time and money in all sorts of areas. And finally address the consequences of tardy behavior – even for your good employees.

Promptness is a kind of code – it doesn’t just happen – it requires some planning, it shows respect and it allows for the task to be accomplished when everyone is engaged at the same time. It also sends a strong message – you can count on me.

It’s a rainy Monday – no excuse for being late:-)

Bryan Dear

www.payrolldept.biz

Posted in Time and Attendance | Leave a Comment »

Hiring right

August 17, 2009 by bryandear

Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.  Elbert Hubbard, 1856 – 1915

Boy, have we had practice in the hiring-wrong world. One would think we would be the best there is based on so much practice. Our tendency is to hire someone we like, but the skill set is just not high enough for the position causing the staff and employee a lot of frustration. So then we move to making sure the skill set is appropriate and then we are beset by cultural differences.

Here is what I have learned:

1) Start backwards -eliminate the mediocre employee. It’s not hiring, but they won’t be a good example for the person you do hire. It’s easy to keep the good employee. It’s fairly simple to deal with an employee not performing well through termination, but the mediocre employee will drive everyone nuts the longer they stay. The thought is that they just need more time and they’ll come around, but it has never happened here.

2) Hire slowly. Spend time investigating competency, communication skills and fit. We have a short test that does two things: tests their thinking skills, and at the same time, shows their handwriting abilities. Make sure they have a good picture of what it’s like to be here – the good, the bad and the ugly.

3) Have the finalists go through an interview with the rest of thecompany or department employees. Culture is a very important ingredient. It doesn’t mean they vote the same way, watch (or don’t watch) the same TV shows or reflect a certain thinking. It does mean they will fit in conversationally and maintain a sense of humility.

4) Check references and do background screening.

We think we have one of the best places to work in the world. The work is challenging, appreciated by clients and co-workers, and the money and benefits are top of the line for this area.

Yet still we struggle to identify the essence of who will fit in our company both on a cultural and competency level. I think we’re getting better, but it’s an art as well as a skill to hire the best person for our open position.

Happy hiring.

Bryan Dear

www.payrolldept.biz

Posted in Work Environment | Leave a Comment »

Get a job or get a life

August 10, 2009 by bryandear

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they’re okay, then it’s you.     - Rita Mae Brown

I have a good friend who finds herself out of a teaching position as a result of a major trimming of the budget and a decison to drop the teaching of a foreign language.

My message to her is”Don’t despair.” She has tremendous communications skills both verbally and in writing. She is fluent in three languages. She is not afraid to ask questions. She doesn’t balk at stating her opinion although she isn’t confrontational. She thinks on her feet well and people enjoy her company.

Her challenge from my viewpoint is to figure out the skills she wants to emphasize and to not settle for something that’s just “a job”. It will take work. Finding the job you want is in itself a job – one that should consume close to 40 hours a week if you want to nail the position.

When we have children to feed and a mortgage to pay, there is a high motivation to take the first job that offers the money we need. Maybe it’s the right one, but maybe it’s not. My friend should bring her gusto to the process and keep focused on her goal – does it bring her satisfaction, does it use her skills, and finally, is the value appropriate (money).

Almost all of us have been an job applicant. In some ways it’s just like operating a business, although it’s a temporary one.  You are the product that you need to sell, but you are also buying into a long-term customer relationship (you hope). You don’t have to change yourself, but you may need tweaking so prepare and practice.

Luck is good to have on your side, but it does seem to follow the prepared.

Cheers,

Bryan Dear

www.payrolldept.biz

Posted in Work Environment | Leave a Comment »

Celebration of life… with death always nearby

August 5, 2009 by bryandear

If I had my life to live over, I would try to make more mistakes. I would relax. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would pick more daisies. I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.  - Don Herold, 1889 – 1966

I love this quotation because it reminds me it’s okay to take risks…and fail. It’s okay to leave the housework to another day. It’s okay to reduce the worry factor because many of the things we worry about will never happen. It’s okay to play.

I recently took a seven day raft trip on the Green River through Dinosaur National Monument with friends. It was a trip with long slow floats followed by some wake-up-and-take-notice rapids. There were meals to prepare, camps to put up and and camps to take down each day. There were games to play, frisbees to throw and so many moments to savor. There were no cell phones, computers or other distractions of our daily life at home.

None of the rapids seem overly dangerous and yet our trip found us passing by another private group which had just experienced a death by drowning. They were being assisted by another commerical group and we were merely a spectator to their aftermath. We grieved for them and their victim and all that they had gone through and would have to go through the remainder of their trip. As one friend put it, this will be a milestone the rest of their lives.

Taking risks is not about whether to take the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland where all is secure. It’s about stepping out into an unknown where there can be large stones in the path. Death is a rarity in most of these outdoor activities, but it’s always there and when it shows up, it is messy and awkward. We all will go through this door; it’s yet another reminder of the preciousness of life.

Celebrate life.

Your truly,

Bryan Dear

www.payrolldept.biz

Posted in Work Environment | Leave a Comment »

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