A client asks you to remove two hours from an employee’s timecard. Another wants to exclude an evening training session from payroll. A third asks whether a departing employee can wait until the next regular payday for a final check.
Each request may arrive as a processing instruction. Each can also depend on facts and legal obligations that a payroll calculation cannot resolve. For CPAs supporting payroll clients, the useful first step is to identify the disputed assumption, preserve the relevant records and arrange an employment-law review when needed.
The following hypothetical situations illustrate when that handoff matters. The workflow recommendations concern client service and documentation; the legal examples identify federal or California sources rather than supplying tax or accounting guidance.
Imagine a client’s supervisor changes an employee’s clock-out from 6:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. The employee says she stayed to complete a customer order. The supervisor says overtime was not approved.
Before processing the instruction, ask what the edit is intended to correct. A duplicate punch and a disagreement about whether work should have occurred are different problems. Ask who made the change, when it was made and what supports the revised entry.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet 22 on hours worked explains that work an employer suffers or permits can count as working time even when it was not requested. For covered nonexempt employees, a...
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