Question:
Our employees often don’t turn their timesheets in on time. If an employee doesn’t submit his/her sheet on time, can we delay processing his paycheck until the next pay period?
Answer:
Getting employees to turn timesheets in on time can be challenging. It is the obligation of the church to pay employees on the established payday, regardless of whether a timecard has been submitted. There is no exception to the law that allows the church to withhold payment until the next payday or until the timecard has been turned in. When you don’t have a timecard, you can comply with the law by paying all of the wages that you reasonably know are due
for an employee’s regularly scheduled work period. Straight time pay cannot be delayed.
Normally, overtime pay earned in a particular workweek must also be paid on the regular payday for the pay period in which the wages were earned. You may only delay payment for overtime wages that
can’t be determined until after the regular pay period. The delayed payment of overtime wages earned in one payroll period must generally be no later than the payday for the next regular payroll period.
A proactive way to address this issue is to have a clear policy and procedure on reporting hours worked, including the deadlines. Training your nonexempt staff and supervisors on the expectations
for accurately completing time reporting records is key to ensuring that you are complying with wage payment requirements. As a last resort, you can treat the issue as a disciplinary issue should it
continue even after expectations have been clearly communicated. But holding the paycheck as a method to gain compliance could subject your church to potential wage claims for unpaid wages.
Do you need a new time tracking system? Contact Clergy Financial Resources to learn more about the time tracking designed for churches. Click here.
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Clergy Financial Resources serves as a resource for clients to help analyze the complexity of clergy tax law, church payroll & HR issues. Our professionals are committed to helping clients stay informed about tax news, developments and trends in various specialty areas.
This article is intended to provide readers with guidance in tax matters. The article does not constitute, and should not be treated as professional advice regarding the use of any particular tax technique. Every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information. Clergy Financial Resources and the author do not assume responsibility for any individual’s reliance upon the information provided in the article. Readers should independently verify all information before applying it to a particular fact situation, and should independently determine the impact of any particular tax planning technique. If you are seeking legal advice, you are encouraged to consult an attorney.
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