Page 154 - Essentials of Payroll: Management and Accounting

Travel Time Compensation
The time spent to travel back and forth from work to home, and vice
versa, is not time for which the employer is liable to pay compensation,
unless an employee is called away from home for emergency work and
must travel for a significant period of time to reach the location specified.

If an employee is traveling among multiple locations as part of his or
her job, such as is experienced by a traveling salesperson, then this travel
time is paid time. However, the amount of paid time only corresponds to
those hours during which an employee works during a regular work day.
Example. Herbert Bailes normally works from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.,
Monday through Friday. However, a special project requires him to stay
at an off-site location and travel home on Saturday, which occupies him
from 7:00 A.M. to noon.Of the five hours spent traveling on Saturday,the
hours in the time period from 8:00 A.M. to noon can be claimed for wage

reimbursement, since they fall within his regularly scheduled workday.

Annual Paperwork Reminders
There are several documents that the payroll department must issue or
process at the end of a calendar year. Place the following paperwork-
related items on the payroll activities calendar so they are not forgotten:
• Remind employees to review their withholding status and
submit a new W-4 form if changes are in order.

• Remind employees who claimed total exemption from
income tax withholding to submit a new W-4 form by the
end of December.
• Give a completed W-2 form to all employees by the end of
January.
• Give a completed 1099 form to all qualifying suppliers by the
end of January.

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